As our reporter Desiree Taylor wrote in Thursday’s paper, underage drinking is a very real concern in the Black Belt. It’s a very real concern all over the state of Alabama.

There are many of us who grew up in small towns where it’s commonly said, “you have to be bad to have a good time.” On that same note, a lot of parents tend to look the other way when they see teens having a couple of beers to blow off a little steam. “Boys will be boys,” they always say.

Underage drinking is an enormous problem that people don’t always acknowledge. The problems associated with underage drinking aren’t the broken laws or the lost brain cells; it’s the lost potential that results when a drunk driving accident takes the life of a young person. I’ve seen it first-hand.

The memory of my sister coming to the beach to tell me one of my high school friends was dead is something I will carry with me the rest of my life. We started kindergarten together. We’d always hung out and like most teens growing up in Butler, he liked to have a cold beer here and there to celebrate the weekend.

On that particular night, he had more than his share and ended up behind the wheel of his car despite the best efforts of everyone there to hide his keys.

The end result is a young man who has now been dead as long as he lived, 17 years. Lost potential. It still makes me sad to think of where he would be today if it hadn’t been for that night.

This young man had no problem getting his hands on alcohol. We all knew where to go, which stores looked the other way or whom we could slip a few extra bucks to get our hands on a six-pack. Every small town has their store where the legal drinking age is thrown out the window. They operate under the same “boys will be boys” attitude.

Unfortunately, this attitude will remain without a second thought until a drunk driving accident claims a young person’s life in that particular community. The “boys will be boys” attitudes will continue until one of those boys never gets to grow up to be a man.

It’s up to the community to take a stand against underage drinking. If stores are selling to minors, speak out. If someone is buying alcohol for minors, inform the authorities.

Underage drinking is a danger to our young people and anyone else who might be on the road. It’s up to us to ensure there is no more lost potential.