Alcohol use reported at Powder Puff game

SWAMPSCOTT – Several reports of possible drunken students at the Marblehead-Swampscott Powder Puff game last Friday brought the issue of high school drinking to light for Swampscott High Principal Layne Millington.According to the Marblehead Police report, there were three identified as drunk during the game, though they were not identified as students. One female, found in the bathroom at Marblehead High School where the game took place, was taken to Salem Hospital.Two more, one male and one female, were picked up at the game. Two were removed from the stands, though not listed as drunk, and another was given a sobriety check, though he was found to be sober.Detective Tim Cassidy of the Swampscott Police Department said in an interview on Tuesday that he was at the game, and even though he wasn?t working, “there was a lot of concern because there appeared to be a lot of kids intoxicated in the stands.”Millington said he believed it isn?t Swampscott and Marblehead students who specifically have the drinking problem. “It?s an issue in every community,” he said. “It?s one of those things that?s not going to change unless the whole community wants it to.”Cassidy agreed. “I would say there?s drinking at every high school, not just Swampscott,” he said.Millington said one of the best things parents can do to prevent their teens from drinking is to know exactly where they are even 10 minutes before events like the Powder Puff game, which went on at 7 p.m. on a Friday night, under the lights at Piper Field.Millington said unfortunately, nighttime events are where the students are showing up intoxicated, but the later time brings larger crowds, therefore bringing more money in for the charities that are funded by the events.Millington said for the Swampscott-hosted Powder Puff, “we purposefully hold it at 10 a.m. to try to avoid (underage drinking).”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].