Ronnie Polaneczky: Children put at risk in addiction venue

PRELIMINARY hearings are under way for the five adults who left a total of 13 kids in cars outside Parx Casino in Bensalem, while they gambled inside.

Toss the book at 'em, I say. It's a miracle the children didn't succumb to either the sweltering heat of their vehicles or to the vile intentions of any passing creep who could've preyed upon their vulnerability.

Since the incidents came to light this summer, anti-casino advocates have used them to bolster their point that gambling ruins lives, and that casinos, therefore, don't belong anywhere in the Delaware Valley.

And certainly not in Fishtown, where SugarHouse opens its doors today.

"If it weren't for the seduction of gambling," the rhetoric goes, "those kids never would've been in those parked cars."

No argument there. I just don't see how reasonable people can use it to push for the abolition of legalized gambling, unless they're also willing to push for the abolition of society's other legalized vice - drinking.

Talk with any addictions expert about the staggering impact of alcoholism on children and they'll haul out sobering numbers:

In the United States, one in 10 people are addicted to alcohol. Fifteen percent of all children live in a household with an alcoholic. And, before the age of 18, one in four children is exposed to a family member's alcohol abuse or dependence.

"The impact of alcoholism on children is even bigger than the impact of gambling on children, but no one is talking about shutting down corner bars," says Mylene Krzanowski, executive director of student-assistance programs at Caron Treatment Centers, which treat alcohol and drug addiction.

She tells an awful, personal tale of driving home one night, 20 years ago, and almost hitting a 7-year-old boy who, carrying a baby, had darted in front of her car. Shaking, she stopped and asked the child where his mom was. He pointed to a bar.

"I went inside, and the mom was totally under the influence. I yelled, 'I almost killed your children!' " recalls Krzanowski. "She didn't care that she'd left a young child to care for a baby. We call these children 'lost' children. They're burdened with adult responsibilities, behind closed doors. No one sees them."

And just as addicted gamblers have hurt their kids by betting away their paychecks, so, too, have alcoholics inflicted household chaos on their kids.

"I lost so many jobs, I wasn't there for my son and daughter - I ignored them," says "Eddie," a Fishtown resident and recovering alcoholic who knows plenty of alcoholics who've lost jobs, homes and families to the bottle. He asked me not to use his real name, as he's in A.A. and would like to stay anonymous.

"You love your children. But when you're really into your drinking, you're not able to think about them."

Sort of the way, I imagine, the gamblers at Parx weren't able to think about the children they'd left outside.

 
The bottom line is, addiction is addiction, whether you're betting over your head or drinking yourself under the table.

We're no sooner going to get rid of gambling than we're going to bring back Prohibition.

Each has too many fans. Besides, whichever argument you make to get rid of the one can be used just as credibly to argue for the abolition of the other - including the honest argument that both can hurt kids.

What we need to deal with is addiction in all its forms, says state Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, whose district includes Bensalem.

"Addiction is the number one issue in our society," says DiGirolamo, who comes by his passion for addiction services the hard way: His own son battled heroin addiction for years before finally getting clean. "It's a disease that's progressive and powerful. People call my office all the time asking how to get help for their family members. They're really desperate."

Along with state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-Bucks, DiGirolamo has announced that they will introduce legislation that would make it a third-degree felony to leave a child under 13 in a motor vehicle without adult supervision. And he is proud of the just-signed bill he sponsored to create the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, which aims to coordinate a broad array of services for addicts and their families.

"The best way we can help the child of an addict is to help the addict," he says. "When he gets better, everyone gets better."

You can bet on it.

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/polaneczky. Read Ronnie's blog at http://go.philly.com/ ronnieblog.