The NBC television show, "Dateline NBC," aired an undercover investigation this week that should make every parent’s blood run cold.

Friday, May 05, 2000

The NBC television show, "Dateline NBC," aired an undercover investigation this week that should make every parent’s blood run cold.

The program sent a teen-ager with a hidden camera into a rave – a party generally frequented by underage teen-agers. The child was in no danger, she was accompanied at all times by "Dateline" producers.

The footage she brought back would shock even the most worldly of parents. These children were all under the age of 17 – some younger than 14 – and most were using some type of drug, sometimes multiple drugs.

There was the carelessness that usually accompanies drug use – lack of caution when it comes to sex and dangerous mixes of drugs and alcohol.

But was probably the most scary part of this investigation was how many of these students were probably there with their parents’ permission.

The raves are billed as supervised and alcohol-free, that is why parents don’t think twice about the dangerous influences their children might encounter.

And then there is the problem of seeing only what they want to see. Unfortunately, some parents don’t want to believe their children are involved in anything dangerous or illegal. So, as long as no one tells them otherwise, they assume their teens are behaving as they should.

After the airing of the undercover operation, the "Dateline" producers sat down with the teen and talked to her about what she saw. They also talked to her parents.

The teen gave some pretty sage advice – a lesson that anyone who loves a teen-ager should heed.

She suggested that her visit to the rave proved that parents don’t "pay enough attention to what their children are doing."

She is right.