People of all ages have trouble making wise decisions about drinking and driving. But young people combine poor decisions with a lack of driving experience and a still-developing brain wired for recklessness. As we have seen too many times lately, that volatile mix can have deadly consequences.

That’s why La Salle Academy deserves the public’s plaudits for taking underaged drinking seriously.

Instead of looking the other way, La Salle interviewed students involved in a drinking party on Mulberry Road in Bristol and suspended 31 students from school, and from scholastic sports — including the big Thanksgiving Day football game.

That no doubt stings students, who now have a suspension on their record. Some have been deprived of sports experiences they looked forward to, after months of training. So be it. La Salle demonstrated with its action that it means what it states in its students’ handbook, signed by the pupils and their parents: no participation allowed in underage drinking parties. Public schools should implement the same policies.

The fear of consequences will not deter all students from drinking, but it may deter some. And that improves the chances that young people will get through their teen years alive.

Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch’s attempt to prosecute the father who was sleeping upstairs at the Bristol home with the TV on may be another matter. The father, who by all accounts fully cooperated with police, said he had given his daughter permission for a sleepover with 10 friends, and that the full-scale party was a surprise to him. He appeared to police that night to be telling the truth.

Certainly, parents have a responsibility to keep an eye on their children. Moreover, any parent who knowingly hosts underage drinking parties should be prosecuted under the law. But, given the limited resources available for prosecuting crime, punishing a clueless father who was duped by his teen may be extreme.

All the same, parents must realize: Teens and drinking do not mix. The best policy is to talk to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving, keep an eye on them to the greatest extent possible, and follow through with consequences for being at a party involving teen drinking.

This seems to be precisely what La Salle so commendably did.