Posted on 08/12/2005 12:12:55 PM PDT by summer
... Many parents have decided to take a realist's approach. They're throwing parties for their kids and their friends. They serve alcohol at these parties, but they also collect car keys to make sure no one drives home until the next morning. Their logic makes sense: The kids are going to drink; it's better that they do it in a controlled, supervised environment.
...For this the Andersons found themselves arrested and charged with supplying alcohol to minors...
In fact, the Andersons were lucky. A couple in Virginia was recently sentenced to 27 months in jail for throwing a supervised party for their son's 16th birthday, at which beer was made available. That was reduced on appeal from the eight-year sentenced imposed by the trial judge. ...Parents would risk jail time and a fine of $1,000 per underage drinker.
... The question, then, is do we want them drinking in their cars, in parking lots, in vacant lots and in rented motel rooms? Or do we want them drinking at parties with adult supervision, where they're denied access to the roads once they enter?
The Virginia case mentioned above is troubling for another reason: The cops raided that home without a search warrant. This is becoming more and more common in jurisdictions with particularly militant approaches to underage drinking. A prosecutor in Wisconsin popularized the practice in the late 1990s when he authorized deputies to enter private residences without warrants, "by force, if necessary," when there was the slightest suspicion of underage drinking....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
PS I know of many towns celebrating prom nights inside the local YMCA, with total adult supervision, and kids dancing, plus there's video games, door prizes and food, etc.; and guess what - no alcohol. And, the kids have fun. So, it's possible.
Libertairian whining if you ask me...underage drinking is against the law as is serving it to them. If the cops get a call of a party or see kids puking on the lawn then they have the right to suspect a crime has been committed.
What about the parents who don't want their kids drinking? And please tell me what good ever comes of having teenagers and alcohol together in one place?
So this this Father-of-the-Year candidate tell all the other parents that he was having a beer bash for their underage kids?
The fact that the parents are breaking the law by serving alcohol to minors should be cause enough to land them in jail, IMHO.
I don't care what precautions they take to see that the kids don't drive.
We throw teenage parties all the time. Mountain Dew and Coke seem to keep them happy. (However, an errant teen will occasionally sneek in some Red Bull, LOL...yuck, I don't know how they can drink that stuff, it smells so bad.)
I'm right there with you that the parents should not be hosting these parties, but I'm worried about police being able to force entry into the houses just because of suspicion of underage drinking. That's getting into jackboot territory.
}:-)4
We celebrated H.S. graduation by being locked in the H.S. for the night with "adult" supervision.
No alcohol, but a lot folks dropped acid....
Dancing! Dancing! Do you know what dancing leads too?
A party? You remember those?
My thoughts exactly.
Anyone who does not recognize the above as sarcasm should stick their finger into an electric wall socket immediately.
What are these parents using for brains?
Nice, all you blue nose tea-totallers.
Question.
How many of the almost 2,000 troops killed in Iraq and Afganistan were "just too young to drink"?
In your Humble Opinion?
Just a question.
Six, Mr. Moore.
Your Eighteen.
You can vote for the President of the United States.
You can take a weapon and kill for your country.
You can get your ass shot off for your country. And your arms, and you legs, and lose your eyesight and your hearing.
But you're just too irresponsible to drink a beer.
Make me sick.
Communist.
1 - The main point is that police can search premises without a warrant in accordance with local ordinance - THIS is as much of a problem as irresponsible/absent parents.
2 - Starbucks Doubleshots.
"underage drinking is against the law as is serving it to the"
No it isn't - not in every state. Minors can drink with permission of parents in many states. If all the parents of the children at the party agreed to allow them to drink, and one or more set of parents were on hand to supervise, it shouldn't really be a problem.
This country's idiotic attitude towards minors and alcohol causes more problems than it solves. Minors should be taught how to responsibly drink, not be kept from some forbidden fruit they think will make them cool and popular.
Susan.
For what it’s worth, I think that the legal age for driving should be switched with the legal age for drinking. In other words, 21 years old for a driver’s license and 18 years old to be allowed to drink. My theory being that it is better to first learn the affects of drinking and how to drink responsibly before one is allowed to drive a car.
Heck, even with out a change to the drinking age it may be beneficial to have kids wait until they are 21 before being allowed to drive driving.
Dear Susan,
I am the biggest supporter of this war in my area.
But I also know what it is to be a troop, home on leave from a bad place, and get told, "go away sonny, you're too young."
Too young for what?
Dear Susan,
I am the biggest supporter of this war in my area.
But I also know what it is to be a troop, home on leave from a bad place, and get told, "go away sonny, you're too young."
Too young for what?
Who's Susan? I thought you wanted to call names.
Don't even go there.
Since YOU are the one who did it first.
I did not.
What the HELL ever happened to parent being parents and NOT trying to be their KIDS' FRIENDS?
There's a distinct difference between an in general "you people are blue noses" v.s. YOU are a Michael Moore.
The fact that kids drink even when it's against the law is no reason to let them drink. Human nature often pushes against boundaries. So should we just have no boundaries? Alcohol consumption has age limits for very good reasons. And bad choices have consequences. These parents knew the laws and they got what they deserved.
I won't bother to explain it to you. Go have a beer.
In the sixties, I drank at home when I was a kid. Folks didn't try to be my friend. Just didn't want me and my buds all over the road. Many, many parents did the same then.
Worked well then, could work now, but we have too many communists who want to kick your door and need an excuse.
Fans of underage drinking use that line alot.
Its my view, and it sould be made law, that anyone with a green ID card should be able to drink. If you want to drink that bad then go ahead and sign up.
Yeah, nothing good if you are a parent!!!!
You CAN'T explain yourself because you make no sense.
BTW. I don't drink. Have the beer yourself, you need it.
Works for me. Green ID law was proposed in many state houses way back when.
Too many "but that's not fair" types got in the way.
Move to Canada, Cuba, New York or Massachusetts if you need the nanny and her teat. Else, be an American and think about things like individual responsibility and limited govt.
BTW: About the harsh reply.... Anybody that would put "libertarian whining" in a post on a forum that purports to support the Constitution and Bill of Rights deserves a smack down. If you want to be a Republican, go somewhere else. There's no crying in Baseball and there's increasingly no place for Republicans in the fight for freedom.
“In the sixties, I drank at home when I was a kid. Folks didn't try to be my friend. Just didn't want me and my buds all over the road. Many, many parents did the same then. “
Same here, but my parents also cleared it with my buds parents.
WOOHOO!!
As did mine. All our parents were in league. I couldn't go anyones house that they didn't ask me if I'd had a few.
To lie was out of the question. It was better and easier to tell the truth.
Re your post #8 - LOL...
I wonder if the author also supports underage sex-fests? It's obvious that morality is a taboo subject among the "elite thinkers" these days; they hate abstinence of any kind and only back the parents that make immoral decisions, while wresting all control from parents that want a say in things their children might be doing, like abortions for example.
“As did mine. All our parents were in league. I couldn't go anyones house that they didn't ask me if I'd had a few.
To lie was out of the question. It was better and easier to tell the truth.”
With my dad, telling the truth was not only better and easier, it was also a good way to maintain good health and possession of your dental work.
And what kind of testoserone deprived wimpoid wants to go to a party with adult suprevision? Unless of course you go back every week after that and demand they buy you another 30 pack.
RE your post #26 - Now, THERE's a good question...
Agreed - but if the parents got together - all of them - and made that choice that alcohol would be allowed while supervised - then the state should not be involved in it.
Great message these parents are sending their kids, and other people's kids: You can't possibly have fun without drinking alcohol. The casual, unthinking acceptance of alcohol in our society is really scary. Statistically, 10% of these kids will go on to have serious problems with alcohol, but nobody seems to think's that a reason not to promote drinking as a normal healthy part of life. My children will never get that message from me, and they'll never see an adult drinking alcohol in their home, so they won't equate drinking alcohol with being "grown up".
If facilitating underage drinking is per se criminal, then why not advocate asset (house) forfeiture? That would be a HUGE deterrent.
Why no take their house as well? It's a strong deterrent.
No, I disagree. I still think what happens in your OWN home with your OWN kids is different than throwing a party for everyone else's kids. And, I think another poster was right - these parents are in essence saying to kids, it's impossible to have a good time without a drink. NOT a good message to send kids.
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