Teen Drinking and Parents

[Aleksey_aka_al]

No, I understood that. Just continued

 

[GoodGame]

Sodomy?????

Gomorrah!


But seriously, the risk of DUI is bad enough, especially when other people's kids are involved.

 

[kochman]

They might as well have eating laws..

Some cities do (NYC, SF, for example)!
For example, a problem that many cite when talking about universal HC is that now the government, who pays for it (with our taxes) has wiggle room onto deciding what you should not be eating/drinking, due to health risks...
Transfat, etc...

It is in the best interest of the taxpayers, and the eaters, but it is obviously an infringement upon individual rights.

 

[Mark1031]

Its their house, their property...of course they are responsible.

As a parent, I realize this and keep our kids house parties down to a manageable size with some specific rules in place. It's my house, and its my responsibility to ensure what happens at my house doesnt disturb my neighbors, or cause me issues with local law enforcement.

So if at your small party that you are supervising so closely some kid goes into the bathroom and takes a drink of something he brought or let's say he shoots heroin. Should you be arrested for heroin possession and contributing to the delinquency or a minor? It’s your house the heroin is in. Your bathroom is the shooting gallery. Those are some pretty heavy charges you are facing. How are you protecting yourself from this? Do you do body cavity searches of your guests? Do you accompany them to the toilet? This may seem to be over the top but all that is really needed for it to happen is for one of your guests to be a drug user. I can easily see kids sneaking some stuff into a party and if they were not obviously intoxicated it simply flying under the radar. That is not a crime.

 

[Virote_Considon]

They might as well have eating laws..

That just isn't the Amurkhan way.

Eating (unhealthy food) is to Americans what vodka is to Russians and Poles.

 

[Quintillus]

The missing link seems to be how the police went from arriving for a noise complaint, to concluding that some of the kids were "displaying the signs of being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage." If it's just a noise complaint, there probably isn't any justification for searching the house, so any signs would have to be pretty obvious. There probably weren't vodka bottles visible on tables from the main doorway, or the parents would have noticed. Similarly, if they'd been hammered enough to be puking or stumbling all over the place, the parents probably would have noticed. The sign that seems most likely to have been noticed would be rowdiness, but rowdiness alone doesn't imply there's been drinking, especially at a celebration. It could well have been the cause of the noise complaint, but that just calls for a warning or writing-up for the noise, and letting them know to tone it down.

Just seems odd that the police would show up and notice something right away, while the parents were oblivious. A few more details from the police side could improve their credibility a lot, if it is legitimate.