Wow. 60 min first segment was about underage drinking in my county

[Scout1071]

in Kansas. We are actually a burb of Kansas City, but they were talking about arresting parents who let their teenage kids hold drinking parties at their houses where they confiscate all vehicle keys upon entrance. Parents are arrested and sent to jail.

Thoughts?

[xmas74]

1. What county is that?

I missed it-I would bet on Johnson Co, KS though.

[hlthe2b]

4. I'd bet you'd be right....

Heavy on the rich, arrogant, bastard, Repugs-- so have at it!

[xmas74]

5. yes they are!

JOCO KS makes me sick to even drive through most of the time-I prefer to avoid it at all costs.
Unfortunately, I live in JOCO MO-poor folks but Repug central (nearly 70 percent of the county went to Bush in the last election).

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Now xmas

I live in Jo Co KS and so do a lot of other really good people. Next time you drive through, look me up. I will give you a better impression.

I used to have a t-shirt that said
I live in Johnson County but I'm Poor

[xmas74]

22. I used to date someone who lived in JoCo KS.

Most are nice. It's the spoiled rotten rich puke children that give you a bad reputation in the first place. I tend to stay away most of the time because my middle finger gets cramped from flipping off all of the Hummers on the road(I cramped it up a few weeks ago in KC proper doing the same thing). But, since you are a good Dem (as was the person that I dated-has since moved to the East Coast) I will try not to be quite so negative.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Nearly a half a million people live here

not all are evil repukes or Hummer drivers.

[Scout1071]

8. DING, ding, ding...Johnson Co is the correct county.

[xmas74]

12. What is my prize?

One of the richy-rich kid pukes as my yard slave? They need to do some real work for once!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Personally,

I wouldn't allow any underage person break the law. I've been at places where youths were allowed to drink and do drugs, and it made me feel very very uncomfortable. I always left parties like that early.

When one has seen victims of drunk drivers living in pain and disability, when one reads of girls being raped by drunken boys, one realizes there is a reason why underage people shouldn't be allowed to drink (and adults should always have designated drivers)

[Scout1071]

13. That type of behavior doesn't just stop with young people.

I'm just saying.

[ltfranklin]

3. These days...

...I would imagine that a parent that allowed JUST their own kid to try drinking alcoholic beverages in their own house would be arrested and sent to jail if word of it got out. Not to mention having their kid taken.

I mean, I can see the logic behind teaching a kid the use and abuse of a legal drug that will be available to them, hell, pushed towards them, when they reach age 18. If I had kids, I think I'd rather they find out about it in the safety of their own home than outside where the experiment cannot be controlled.

But I think there's a lot of people out there that wouldn't.

[xmas74]

6. I was raised w/ having a mug of beer or a glass of wine(just one)

at mealtime. But nowadays they probably would have arrested my parents for doing just that.

[tjdee]

7. Nothin' else for the kids to do...

I personally, *personally* have found that there is significantly more drinking/drug use in suburban/rural areas where there's nothing else for teenagers to do. They hang out at the 7-11, drive out to the abandoned house or whatever, etc.

As far as having it go on in your house-I'd rather my kid get drunk in my house rather than at some other house with no supervision in case things go horribly wrong.

HOWEVER--I do think that would be condoning the behavior, which I'm not cool with. I don't want her drinking until she's way over 21, LOL, and I definitely do not want her engaging in drug related (read: illegal) activities. So I don't know.

[Scout1071]

9. That's the point. These parents realized they had a choice.

I mean, who here amongst us didn't at least try to drink alcohol at 17 or 18? You know your kids are doing it. You know you did it. So these parents said, if you are going to do it, you are not going to drive and we are going to assure that by doing it at home under our watchful eye. They had each kid surrender their keys upon entry. Done for the night.

All that law is going to do is push kids away from their house when they do it and increase teenage drinking and driving.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. It is one thing to allow your own kids to drink at home

But it's another thing entirely to let them invite their friends over to get drunk. Just saying.

[Baclava]

10. I was never allowed to drink at home

We did it the old fashioned way, by sneaking around under bleachers...no wonder kids turn out so wrong...they have forgotten the wisdom of their ancestors. Sneaking and running are stepping stones to enlightenment...so sayeth me-eth.

[Scout1071]

11. But the laws for getting caught are much more serious now

When I first starting drinking as a teenager in this very same county, if you were caught, they would pour out the beer, take your names and threaten to tell your parents. Then, when I was around 17, they enacted a "Zero Tolerance" policy. Caught = arrested. Period. It was around this time that parents of my friends, and even my own parents to some extent, became more tolerant of small gatherings that were monitored. They knew we were going to do it and they understood the consequences of us getting caught and we came to an understanding that we would "chill" at home without the driving.

[xmas74]

14. I remember those days in your county!

When I was a teenager I met someone at a tournament. They invited me up to Mission to party. I drove up (lied to my parents about where I was going) and we all started to drink. I also remember when the police came along, dumped out all of our beer and stated (and I quote) " I don't know how you do things in (name of my old town) but here in Johnson County..."

It's just not the same now.

[Scout1071]

16. Exactly. It's ZERO TOLERANCE. And I mean that in every

sense of the word.

[xmas74]

17. It is throughout Missouri too.

I have watched a few kids (I dispatch in a college town) pretty much throw away their lives for walking into a bar at the age of 20 (keeps them out of some jobs-more than one has been a criminal justice, public safety or emergency crisis major). Once they get a zero tolerance on their records, some can no longer pursue their dreams. And that is really sad.

[Baclava]

15. "Monitored drinking"?

What fun is that? Oh well - it's a citizens responsibility to consume the local drug of choice. Carry on.

Must consume.

"Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun,

Kiss the girls and make them One.

Boys at 0ne with girls at peace;

Orgy-porgy gives release."

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Darn I meant to watch that

Remember when the kids from Rockhurst trashed that house out south a year - maybe two years - ago? There have been a bunch of articles in The Sun about it. Leawood decided to get tough and crack down on the problem.

My house was a hangout for my kids and their friends when they were teens. We left them alone but also had a pretty strict policy about no booze in the house. For me, there was no choice. If I was ever arrested for hosting a teenage drinking party, I would lose my job for sure. So my kids were great about respecting that rule.

[flamingyouth]

20. I don't have a big problem with underaged drinking.

I do, however, have a huge problem with drinking and driving - no matter the age of the offender. I'd wish they'd send convicted drunk drivers to jail for longer sentences, personally.

[tjwmason]

23. Bloody ludicrous

Does the law actualy ban young folk from drinking?

Over here you have to be 18 to buy alcohol or drink in a pub and 16 to drink with a meal in a restaurant (the drink has to be bought by somebody over 18 of course); but you can drink at home from any age.

They parents take all car keys - i.e., prevent drink driving; and presumably they exercise some supervisory role. To bring in a total prohibition below 18 (or even worse 21) is pure insanity; a mini version of bad-old prohibition (thank goodness that idiocy never hit Britain).

[imenja]

25. it wasn't simply their own children

They had a household full of teenagers binge drinking. It's one thing to allow their own children to drink at home. It's another thing when it comes to allowing other teenagers to drink without their parents permission. Mainly these parents were just plain stupid to think they would get away with it.

The drinking age laws in this country correspond to drunk driving fatalities. The drinking age was 18 for a few years, but so many teenagers killed themselves and others, they raised the age back to 21. Laws are set by the states, but the federal government is able to influence the drinking age by withholding highway funds from states that set a lower drinking age.

[tjwmason]

26. I can see your point...however

These people are going to drink together anyway, the supervising parents should make it clear that they expect all concerned not to be disobeying their own parents.

As for the laws, again I can see the point, but drinking and drunk driving are two totally different phenomena. Whilst these parents may well have been stupid to expect to evade punishment, nonetheless in an old English phrase "the law is an ass".

[imenja]

24. They were nuts if they thought they wouldn't get prosecuted

I understand their logic and it makes sense for their own kids, but they don't have the right to make that kind of decision for teenagers who aren't their own. How they imagined they would not get in trouble over it is beyond me. It was just plain stupid.