Under Age Drinking? Really?

[Jim O'Bryan]

I am amazed over the interest in some young adults caught drinking beer in a park. They
were fired, over, done with?

http://fox8.com/2012/07/11/lifeguards-in-hot-water-over-underage-pool-party/
From Fox 8
But according to Mayor Summers, it’s not over yet.
“We’ve learned through the media that perhaps city rules were violated by bringing alcohol into the park. We now have an obligation to follow up,” said the mayor.

Earlier in the report:
“The Fourth of July in Lakewood was a disaster, and we were trying to communicate to the people what was going on. We agreed that we could commandeer what was going on through the PA system at the Park. I showed up, unbeknownst to a lot of lifeguards, apparently,” said Mayor Mike Summers.

If the Mayor, caught people drinking beer in the park which in itself is against the law,
and they were inside a public building, again another problem, and they were employees,
drinking on duty, and under the age of 21, which might not have been apparent in the
rush of the emergency.

Did he really learn laws were broken through the media?

Just saying?

Which part of that was OK? Or legal?
I wouldn't mind a drink at the lake while watching the sun go down.


FWIW

[Peter Grossetti]

Given the events of the day, I'll bet Hizzoner had a highball or two at the end of that day. I know I would have (and I'm pretty much a glass-of-wine-with-my-evening-meal kind of guy!)

I hope the parents involved used this as a "teaching moment."

“As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes.” ~Mel Brooks

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” ~Mark Twain

[kate e parker]

yeah, the pool is technically located in the park but...

underage drinking around water. underage drinkers drinking at their place of employment (foster pool). underage drinking.

what if something happened? accidental drowning, head injury, drunken misbehavior. how would have the city been impacted? bad press? lawsuits?

just wonderin.

[kate e parker]

wonder what would happen to me, well above the drinking age, if i snuck two cases of beer into the pool?

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that i bet i would see judge carroll's face in my future.

i guess some laws are ok to break around here.

[Grace O'Malley]

Kate is right - the potential for tragedy is enough to make it very wrong and the involved parties deserve punishment. Heck, even real grownups should know better than to surreptitiously have a drinking party at their place of employment.

On the other hand, I think we are are a bit too tough on kids- they are legally adults at 18 for all purposes EXCEPT for the right to purchase and consume alcohol. In addition, numerous studies have proved that the under 21 crowd really lacks certain decision-making skills that come as you age. I'd hate to ruin someone's entire life over a mistake made as a young person. So, I think they deserve punishment to acknowledge the seriousness of the behavior, but I hope it is fairly and judiciously applied.

Finally, I think this situation highlights a serious issue in the handling of "youthful indiscretions." It appears that there is an obvious difference in how CERTAIN kids are treated. There is a widespread thought that "nice" kids don't deserve harsh punishment but less than desirable kids should be nailed to the cross. It tends to follow class lines. Kids from middle to upper class families who make bad judgments tend to be viewed as basically nice kids that made a juvenile mistake that doesn't rise to the level of needing serious punishment. Conversely, kids from the other side of the tracks tend to be harshly dealt with when they make mistakes because we need to teach the scoundrels and their friends a lesson or they will end up as adult career criminals.

I see this all the time in many parts of the county and even among my own peer group. I have heard that some of the parents of the involved kids made some rumblings to try to prevent any punishment for their kids. I hope this is not true.

[Tracy Jones]

From what I have heard, only one underage guard brought in the alcohol, and this one guard has resigned. The other guards there were only guilty by association, or possibly, for not standing up to the guilty party by telling them to leave the pool, or by leaving the pool on their own, when, or even if, the situation was made known to them.

They were at the pool with management's permission to watch the fireworks. Of course bringing in the alcohol was not allowed, and the one person responsible for it has resigned.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I guess the post misses the point.

They were fired, already.

If the mayor, head of the city caught them, held on to them called the board.
One would hope he realized it was illegal. Or is drinking OK in parks. I do not care
either way, but for all can we drink in the parks or is that illegal?

For the mayor to say he found out through the media is disingenuous to say the least.

The mayor was busy, but outraged to read about it?

FWIW

[Peter Grossetti]

Jim - I think the point of the post was quite well received by Grace:

It appears that there is an obvious difference in how CERTAIN kids are treated.

Reminds me of two concurent incidents from my HS days (in Masachusetts back in the 1970's) ... the football team (which I was on and made up mostly of kids from working class families) had its final game of the season cancelled by the school board after a keg party we had the weekend prior was found out. A day after our keg party, our state tournament-bound soccer team (comprised mostly of the "darlings" of our little community) celebrated their tournament acceptance with a pot party which was also found out. Wouldn't you know, the school board-led investigation into who was involved and at what level (with no suspensions/disciplinary action during the investigation) took three weeks ... just long enough for our glorious lads to breeze their way to a third straight state soccer title!

Puhleeeeze ... this ain't nothing new!

[kate e parker]

while i agree with peter and grace that kids (let's not fool ourselves, it's adults too) are penalized differently depending on their station in life i fail to notice any mention of the underager's upbringing in the original article let alone what side of the proverbial tracks they live on.

no big deal about indiscretions of youth? try google searching "underage drinking + drowning" and read all the heartbreak for yourself.

[J Hrlec]

What's the question?

Under age drinking? Really? I believe the answer is yes, there was underage drinking based on the reported information.

[Peter Grossetti]

i fail to notice any mention of the underager's upbringing in the original article let alone what side of the proverbial tracks they live on.

You know ... kate is 100% right! I made an hasty assumption about who these young people are and jumped to conclusions. I most humbly and sincerely apologize.

Upon reflection, my initital sentiment mostly disappoints myself ... because as a mentor and court monitor for LOBC at Kauffman Park, I would be horrified to think that someone had preconceived notions about the kids playing hoops there!

[Jim O'Bryan]

To clarify from some of the various reports I have heard from some of the participants.

Mayor Summers might not have seen the workers drinking. Some think there was no way
he saw the beer on his short time there before he went off to the podium.

As I mentioned, I was not doubting how busy he was, but if the news was the first time
he had heard of the youths at the pool.

Perhaps, he meant, it was the first time he had heard of the beer was with the news.

.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

Man, I remember my first beer.

I must be missing the point of this post. I'm sure the Mayor was busy with a much bigger problem than a few open beers, and that's a problem the Lakewood Police Department could and probably should take care of alone. Does every case have to end up on the Mayor's desk? He's only one man, and has two eyes, and can be in one place at one time. He certainly had bigger fish to fry that evening, and it wouldn't be farfetched to believe that he didn't hear about this incident right away.

He's not the caped crusader, he's just one guy, and can only oversee so much at one time. I'd certainly believe that trying to figure out the fireworks problem with 100,000+ anxious residents would take priority over a few kids drinking beer. Not saying they shouldn't go unpunished, (they got fired and the city is looking into it), but at that time and place, given the circumstance, the mayor shouldn't be responsible for dragging the kids out of the pool by their collars himself. And it's not crazy to think that the matter was dealt with by LPD and he didn't hear about it until a formal report was filed and the media inquired about it.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Man, I remember my first beer.

I must be missing the point of this post. I'm sure the Mayor was busy with a much bigger problem than a few open beers, and that's a problem the Lakewood Police Department could and probably should take care of alone. Does every case have to end up on the Mayor's desk? He's only one man, and has two eyes, and can be in one place at one time. He certainly had bigger fish to fry that evening, and it wouldn't be farfetched to believe that he didn't hear about this incident right away.

He's not the caped crusader, he's just one guy, and can only oversee so much at one time. I'd certainly believe that trying to figure out the fireworks problem with 100,000+ anxious residents would take priority over a few kids drinking beer. Not saying they shouldn't go unpunished, (they got fired and the city is looking into it), but at that time and place, given the circumstance, the mayor shouldn't be responsible for dragging the kids out of the pool by their collars himself. And it's not crazy to think that the matter was dealt with by LPD and he didn't hear about it until a formal report was filed and the media inquired about it.

All valid points and very true.

My only comment question, in a humorous way was and I quote.

"Did he really learn laws were broken through the media?"

What I found out, and put back there, that actually, yes he did learn it from the media
as far as the beer and possible underage drinking.

Not saying he did anything wrong that night. Not expecting Mike, to throw on a cape, and
do anything more than he did. I had lunch with Mayor Summers the next day and we were
talking about what he had gone through, the night before and we were laughing about the
look on their faces when they asked "Who are you?" and he told them.

This is why I thought i humorous that he found out about the law breaking in the media.

But I forgot, but I suppose many in the city lost their sense of humor.

.