Social Host Ordinance

Sebastopol has a new ordinance called the Social Host Ordinance. It targets teen drinking parties of which there are many in this little town. The ordinance states: "It is unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to knowingly host an underage social gathering on private or public property within the city. A person knowingly hosts an underage social gathering whenever the social host is aware that an underage person has consumed an alcoholic beverage or reasonably should have been aware had the social host taken reasonable steps to prevent consumption of alcoholic beverages by underage persons. Such steps include, but are not limited to : controlling the quantity of alcoholic beverages present at a gathering, verifying the age of the persons attending the gathering by inspecting drivers' licenses or other government-issued identification cards, and supervising the activities of underage persons at a gathering.

The fine for an infraction is $300. It would be treated in the same way as a traffic ticket. It does not limit those who would be charged but the police will definite target underage drinking parties especially when a neighbor has complained. We received a four page question and answer sheet from the police department a few days ago.

I decided to read the handout to my sophomores. There was an immediate reaction. "The Sebastopol police do that only because they are bored. They have nothing better to do." "The police here are always picking on us." "Why don't they go out and solve some real crimes." They asked a bunch of questions all dealing with loopholes to the law. In my sixth period class a couple of student at least acknowledged that alcohol abuse by teenagers might be a serious problem. But on the whole they gave an emotionally filled reaction of entitlement. "We should have a right to do to our bodies what we want to do." I blame it on years of them getting what they want in almost every situation. Also the an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex.