Help stop underage drinking by changing the current Social Host Law
How often do your children go to a friends house? When they go, are you expecting a parent or other adult to keep a casual eye on them so they don’t get into trouble? Would you reasonably expect that your child would be safe in their home or on their premises? And would you anticipate that your underage children would not be able to drink alcohol and get drunk at a friends house, especially when one or both parents are at home? For most of us, the answer would be a resounding “Yes” to these questions. But did you also know that there is no real law to protect you and your family from this happening. Your son or daughter could go to a friends house, get drunk, leave the house drunk and then die several minutes later due to an accident, all with a parent being home while it happens. There is no real law to deter against it. This is because of Ohio’s failed Social Host Law. The law was written to hold adults accountable for minors drinking alcohol on their premises. But the way the current law is worded, all a parent or responsible adult has to say is that they didn’t know or have knowledge that the kids were drinking or they can even claim that they were sleeping at the time the kids were getting drunk and they are absolved of all responsibility! Basically, they Do Not Have To Keep An Eye On Your Kids for you, even when the kids are in their home drinking alcohol illegally. Many parents may be OK with this type of activity until, of course, your child is the one who is injured or killed and then you will feel differently about the topic. Unfortunately, it is too late by that point. There is no warning sign or notice to you before it happens. You receive a call late one evening that there has been an accident and your child is Dead. No way to stop it and no way to bring them back. It is a permanent change in your life, Forever! Your child is gone and so are the hopes and dreams that you ever had for them. There is no second chance to do things over. To look at your son or daughter lying dead on a cold gurney in the emergency department or gaze upon them one last time before their casket is sealed forever before your eyes. The feeling is incomprehensible! Then you find out that there was a party at a friends house where all the kids were drinking and your child was one of them. You learn he or she was able to leave the party drunk, get into their car or someone else’s car and die in a drunk driving accident minutes later. Or maybe your child wasn’t the one drinking but got into the car with a drunk friend and died at the hand of that drunk driver. Lastly, you find out that the parents hosting the party were actually home during all of this but state they were upstairs sleeping while your child died, claiming no knowledge of the events of that evening. This can happen to you! Our current law does not protect you or your children from this nightmare scenario. What real motivation do parents have to keep your children from harm when pleading ignorance in the eyes of the law is a legitimate excuse. That is the flaw in Ohio’s current Social Host law. A parent can simply say “I didn’t know minors were drinking in my home” and he or she is released from all responsibility of keeping your child safe. Then I ask you, if your not there to watch and keep your own child from harms way, then who will? If parents can simply deny that they have any knowledge of what is going on in their own home, then how can we ever hold anybody accountable for their lack of attention to keep your children safe. If we are to ever change things regarding the hosting laws, then we need to give hosting parents a consequence to be concerned about: ACCOUNTABILITY. Help us change the Social Host law in order to help better protect you and your family from having this happening to you. Let’s hold parents a little more responsible for the safety of your children when they are at their home and on their premises when it comes to alcohol. Wouldn’t you want to know that your child is safe and that someone is at least keeping a casual eye on things in your absence? I cannot explain to you the horrible feeling of losing a child to such a scenario and I hope you will never have to experience this in your life time. But I can tell you that it happens. It happened to our family and there isn’t a moment of any day that I don’t think about my son Brian who died at age 18 after drinking at a friends house where no adult was watching or supervising, even though both parents were home and right upstairs. I wrote a book called “The Night He Died: The Harsh Reality of Teenage Drinking”. If you would like to learn how this could happen to you and to gain a better insight into the pain and reality of such an incident, then read the first few chapters of my book. I assure you that it will change your perspective on life and on teenage drinking forever. In addition, there is a chapter explaining our current Social Host law and how it needs to be changed to better protect our children for the future. Please take the time to really consider what I have written. No one is above this happening to them, no matter who you are or what you do for a living. Most teenagers will drink alcohol at some point and teenagers Drink to get Drunk!; they do not casually enjoy a glass of wine as an adult would. Expect your kids to be safe at a friends house and not be able to drink alcohol there. Please Share this post for all to Read if you agree with this message. And Please sign the attached Petition so we can start the process of changing our Social Host law. Only you can help to bring change, one person at a time. If no one stands up for change and our children, then who will? Please get involved now. Your one signature could be the one that is needed to save your child’s life. Lets hold hosting parents a little more accountable when it comes to underage drinking parties in their home. Don’t be afraid to be the one to bring change. Please Sign the petition and Share this Post in an effort to save lives. Thank you!
