PARENTS OF TEENS ALERT: Serving to Minors is ALWAYS Illegal

PARENTS OF TEENS ALERT: Serving to Minors is ALWAYS Illegal

It’s graduation season for high-school seniors, which also means an increase in celebratory parties and a spike in teenage drinking.

Every year, underage drinking is responsible for at least 189,000 emergency room visits and approximately 4,300 fatalities of youth between the ages of 12 to 20 according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Statistics show June and July are the most popular months of the year for teen drinking and that most teens try their first taste of alcohol in the summer- about 940,000 by the end of the season!

If it’s illegal for minors to buy alcohol on Long Island and across the United States, how are they getting their hands on it? Unfortunately, their own parents are sometimes to blame.

Serving to Minors is ALWAYS Illegal

No matter who or where you are, serving alcohol to minors is never legal. Parents who serve or allow minors to consume alcohol at their residence are in for a big shock if they believe their own homes are safe territories for underage drinking. In fact, in the last few years on Long Island…

  • The parents of a house party in Sound Beach were arrested after a teen was taken to the hospital for drinking too much. The couples claimed there were only supposed to be a ‘few friends’ but at least 100 minors showed up to drink.
  • Parents from Dix Hills were arrested back in 2011 for hosting a party that caused the death of a 16-year-old girl. She was hit by a car walking home from the party after having too much to drink.
  • A Deer Park mom was charged with violating the law in 2017 after hosting a party with at least 200 people in her home and alcohol freely flowing to minors of all ages.

Last summer, Suffolk County launched a social media trolling initiative to significantly reduce the number of adults serving alcohol to minors. Using online clues, authorities were dispatched to either warn parents that an underage keg party was set to occur or arrest parents clearly condoning dangerous behaviors.

This year, both Suffolk and Nassau County police departments are prepared to crackdown on underage drinking and are warning parents to be aware of the serious and possibly fatal consequences of allowing teens to consume alcohol in their home.

Social Host Laws: What You Need To Know

Social host laws came about to hold adults and homeowners responsible for any injuries or deaths resulting from serving alcohol to minors under their roof. Suffolk and Nassau counties both have strict regulations when it comes to violating social host laws and it’s important for parents and their children to understand the legal implications before graduation party season begins. If you host a party with underage drinkers, you can be liable for:

  • Injuries sustained in your home
  • Injuries sustained outside of your home
  • Car accidents
  • Pedestrian accidents
  • Drinking illnesses
  • Assault and rape resulting from party drinking
  • Other criminal actions performed by party guests

Parents could not only be criminally charged for these incidents but financially held accountable for damages. It is also possible for parents to be held liable even if they are not home, as long as it can be proven they had prior knowledge of the drinking or a history of allowing minors to drink at their residence.

If your child is 18-years-old or older and hosts a party with underage drinkers without parental supervision, consent, or knowledge, your child could be the one held legally accountable. Making sure to review the laws with your teens, especially if they are no longer minors, is extremely important in helping to prevent serious and long-term consequences of a party gone wrong.

Serious Risks of Underaged Drinking

More importantly than getting into trouble, parents should be worried about the health risks of minors consuming alcohol. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 90 percent of teen alcohol consumption is in the form of binge drinking, which is defined as consuming five or more beverages in a sitting for men or four or more beverages for women. Binge drinking is a dangerous habit that could lead to a number of immediate and future health conditions, including:

  • Seizures
  • Alcohol poisoning
  • Nausea and/or vomiting
  • Fainting (blackouts)
  • Impaired breathing
  • Liver problems
  • Coma
  • Neurological issues
  • Stomach ulcers
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Death

Binge drinking at a young age makes teens highly susceptible to longterm addictions, interfering with the brain’s growth at one of the most critical stages of development. The CDC reports teens who drink alcohol are more likely to…

  • Be absent from school.
  • Achieve poor or failing grades.
  • Engage in violent behaviors.
  • Acquire legal problems such as assault, drunk driving, or truancy.
  • Participate in unwanted, unplanned or unprotected sexual behaviors.
  • Experience disruption in growth (physically, mentally, and sexually).
  • Become a victim of physical or sexual assault.
  • Experience memory problems.
  • Abuse other drugs.
  • Elevate their risk for suicide and homicide.

What To Do About Underage Drinking

The safest move to make as a parent when it comes to underage drinking is to never allow it in your home. It’s not worth the risks, the consequences, or the possibility of someone’s life, to throw a graduation party that makes your child popular with their friends. If you’re a parent who has become aware that underage drinking is occurring when you are not home or were surprised upon arriving home to find drunk minors scattered about, here’s what you should do to protect everyone involved:

  • Immediately demand the drinking/party to cease and ask everyone to leave the premises.
  • Involve local authorities to help remove minors from your home if you are unable to come home, if teens are extremely intoxicated or if guests refuse to disperse.
  • Set ground rules with your children when it comes to alcohol consumption in your home or at the homes of their peers.
  • Review the health consequences of mild or excessive drinking in regards to teenage development in hopes to prevent your child from binge drinking in the future.

Graduation day is an extremely exciting time for parents and teens- don’t let alcoholic beverages ruin the celebration.

Share this post

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

PROMOTION PERIOD: The Siler & Ingber Mineola MegaStar Contest begins on March 20, 2023 at 12:00 am ET and
ends on May 1, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET.

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible, a MegaStar must be a legal U.S. resident at least 16 years of age as of date of
Nomination. A Mineola MegaStar is defined as a person who lives or works in Mineola and is admired or idealized for their courage, dedication, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. By participating, Entrants agree to be
bound by the official rules. Sponsors reserve the right to verify and determine eligibility in their sole discretion.

TO PARTICIPATE: During the Promotion Period, Siler & Ingber will accept from the members of the public (herein, the “Nominators”) nominations of Eligible Entrants (Mineola Megastars) who live or works in Mineola. Nominations may be entered by visiting www.nylawnet.com/mineolamegastar and completing the online form and essay submission or by emailing photo and essay to marketing@nylawnet.com during the Promotion Period to receive one (1) entry. Essay must not exceed 500 words. Acceptable essay formats are word documents or pdf ONLY. Nominations submitted without all required information or after the Promotion Period will be disregarded.
Online submissions must be received by May 1, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET to be eligible. All entries become the exclusive property of Siler & Ingber and will not be acknowledged or returned.

ESSAY: During the promotion period, an Entrant can nominate a Mineola MegaStar for the contest by submitting a
photo and essay. The essay must describe why the individual should be chosen as the award winner, including how the individual demonstrates some or all of the following qualifications:

1) an inspiring example to others by helping make Mineola a better place to live (through volunteerism, extra-curricular actives, special projects, giving back, etc.)

2) going above and beyond to aid a friend, family member, stranger or community in a time of need; and/or

3) love of profession and desire, determination and diligence to help outside of normal job responsibilities. The essay must be in English and no more than 500 words. All information provided must be truthful, accurate and complete. An Entrant cannot nominate more than one Hero.

Submitted Materials: Each essay must satisfy all the following submission requirements the Submission


Requirements:

· The essay must be the original creation of Entrant.

· The essay must not portray any recognizable individual without their prior consent, including consent from the
Hero.

· Entrant must either own all rights to the essay or otherwise have the right to submit the essay in the contest and to provide the rights to Sage Surfaces as set forth herein.

· The essay must not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights.

· The essay may not contain illegal, indecent, obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit content, or otherwise offensive material or inappropriate content such as aberrational behavior, graphic violence, drug abuse, or nudity.

· The essay must not promote bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.

· The essay must be non-defamatory and must not invade any third party’s right of privacy or publicity.

· The essay must otherwise be appropriate for publication or broadcast or display on a general interest website.

By submitting an essay, each Entrant represents and warrants that the essay meets all of the submission
requirements and that the distribution, reproduction, display and any other uses of any part of the essay by Siler & Ingber as permitted herein will not infringe any third-party rights. Each Entrant further agrees to indemnify and hold Siler & Ingber harmless from and against any and all claims, demands, damages, costs, liabilities and causes of action of whatsoever nature that are based upon or arise out of any breach by such Entrant of such warranties or representations made by contestant or of these official rules.

By submitting an essay, Entrant grants to Siler & Ingber a non-exclusive, perpetual, world-wide, royalty-free license (and waives all moral rights in and to the essay) to display or otherwise use the essay in connection with this promotion and as set forth herein. If Siler & Ingber determines, in its sole discretion and at any time during the promotion period, that any nomination violates the submission requirements, is otherwise unsuitable, offensive, or in poor taste, or violates these official rules, Siler & Ingber reserves the right to remove and disqualify the essay. Siler & Ingber retains sole
discretion as to whether any nomination satisfies the submission requirements and the official rules.

WINNER SELECTION: For the entry period, a panel of judges will select potential Mineola Megastar finalists based on the compelling nature of the essay based on the criteria set forth herein. Top 5 entries will be announced on May 10, 2023. We will post the top 5 on social media. Final winner announced May 15, 2023. Award Ceremony for Mineola MegaStar will take place on May 19, 2023.


WINNER NOTIFICATION AND RELEASES: We will attempt to notify potential winners via telephone and/or email. If a potential winner: (a) does not respond within 48 hours of initial notification attempt; (b) is not in compliance with these official rules, (c) does not meet the eligibility requirements, (d) declines the prize, he or she will be disqualified, and an alternate winner will be selected by applying the criteria set forth above.
PRIZES: There is 1 Mineola MegaStar. Winner will receive a $500 Cash Prize.

PUBLICITY AND MARKETING: Submission of a nomination in the contest constitutes permission to Siler & Ingber to use Entrants name, identity, title, likeness, distinctive appearance, physical likeness, image, portrait, picture, photograph (whether still or moving), screen persona, voice, vocal style, statements, gesture, mannerism, personality, performance characteristic, biographical data, signature, social media handles and identities, and any other indicia or imitation of identity or likeness for purposes of advertising and trade, in any medium, without further notice, approval, or compensation, unless prohibited by law.

PRIZE RESTRICTIONS: No transfer, assignment, sale, duplication, cash redemption or substitution of Prize (or portion of Prize) is permitted, except by Sponsors, which reserve the right to substitute a Prize (or applicable portion of Prize) with one of comparable or greater value, as determined by Sponsors. Sponsors are not responsible for and will not replace a lost or stolen Prize or any component thereof. All Prize details are at Sponsors’ sole and absolute discretion. Non-compliance with these Official Rules may result in disqualification and, at Sponsors’ sole discretion, the awarding of Prize to an alternate winner.

VERIFICATION OF OFFICIAL WINNER: ALL PRIZE WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION BY SPONSORS, WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE CONTEST.

Do I Have A Case

    Skip to content