Students risk futures at parties
April 24, 2017
Music plays throughout the house and dancing ensues, all of the sudden bright red and blue lights and blaring sirens fill up the room. Cops busting a party is just another risk for any teen party-goer.
Students have been going to parties since middle school, but high school parties have changed since then. Student A went to their first party in the seventh grade. “Then it was just Johnston students and now they’re from like all the schools in Iowa,” Student A said. “There wasn’t any weed at those parties either.”
Parties can get straight up dirty. “One time I went to this party and there was pizza,” Student A said. “I got up to talk to someone and when I went sit down someone had left an open pizza box with a whole pizza in it on my chair and I sat in it.”
Ruined clothes are not the only risk teens face when attending ragers. There are more serious consequences that can occur at parties. With all of the underage drinking and drug usage, students who are at these parties could be subjected to life changing results. “Someone said the cops were coming so I got my friends and we all split up,” Student A said. “We saw a bunch of people running into the woods so that’s what we did.”
Teens who get caught and are intoxicated will be criminally charged with intoxication as well as having their school administration notified. Teens who are caught at a party but have not been drinking still have their parents and school notified. “Someone ran away and the cops chased after him,” Student C said. “I just went in my car and left.”
Police busting a party is a risk but it is a rare occurrence. Johnston Police Department Lieutenant Lynn Aswegan said they rarely ever gets calls about parties.”We don’t get calls about parties on a weekly basis or even a monthly basis,” she said.
There might not always be direct consequences at every party, but students should be aware of the potential risks. “If you go to a party be safe,” Student B said. “Go with someone you trust.”
