Spring Break 2014 - South Walton

[Teresa]

Posted today on Walton County Sheriff's Office fb page. Gotta be Old Hwy 98 near Pompano Joe's, Whale's Tail stretch....

The Sheriff's office is reporting quite a few arrests for underage drinking. KIDS, please be advised that the Sheriff's office is cracking down again this year in South Walton, Florida.

WCSO operations for spring break began Sunday. 72 individuals, under the age of 21, were arrested for possession of alcohol. 10 individuals were also arrested on Saturday for the same charge.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Offices toughened their policy on dealing with underage drinkers for this year’s spring break after deputies noticed students treating their notices to appear as almost a badge of honor in recent years.

Under the sheriff’s office’s current policy, spring breakers under 18 will be given a notice to appear in court and their parents will be called. Spring breakers between 18 and 20 will be arrested. nwfdailynews.com

Panama City News Herald:

The week of March 10-14 will be the busiest week of the season, with an estimated 2.7 million U.S. college students out of school. March 17-21 will be another big week, with about 1.4 million students on Spring Break.

U.S. college students on Spring Break by week:
- March 3-7: 664,357
- March 10-14: 2.7 million
- March 17-21: 1.4 million
- March 24-28: 681,745
- March 31-April 4: 179,367

PCB Spring Break on this past Sunday| News Herald photographer Heather Leiphart

 

[Teresa]

Meanwhile along Scenic 30A, I've heard one report of a packed out vacation home and underage drinking, arrests, moms who are IN the homes providing the alcohol to their kids, etc.. I guess this is normal stuff in 2014?

Seaside was packed out today but was able to navigate my way through it pretty easily (locals know the way).

The beaches along Scenic 30A were beautiful today along with stellar weather! Plenty of people on spring break vacation which is a good thing for our great local businesses and restaurants!

 

[Teresa]

Pensacola Beach today:

 

[Leader of the Banned]

If I recall, 30 years ago, parents were even more tolerant of their underage kids drinking than they are today. It was just as prevalent 30 years before that. I know my parents started drinking and smoking at about 13 or 14 and that was not uncommon. Personally I did not drink much until I was of legal age, which was 18 at the time. This was normal behavior back in 1914.

 

[Beach Runner]

Our daughter is in her late 20s. Many of her friends' parents took their young teens to Cancun where they could drink legally. When these same kids turned 16 and could drive, their parents let them drive to the beach. Most parents would stay at a different location and check in on their children by phone. The parents would laugh about how drunk their high-schoolers were. I didn't think there was anything funny about that. Our daughter stayed with us at our house (along with her boyfriend). Neither of them drank.

So to answer your question, Teresa, most parents I knew when our daughter was underage had no problem with their kids getting ****-faced drunk.

 

[Matt J]

Guess the locals are getting frustrated.

https://www.facebook.com/Gonetojail

 

[Teresa]

Our daughter is in her late 20s. Many of her friends' parents took their young teens to Cancun where they could drink legally. When these same kids turned 16 and could drive, their parents let them drive to the beach. Most parents would stay at a different location and check in on their children by phone. The parents would laugh about how drunk their high-schoolers were. I didn't think there was anything funny about that. Our daughter stayed with us at our house (along with her boyfriend). Neither of them drank.

So to answer your question, Teresa, most parents I knew when our daughter was underage had no problem with their kids getting ****-faced drunk.

I was definitely at PCB when in highschool drinking illegally with all my friends. But my parents certainly had nothing whatsoever to do with it. They kind of knew but certainly never approved, and I wouldn't expect them to. Times do change, don't they?

 

[Teresa]

Guess the locals are getting frustrated.

https://www.facebook.com/Gonetojail

I don't know what to think about this. Doesn't quite seem right to me.

 

[Beach Runner]

Guess the locals are getting frustrated.

https://www.facebook.com/Gonetojail

Woah! Bring it on down to sheriff town!

 

[Kurt]

As reported by WZEP AM1460:
As of Tuesday morning, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office Deputies deputies have responded to a total of 908 calls for service for the south end of the county. This is an average of 15 calls per hour. And while they had hoped otherwise, the Office made a record 72 arrests on Sunday.