"Pharm Parties" Popular Among Young Adolescents
Parental Planning Prevents Prom Problems
Hitting the beach for spring break is getting more dangerous. More high school students are participating, and the action is shifting from Florida to foreign destinations.
In the past five years, there has been a boom in cheap student travel packages to Cancun, Mexico and the Caribbean. Internet websites advertise that you can put ten people in one hotel room and get passes to nearby fast food places. They offer "drinking wristbands" for as low as $50 that allow the wearer to gain free admission to a variety of clubs with unlimited alcohol. The main attraction is that the legal drinking age is only 18 years in these countries and that it is not strictly enforced. Student revelers average 18 drinks a day for boys, and ten for girls.
"Nothing in Cancun happens in moderation," reads an advertisement on StudentCity.com. Cancun now attracts over 200,000 spring breakers.
"Kids are going to Cancun to drink. The promotion of alcohol before they even get there, and then once they are on the beach, is unbelievable," said Dr. Andrew McGuire, executive director of the Trauma Foundation at San Francisco Hospital. He recently visited Cancun medical clinics for research on spring break injuries.
More high school students are joining the spring break crowd, meaning that inexperienced travelers participate in risky behaviors like binge drinking and indiscriminate sex in foreign countries. The notorious case of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, missing May 30, 2005 after a full day and night of drinking in Aruba bars, is just one tragedy among many.
"The hardest thing I have to do ... is call a parent in the United States and tell them their child is dead," said Glen Keiser of the U.S. Consulate in Merida, Mexico. "Excessive drinking, booze, sex and acting like idiots is what ties our cases together." He said Mexican bars "can be havens for drug dealers and criminals."
Sometimes students do not realize what drug they are taking because foreign drugs can look different from American ones. They may think they are taking Ecstasy but it could be heroin in pill form.
Traditional spring break destinations like Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, South Beach and the Florida Keys are becoming less friendly to spring break travelers. Some of these cities are trying to attract affluent travelers or families and discourage students. Nevertheless, about 58% of students traveling inside the United States during spring break still go to Florida. Police agencies begin planning for the students six months in advance and make more arrests during the six-week spring break period than the rest of the year combined. In 2006 the Walton County Sheriff's office received 71,000 calls for service and averaged 30 arrests per day during spring break.
There is evidence that some students regret their behavior once they get back home. A study by the American Medical Association of girls who went to beaches during spring break found that 40% did not remember what went on because they were either drunk or passed out, 13% said they had sex with more than one partner, and 10% now regret engaging in public or group sex on the trip.
What can parents do about April madness? The basic advice from experts is "just say no." If you feel tempted to give into your child's demand, try watching the special "Spring Break" videos on MTV to see what really goes on. Read the ads for spring break travel packages on the Internet. Once you are aware of the atmosphere of these excursions, you'll find the strength not to pay for them.
Ironically, April is National Alcohol Awareness Month. This year's theme is "Preventing underage drinking is everybody's business: every adult can get involved."