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Police to Howard County Students: 'I'm Begging You Not To' Drink in Ocean City

A presentation in Ellicott City focused on safety during Senior Week in Ocean City.

An Ocean City police officer offered this plea to Howard County high school students, who attended a presentation in Ellicott City this week about how to stay safe during Senior Week in Ocean City:

“I’m begging you not to” drink, said Officer Howard Caplan of the Ocean City Police Department, according to the Howard County Times.

And if students do drink, Caplan urged them not to drive.

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The April 8 event at Mount Hebron was sponsored by the high school’s PTSA and HC Drug Free, which aims to eliminate alcohol and drug abuse among young people, according to the Howard County Times.

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There have been safety concerns in Ocean City in the past related to excessive drinking. According to a Washington Post article, a woman was raped in 2008 after being kicked out of a nightclub for being considered too drunk. In addition, a New Jersey man dove off a deck and later died in 1990.

In another Post article, columnist Petula Dvorak documented her visit to Senior Week in Ocean City, which she referred to as the “month-long bacchanal in Ocean City” for thousands of high school seniors.

She writes:

“Senior Week is a tradition that has been dreaded by Washington area parents for decades. It’s the annual migration of newly graduated, newly liberated, barely legal teens to the shore, where they party, plot, puke, hook up, scheme, swim, roam, dirty dance in foam and — for about 10 percent of them — get locked up for everything from underage drinking to drug possession to assault.”

Tell us in comments: Will you let your children go to Senior Week in Ocean City? Why or why not?

See related content:

Authorities to Educate Parents, Students on Ocean City Dangers for Senior Week


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