GONZALES — Gonzales Youth Council is taking steps to prevent underage drinking and possible outcomes of alcohol use gone wrong with the adoption of a Social Host Ordinance.
The Social Host Ordinance is an ordinance that is directed toward underage drinking at homes where parents are present. The thought or idea the Youth Council is trying to combat is that just because a youth is drinking in the household that doesn’t mean it isn’t safe or that underage drinking is not still illegal.
“In no way does Gonzales want to punish anyone or take any money or fines,” said Youth Council Commissioner Fabiola Moreno. “What the Gonzales Way and the Youth Council is trying to do is trying to reinforce the educational piece of this to the parents.”
To get the word out about the new Social Host Ordinance, the Youth Council met Sept. 18 for their regular meeting and Youth Council Member Vanessa Bravo took the lead in designing a flyer. The flyer will be translated in English and Spanish.
“Just because the child, youth or teenager is drinking at their house doesn’t mean they’re safer there,” Moreno said.
The Social Host Ordinance came about through past Youth Council Member Anthony Avila, who was said to be very passionate about the project, according to Moreno.
The Youth Council worked with City Attorney Michael Rodriguez and South County Prevention Coordinator Darlene Acosta from Sun Street Centers on the ordinance over the summer.
“It also tied in perfectly with the GYC platform, which was to improve health and safety,” said Youth Council Member Cindy Aguilar. “This was something that we had talked about as a group that we wanted to address to decrease the use of alcohol here in Gonzales.”
“Our position in this has been one of support and acknowledgement that the students view this not so much as a suppression effort but a prevention effort,” said Acosta. “I really do commend them for all their work on this.”
Gonzales Unified School District Superintendent Liz Modena also came to the second reading of the Social Host Ordinance at the Gonzales City Council meeting on Sept. 18.
“This is a perfect example of our students taking the right step to make sure we are preventing issues,” said Modena.
The Social Host Ordinance second reading was passed with a unanimous vote of 5-0 by the City Council. The next step in the process is distributing the ordinance to the public through various platforms.
