To seniors: Playing it safe is way to enjoy beach week

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - For graduating high school seniors, June is synonymous with Beach Week, a teenager’s first rite of passage into adulthood and first escape from the rules of home. It is also the most frightening week ever for mom and dad.

Thankfully, there is help out there. For 19 years, Ocean City has rolled out Play It Safe, a town wide program of free activities from June 1 through June 20 designed to keep new graduates entertained and away from drugs and alcohol.

“We want to create a good Ocean City memory for them,” said Donna Greenwood, chairman of the Ocean City Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Committee, which coordinates Play It Safe. “We want to send them back home to their parents safe. That's the most important thing.”

On Sundays and Tuesdays, karaoke blasts from the beach; Monday features windsurfing in the morning and kayak relays in the afternoon. On Tuesdays at 10 p.m., the popular pancake-eating contests kick off (with lots of leftover pancakes for spectators as well). All the activities are posted at playitsafeoceancity.com.

Play It Safe evolved from a plea by then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer for Maryland towns and cities to create new ways to fight youth drug and alcohol abuse.

Greenwood said it started with a few activities and has gained momentum over two decades. Some Florida beaches sponsor similar programs for college students during spring break, but Greenwood did not know of other programs designed specifically for high school graduates.

Last year, 13,148 kids from 26 states and Washington, D.C., enjoyed at least one of 57 Ocean City events, including laser tag, midnight bowling, rock climbing and tennis and basketball tournaments. More than 300 businesses, organizations and individuals contributed money and prizes for this year's three-week program, which also includes paintball.

Beach week “is a wonderful opportunity for the kids to come to Ocean City to have their first adult experience,” said Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino. “Some make bad decisions.

“We're not trying to be bullies and ruin their good time,” she added. “We're trying to keep them safe.”

The program is run by the volunteer committee, with support from the Worchester County Health Department, the Ocean City Police Department, the Mayor's Office, Public Works and Transportation departments, Atlantic General Hospital and others.

It's a smart deal for everyone involved. The kids get activities that usually cost $7 (miniature golf) to more than $20 (windsurfing) and a wrist band that provides free bus rides all week.

It's also good for the future of Ocean City. Kids are going to remember their beach week, and hopefully remember it for the kayaking, rock climbing and belly-filling pancakes instead of hangovers, arrests or car accidents.

“We want them to have a good time and come back every year with their kids,” DiPino said.

“It's a proactive measure to prevent tragedy,” Greenwood said.

DiPino’s own daughter is 25 years old — and a police officer in Baltimore County — so she is not far removed from the “parent of a teenager” experience.

She said she understands the extreme temptations of beach week. And she hopes young visitors will go up to her officers and thank them for being helpful. But she would rather they simply recognize the consequences of underage drinking.

“We're very strict about our enforcement of our drinking laws,” DiPino said. Those caught with alcohol will watch their alcohol poured out, and could receive citations that eventually cost them their driving licenses. She said she has been surprised and disappointed over the years to discover that many parents buy their beach week children alcohol, thinking that can reduce the dangers.

Sometimes friends ask her to check in on teen visitors, and she has sent officers to vacation houses just to say hello. It spreads the word, she said, that there are plenty of officers around. Youngsters don't always understand the full range of drinking consequences, she said. She has seen too many become victims of theft, sexual assault and other crimes when their judgment is affected by alcohol.

Parents, she said, also have a role in beach week. Give the kids rules, set limits, she said. They will listen. And check in on them during the week. Encourage them to enjoy free windsurfing, pancake eating and kayaking and other Play It Safe pastimes.

In the end, some high school graduates are going to embrace free pancakes and karaoke and their parents' advice.

But for all of them, DiPino has one single, impassioned plea: If you drink, “please do not get behind the wheel of a car,” she said.  “Be safe.”

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