" So we can drink at home and then we can go to the park once were drunk?"
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So you are admitting that you can't drink responsibly, without getting wasted?

I would be interested in knowing if Sarah Johnson knows how many different beer styles there are. Or perhaps how many breweries there are in the U.S. and the job they create? Teaching young adults about actual alcohol and not just the "dangers" may prove more useful to them then most of the stuff they learn in school. Lots of people go on to have a part-time job bar-tending but school never prepared Bob to know what an ale and lager is. Sarah is probably one of those close minded people that says "all beer tastes the same anyway." Personally I don't see anyone wanting to pay $50 just to have the right to have beer in a park but if they do, take their money and smile. Instead I'll take my $50 and order a pizza and drink a bottle of Founder's Breakfast Stout and still have money left over.

@ifiruledtheworld "Please, Have your party with alchohol at your own home. Then come take a walk in the pristine park to unwind." So we can drink at home and then we can go to the park once were drunk? As long as the kids don't see you drink. It's ok to be a closet alcoholic?

Park regulations are intended to protect the rest of us from the " jerks" who don't respect the rights of others.

The current ordinance was not created in 1967 for the "fun of it." There must have been a reason for it, and I suspect that reason is stated in my first sentence, above. Others have offered many other very good reasons not to allow alchohol. We all know that the police already have enough on their plates. Let's not add enforcement of park alcohol permits to their list.

Please, Have your party with alchohol at your own home. Then come take a walk in the pristine park to unwind.

@JanesvilleFirst: You are correct. It can be a little confusing when you see my smiling face next to the blog, but I did not write this entry.

As for my personal position on alcohol in the parks, I don't think the world will end either way. Enforcement will probably be the biggest challenge.

Beth Tallon

I guess this needs repeated:
It is a MYTH that EU teens have fewer drinking problems than US teens...in reality, they have MORE.
http://resources.prev.org/documents/ESPA......

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/7409...
"When it comes to acknowledging alcohol use disorders, Americans appear to be living in the land of denial, new research suggests."

killngrill - EXACTLY!!!!!!!! Thats why we are such a failure here in the USA.

In my opinion the City has a lot more issues they should be worried about. This is trivial. I personally think the police would be better off staking out areas and focusing on Heroin and other substances. Whats the big deal if someone has a few beers while having a party,when they sign up for the pavilions just have a check mark if there will beer or wine,then if something happens ,it can be looked into. Or is that to easy for the City,since everything seems to be so hard and dramatic.

Has anyone done the research as to why drinking in the parks was stopped in the first place ? There must have been a reason then.

It is a MYTH that EU teens have fewer drinking problems than US teens...in reality, they have MORE.
http://resources.prev.org/documents/ESPA...

juststoppin- +1

Wow, I could almost hear the violins playing when I read this article. A tad dramatic, don't you think?

If a kid in high school chooses to drink, it's not going to be because he saw Aunt Sheila tipping back a beer at a family picnic when he was 9.

There is no reason why Janesville shouldn't allow permits for alcohol in parks and increase their revenue in doing so.

Perhaps it's time to be a good parent instead of blaming billboards and culture.

In Europe they don't shield their children from alcohol. The children grow up learning by seeing how to be responsible with alcohol. *
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Here we hide it and keep it out of view from children. Here they never learn how to drink responsibly, because they do not see how to drink responsibly!

"saxcat70
Jan 30, 2013 at 3:33 p.m.
Suggest removal

Of course, I can always put whatever i want in my "water bottle""

;). My point exactly. So I guess they can do whatever they want I will still carry my adult sippy cup on occasion ;)

"
factsplease
Jan 30, 2013 at 8:56 p.m.
Suggest removal

There are many reasons that people don't want to be around alcohol (recovering alcoholics, people with religious views against it, people with health problems or allergies related to it, people with trauma memories triggered by the smell, people who choose not to have their children around it for various reasons) so why can't there be at least ONE public place that they can go and know that they won't have to be around it? KEEP IT OUT OF THE PARKS!"

lol then stay 50ft from MY family reunion. I did not invite you!

facts- again with the silly comments. Spilled post is stickier than beer. Her beer doesn't attract the bees either!! plus one for the beer. Soda shouldn't be allowed in the park!

Your concept of teaching CHILDREN to drink responsibly,by watching you drink,give me a break!
What you people are teaching these children is,you can not do anything that is suppose to be fun,without drinking,you people are in so much denial about your HABIT'S,why would a parent want there CHILDREN drinking in the first place,is that in there minds maturity to adulthood,by drinking,a sober AMERICA is a safer AMERICA..
All drinking is,is a drug that will make you do/have fun that you are normally not capable of doing SOBER!
2 BEERS you are considered on your way to be drunk,would i want my kids walking around when you leave,i don't think so.
Going to the park with the family & kids & friends should be just that,family time,you wanna drink,go belly up,not in front of your kids,be a parent,not there friend,which most parents seem to want to be now days!

I will now start praying to God everyday that "ifiruledtheworld" never does!!
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WoW

factsplease;
This is exactly what people said before they allowed alcohol on the cities golf courses; and do they have the below mentioned issues? NO!!!!
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"where there is alcohol, there will at some time be problems with drunkenness, spilled sticky, stinky beer, trash, etc."

My wife lived in different countries in Europe in the past and she told me they had wine in the parks with no problems, drinking allowed in many European countries. Americans don't have enough self discipline to be allowed to drink in parks.

"His mother who just did not know what the outcome would be, continued to drink before little Cody was born."
again- everybody knows do not drink while pregnant. Doesn't it say it on the bottles? IF you don't know this you are lying! Again must be somebody elses fault.

"mgcarguy
Jan 30, 2013 at 2:23 p.m.
Suggest removal

There is nothing I can say that will keep people from drinking. I stopped drinking on Sept. 16, 1970. I still have fun at the park and at ball games. I work as a volunteer probation officer and currently spend time with a nice little eight year old boy who has fetal alcohol syndrome. His mother who just did not know what the outcome would be, continued to drink before little...."

Sad story but nothing to do with being able to drink in a park. Couldn't drink in the park then and if we can now this happened then and wont matter now. IF she is so uncaring, selfish,and stupid to drink like this while pregnant it is sad but not our fault!
Just more of "it cannot be MY fault. Must be everybody elses fault. It is NOT!

I guess his parents should raise him better. The parent is over 21 and can LEGALLY drink. If the kids drinks underage it could be the parents fault. It could be the peers fault. IT is NOT the city council fault because people can have a beer there at a family reunion. Do you think kids are any different in Milton because they CAN drink in the park? Kids are the same. They will always do what they want. The kid will grow up and become a responcible adult(most will anyway). None of this will change because beer is allowed at the family reunion. For those that don't have the family reunion at the park do you think they are drinking at it? YES they are. I was naughty and drank on the bus before when I was in school. I turned out fine! My parents drank to. They did a decent job raising me. I promise I wont talk to any kids in the park if I drink wine. If parents were there to look over their kids in the park you could see who is talking to them. Stop blaming all of this on alcohol in certain places. Start raising your kid the way you should, be there, talk to them, be involoved!!! Prohibition did not work so alcohol is NOT going away.

My curiosity takes me to the question, Shouldn't alcohol be concidered a deadly weapon just like guns? Which kills more each year Nationwide? Drunk drivers or crazy people with guns? I would tend to believe that alcohol is the root cause in more deaths than someone going crazy and shooting a bunch of people. So why is our Government not trying to outlaw alcohol? Does our Constitution say, We have the right to get drunk like it says we have the right to bear arms? But seriously, what are the statistics compairing alcohol to guns? I am curious.

I disagree. I think the biggest contributor to alcohol abuse in the US is the current form of prohibition surrounding it. Kids are taught from the get go that, "alcohol is bad, don't drink...until you turn the magical age of 21 and yo are suddenly a responsible member of society that can handle the effects of alcohol like you should."
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Rather than preach prohibition, why not teach responsible consumption. Many other countries have lower drinking ages and far fewer issues with alcohol abuse, because they are taught to consume responsibly. What happens when you tell you children they can't, or shouldn't, do something? They do it anyway. They same goes with alcohol consumption, except they do it without your knowing and 9 times out of 10 they do it irresponsibly. That is where problems arise.

Several commentors continue to attribute this article to Beth Wheelock. Read closely, she did not write it! (Im not sure if she agrees) Please address your comments to the author Johnson and to Janesville 4 Change (whatever the heck the is/means).

SAXCAT70 that is very, very funny

I think it's an excellent post.

I don't care which side of the fence you are on about this subject but this article and her arguments are just awful. I just read it again to see if I was overacting but this seriously is a terrible article. I don't even know what else to say....

...allowed from September 15 to MAY 15...

"Here in Backwardsville - where you can't even have a DOG in the parks or on the trails from May to September"
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Perfect case in point AGAINST alchohol in the parks-- Last spring in March and early April I walked my dog through Upper Palmer Park, empty poop bag in pocket. Within a large radius of the parking lot there was SO MUCH FECES (poop, crap) that I could hardly walk. I was absolutely disgusted. Dogs are allowed in the park from September 15 to April 15, but these irresponsible dog owners didn't care one bit how they left the park for the next person. And there the crap was littered everywhere like a minefield.

I assume the city ordinances require that dog owners pick up after their dogs but experience shows us many DO NOT. This ordinance change will bring a flood of alchohol permits and the cumulative effect of parties in the park will probably be not much different than allowing dogs in the park. I would LOVE to walk my dog in the park all summer long, but I know that he may bark and possibly jump up on people. I can't even imagine letting many "entitled" dog owners bring their dogs into the park during the summer months. Same logic holds for alchohol. KEEP ALCHOHOL OUT OF THE PARKS.

With the parks full of homeless people, perverts, people soliciting sexual acts, and people shooting up and smoking weed... How could a beer even compete? Having a beer is no different than having a pepsi.... except probably healthier.

which one are you cruiser?

Like I said before, Janesville is now the city of alcoholics & druggies, not the city of parks.

"One day Janesville MAY grow up and act like an adult city of its size"
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So are you saying that drinking makes you a grown up? That is the exact message that makes adolescents want to drink...to be a "grown up". Being a grown up should mean being responsible and RESPECTFUL of others who know that where there is alcohol, there will at some time be problems with drunkenness, spilled sticky, stinky beer, trash, etc and don't want that in the parks! It isn't like there aren't plenty of other places to demonstrate your ability to drink responsibly!

Background checks really?? Checking for what???? Mental illness, alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, animal abuse, substance abuse, concealed carry permit, employment or lack there-of, voter registration, speeding ticket, littering???
*
It won't be long before the school district will be doing background checks to see which families own guns, knives, and pencils!

I disagree, Beth.
Alcohol consumption in city parks does not itself cause the problems. It is the existing social problems that cause overconsumption and violence. Drinking in city parks, where it is allowed by city ordinance, helps normalize attitudes towards drinking and builds a healthier, more responsible drinking culture for those who wish to consume. The parents of that "boy growing up here in Janesville" are the steering mechanisms that he needs to understand responsibility in all aspects of life. Our family had many picnics in city parks that allowed alcohol. Our family of five grew up knowing from an early age that drinking is for adults. Not children. You need to redirect your attention to the homefront.

Here in Backwardsville - where you can't even have a DOG in the parks or on the trails from May to September - it's no wonder that one could not have a beer in a park at a cookout.

Amazing that BELOIT can have Music at Harry's place all summer long - for years - and though both alcohol (wine and beer) and dogs are present, both are the least of the problems encountered there (HINT: it's unsupervised KIDS!).

One day Janesville MAY grow up and act like an adult city of its size, but that day is sadly nowhere in site. In the mean time, it's no wonder anyone or any company from the real world is reluctant to relocate to this little self-imposed backwater and it's arcane practices and odd restrictions!

Grow up, J-burg - and don't make responsible adults in this community continue to pay for the acts of the irresponsible few who should be policed accordingly (and there's another revenue source!). If not...we can drive to Beloit and be treated well! Guess we can see why Hendricks took the money and went south, eh?

This is an open invitation to every city council member, committee member, Gazette editorial board member, Rock County against all alcohol committees, and any other interested citizen...

Please come to one or two...or more...concerts of "Music at Harry's Place" in Riverside Park in Beloit before you condemn alcohol in parks.

You will be able to see what responsible use looks like.
It has been working out just fine for years...and guess what? The sky hasn't fallen yet.

KEEP IT OUT OF THE PARKS! And if Friends of Riverside are in favor of this than let them do it at RIVERSIDE and you can throw in Traxler. KEEP IT OUT OF PALMER PARK and that beautiful old stone pavillion. This will result in back to back graduation parties in this small quaint pavillion replete with 18 year olds and other high schoolers hanging around the beer keg. Forget a peaceful Saturday in the park! Seriously, this whole things makes me SO angry.

And for all you whiners that feel so "punished" by the existing ordinance, I ask HOW IN GODs EARTH HAVE YOU SURVIVED ALL THESE YEARS WITHOUT ALCHOHOL IN THE PARK?! You must irreversibly traumatized, poor things. Excuse my but my anger about this has turned me to sarcasm.

KEEP IT OUT OF THE PARKS!

Thank you, Sarah and Beth. I agree 100%.

There are many reasons that people don't want to be around alcohol (recovering alcoholics, people with religious views against it, people with health problems or allergies related to it, people with trauma memories triggered by the smell, people who choose not to have their children around it for various reasons) so why can't there be at least ONE public place that they can go and know that they won't have to be around it? KEEP IT OUT OF THE PARKS!

I disagree with this on so many levels I dont even know where to start. Every town has its "bad apples". Why punish everyone? Has anyone checked in other towns that allow it, and do they have issues? Probably not. Just one more instance of not allowing for anyone because a few MAY abuse the privelege. I have chosen to teach my children the same way my parents taught me, be responsible. Are there times when too much was consumed, absolutely, which is why we always have a designated driver. We as a sociecty need to quit passing regulations to protect us from ourselves.

And I really object to you singling out the Jets. Another venue that you would have liked to have alcohol banned from. Well in the four years the Jets have been here there have been very few issues with alcohol. Again, responsible adults.

First, the assumption here is that it is highly likely that drinking alcohol will lead to drunkenness, especially in a park setting. Secondly the assumption is that if children see adults who are drinking and become intoxicated, they will want to do the same.
Exposure to alcohol will occur at many times in a child's life; holidays, weddings, family reunions and the such. Insulating them entirely will not prevent them from binge drinking secondary to peer pressure or inhibit their gene for alcoholism. An alcoholic will find a way to drink regardless of the rules at the park, they will just go to the car and a get a cold one out the cooler in the trunk. There's always one in every crowd, but it's unlikely they are going to rent out a pavilion for that purpose.

@momof353545

Sorry to hear that your family outing was not a success. Sounds like you made the decision to leave and not come back to the Corn Roast. I would probably have left too. But I don't let one bad thing ruin everything. I would have found an officer and let them know the female should probably not be there anymore. I also would have taken my kids and explained to them how sometimes your allowed to do stuff but that doesn't mean you have too like drink. Especially since it can make you sick.

I have bad things happen almost everyday. An example I have to drive a hour to work. Some days I get cut off by other drivers. I don't think they should not be able to drive anymore (maybe I was in their blind spot and they couldn't see me, it happens). And I am certainly not going to stop driving because something bad may happen.

Things happen, which is why you should be prepared. Parents need to teach kids about alcohol and the consequences of abusing it.

Count one more 100% in favor of the author's arguments!

Years ago I took my young children to the corn roast over at Traxler, I foolishly thought this was a family affair NOT, We left when a drunken mud covered female vomited on my sons shoes, I realize this broad was just exercising her rights to get as drunk as possible in front of other peoples children, but, she violated MY right to have a pleasant outing with my children

Alcohol is NOT A NECESSITY. Why do we need it in the parks? Who is behind this push for allowing more and more alcohol in public places? This ordinance has been in place for 46 years, why NOW?
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There are plenty of places to drink legally, we don't NEED it in the parks. If you have to "sneak" alcohol in a solo cup or water bottle, then you have a problem. Keep the parks for the kids, families and people who want ONE place they can go without being surrounded by alcohol.
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Good point about the brain development.

Mounting research suggests that alcohol causes more damage to the developing brains of teenagers than was previously thought, injuring them significantly more than it does adult brains.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health...

Why not allow alcohol in the parks every other week.

I don't think people drinking responsibly at a picnic with the proper permits is necessarily sending the wrong message to kids. I also think shielding children from the real world is a form of child abuse. They need to know about that stuff which makes you uncomfortable. It's not the responsibility of a parent to be friends with her kids and make them comfortable, it's to make sure they stay alive.
I'm just sayin'...

So is it possible to have a family reunion without alcohol? If there is no alcohol, will it not be a family reunion? Maybe there is something unique with the family if alcohol is required...

Also agree with you

So, let me see if I get this. If I'm going to have a family reunion, with my family that are responsible in their use of alcohol, I won't be able to have it in one of our wonderful parks, but I can have it on my lawn adjacent to the park, with all the same children watching? (How bout that for on of the longest sentences of all time?)

My parents used alcohol (responsibly), I and my sibs all use alcohol (responsibly) and my two chidren also do (responsibly).

Can we think of anything more to blame on society?

Of course, I can always put whatever i want in my "water bottle"

I think alcohol should be allowed in the parks. Kids have to learn to make good decisions you can't protect them from everything. The city should give it chance and if people do not behave then remove it. If you are at a park with your kids and people are having a party and behaving inappropriately then call the cops. This is the city of parks if you don't want you kids seeing that then take them to a different park that doesn't allow it. If your that worried about it you probably shouldn't ever let your kids leave the house because they may see something you don't want them too.

I agree 100% with this article. thank you, Beth. I also add it's for the beauty and preservation of the parks. I really don't think the folks get this, including the Gazette Editorial staff..

@Coppertop: Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't write this entry, Sarah Johnson from Janesville Mobilizing 4 Change did. We keep our blog entries to about 400 words, since that's a bit easier to digest. So, no, there isn't more space in the original entry to elaborate.

-Beth Tallon

dear government, stay out of my life.

Things that are fun are not "more fun" with alcohol involved, and things that are not fun don't become fun with alcohol.....some people are fooled into thinking they do, but they don't.

I agree with the article 100%......That is all.

There is nothing I can say that will keep people from drinking. I stopped drinking on Sept. 16, 1970. I still have fun at the park and at ball games. I work as a volunteer probation officer and currently spend time with a nice little eight year old boy who has fetal alcohol syndrome. His mother who just did not know what the outcome would be, continued to drink before little Cody was born. Little Cody will never be able to read, write, play sports or do many of the other enjoyable things most people can do. He will be able to drink and he will because he lives where drinking is a way of life. A good life for him was over before he was born.

Beth, you should mention all this time, his brain is developing and growing – which it will continue to do until his mid-20s learning how to be a responsible individual. As for television ads, billboards, store signs, movies, TV shows, and music... I actually think you do have room to write some examples. Because in this day and age, advertising alcohol has taken a dramatic step down. Only in alcohol establishment, would I find these along with football commercials. TV and movies... I'm sure that is regulated through ratings. Again, it all boils down to individual responsibility and I think the majority of people get a bad rap from a few bad seeds displayed about this city of Janesville. Sorry Beth, my vote is against you on this argument you've just presented.

You know, there's this concept called "Moderation." If we do all of our drinking in private, secretly sipping a beer here-and-there, how will anyone learn to drink responsibly? Think of other countries in which wine with dinner is normal, or in our own country when everyone used to drink because the water wasn't safe in big cities. Hiding a substance is more of a problem (alcoholics will often hide their beverages because the know they shouldn't drink more, bu they can't help it; so, too, do some heavy people "closet-eat," but you'll never see them eat anything unhealthy in public). College drinking is because the COLLEGE environment encourages drinking as normal. It is because we helpfully have a drinking age at 21 and anything forbidden is exciting. Keeping alcohol out of parks suggests it would be exciting to sneak there to drink. I don't drink by choice. My whole family does and always has...and has done so in moderation. According to this, I should be drunk constantly, but I'm not because I also have free will. I can choose to be responsible: but only if I have opportunities to make mistakes and learn to drink responsibly (or not drink at all).

I wonder how much that alcohol would have paid for the boys college education ?

Oh please. How about a dose of reality. What these kids see is people drinking responsibly. While your stats are impressive the reality is that a certain percentage of people are alcoholics. Trouble is they don't know they are alcoholics until they start drinking.
Arguments against alcohol in the parks fail to differentiate between responsible drinking and the kind of rowdy drunks that won't spend an extra $50 to drink in the park. They already do for free.