Spring break traditionally marks the end of winter and the start of a countdown to final exams, graduations and the start of summer. For decades it’s been a rite of passage for college students to inundate beaches in warmer climates like ours to let off some steam. Sounds innocent enough, right?
The tradition picked up in the 1940s and ’50s with Fort Lauderdale as the leading destination. By the ’80s, the flow of Northern college students to Southern beaches throughout Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean was estimated at the hundreds of thousands and is still counting.
The reputation of spring breakers has been going down ever since. Different Florida towns have taken action, like banning alcohol on the beach to encourage young booze-fueled co-eds behaving badly to take their party elsewhere. In many cases, it’s worked. So, where do they flock now in record numbers? South Beach.
The crowds are getting rowdier and nothing seems to work to lower the temperature. At the recommendation of community relations boards, activations and events were planned to keep crowds “busy” having fun instead of getting drunk, but that doesn’t seem to help when the sun goes down.
Police are accused of racism when they take a hard line on bad behavior and start arresting people in dragnet fashion. Whether they are racially profiling when the handcuffs and batons come out is suspected but tough to prove, but what we do know is that deadly shootings have plagued South Beach now for two years in a row, causing Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber to declare a state of emergency and institute curfews.
Firearms were found at the scenes of both the Friday night and early Sunday morning shootings. Two people lost their lives.
Prior to the start of spring break, hotels vigorously fought in court against Miami Beach’s efforts to stop liquor sales beyond 2 a.m. Heaven forbid they should lose revenue in exchange for public safety.
Also in the days leading up to spring break, the Florida Legislature advanced a bill to roll back some commonsense gun laws passed in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, like the legal age to buy a long gun. Florida lawmakers believe the rights of 18-year-olds are being infringed upon. Those poor babies need to have their guns like long-lost teddy bears.
So, here we are reliving the same nightmare over and over like a time loop in the film “Groundhog Day.”
Those advocating for the proliferation of guns in our communities and free flowing booze until almost dawn have blood on their hands.