Eagle Scout's 3-day party cut short by Laconia police

[thanes]

He hardly seems worthy of the award...

 

News - June 27, 2004

 

By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM

Sunday News Staff

 

LACONIA A Massachusetts Eagle Scout wanted it to be a three-day party to celebrate his achievement of the Boy Scouts highest honor and his high school graduation.

 

Instead, his parents could be among the first people charged under New Hampshires new party host law, after police broke up an underage drinking party at their lake house late Friday night.

 

Sgt. Matt Canfield said Mr. and Mrs. John Paula were hosting a party for their son and a group of his friends, all from Massachusetts, at their 17 Methodist Circle home. Around midnight, neighbor called police to complain about the noise, and officers who arrived at the home found 23 teenagers all between the ages of 15 and 18 in varying states of intoxication, Canfield said.

 

John Paula, 49, of Nahant, Mass., was arrested on the spot for prohibited sale of alcohol to minors. He was released on $500 personal recognizance bail and will be arraigned on Aug. 12 in Laconia District Court.

 

And Canfield said theres a strong possibility that theyll both be charged with facilitating an underage alcohol house party.

 

Thats the new law that makes it a misdemeanor for someone to knowingly host a drug or drinking party for five or more underage individuals.

 

It was going great

Jonathan Paula, 18, last night told the NH Sunday News it was he who hosted what was supposed to be a weekend-long party. It was going great till the cops showed up, he said.

 

The idea was to have everyone sleep here for the entire weekend.

 

My friends said can we bring alcohol. I said yeah, why not?

 

Paula said he and a friend, who also recently was awarded the Eagle Scout honor, were staying sober and watching the cars and making sure no one was leaving early.

 

Everything was under control.

 

But police say otherwise.

 

Canfield said John Paula was drinking with the teens and they had provided the alcohol for them, too.

 

Normally its not that blatant and that obvious, Canfield said. A lot of times youll see them provide the house for them, then theyll go out for the night. But to actually be there and providing the alcohol is quite unusual.

 

Beer, mixed drinks, vomit

Asked what the teens were drinking, Canfield said, You name it.

 

There was quite a mixture. There was beer as well as mixed drinks.

 

He said some of the youngsters had thrown up because they had drunk so much.

 

Jonathan Paula denied the allegation that his parents were drinking with the teens. And he said he had checked with most of the neighbors before the party, and no one seemed to have a problem with it.

 

We were just having fun, and I dont know why its such a big deal.

 

Paula said the drinking age is 21 in Massachusetts, the same as in New Hampshire, but he said nobody pays attention to that. Why not? Cause were kids.

 

I was aware of the fact that what we were doing was illegal, but I didnt think it was that big of a deal. But it was. My friends parents had to come drive up from Massachusetts, two hours, to pick their kids up from jail.

 

Parental cautions

Asked if his friends parents knew there would be alcohol at his lake house, Paula said, Im pretty sure. Youd have to be kind of dumb not to realize.

 

My parents knew. Im pretty sure most of the kids parents knew. A lot of them said their parents said, Have a fun time and if youre going to drink, just dont drive.

 

I explained personally to some of the parents there might be alcohol around, but were going to keep it under control and a lot of them were OK with it.

 

Did any of them object? Not really. Some people said it might be a bad idea. I said yeah it might be. I was aware of the risks, and I screwed up.

 

But he said, Thats kind of why I had it be a three-day party, so nobody had to drive. They could sleep if off and then go home later.

 

23 teens taken in

Canfield said all 23 teens were taken into protective custody, brought to the Laconia police department and their parents were notified from there.

 

It took until 5 a.m. for all the teens to be released into the custody of their parents. Canfield said the youngsters were actually very cooperative.

 

Jonathan Paula said police at first were going to release his friends into the custody of his mother, Johanne Paula. But later they told him she was not a neutral party, since she was aware of the drinking.

 

So instead, two paddy wagons hauled his friends away, he said.

 

He wanted to go to the station as well, but police wouldnt let him. I said to them, Can I go with my friends? I should be there with them. Its my fault.

 

They said, No, you have to stay here.

 

But he said they did take his friend, the other Eagle Scout, into custody even though he wasnt drinking.

 

Sure, why not?

Asked if his behavior was befitting an Eagle Scout, he said, I wasnt doing anything illegal.

 

Paula said he doesnt even drink.

 

So why did he let his friends bring alcohol? Because my friends wanted to have a good time, I guess. I wasnt going to say no, no one can have fun tonight. Sure, why not? Drink. Its harmless. As long as youre not driving drunk or going swimming or something.

 

But Canfield said the night could have ended badly.

 

All the kids drove up together, and the house was located on the water. The danger would be that they could have drowned, or stumbled in the water intoxicated, and not known what they were doing.

 

Paula said that wasnt going to happen. We were watching the docks, too. Most everyone was in the house anyway.

 

Canfield said there were no other adults at home during the party.

 

Two youngsters were charged with unlawful possession of alcohol; both were juveniles, so their names could not be released, Canfield said.

 

Eagle Scout is upset

Paula said hes upset with how the party turned out.

 

It was supposed to be a three-day party and it turned into a half-night party.

 

I kind of wanted to have a fun time. I just graduated from high school. But adults just cant seem to let that happen. Im curious how the five cops and Carl up the street had no childhood apparently and cant let us go.

 

What about the fact that underage drinking is illegal? Yeah, sure its illegal. Lots of things are illegal. Speedings illegal.

 

We werent hurting anybody. Thats the main gripe. If we had incredibly loud music and people were getting hurt and driving drunk and getting in accidents, I can understand that. It wasnt a loud party.

 

[Eamonn]

Underage drinking is wrong.

It is so hard here in PA. For an underage drinker to buy alcohol that in most cases they have to enlist the help of someone over the age of 21. Of course 18 and 19 year olds are going to have friends that are over 21. However in my book the parents in this case are way out of line and deserve everything that they have coming to them.

Eamonn.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

[hops_scout]

That is just WRONG! I cant believe he actually thought that they were doing nothing wrong.

[scoutingagain]

This issue seems to come up every spring. Delusional, well meaning adults seem to take the attitude that kids will drink anyway and they may as well provide a safe place for them to do it. Massachusetts has a social host law as well, and several adult homeowners in nearby towns are charged every year with hosting such events. The law seems to have had some effect the last year or so. Ironically, these events seem to occur in the more affluent towns around us. (My bias I admit.) I can assure those from other parts of the country, anyone from Nahant, MA with a house on a lake in NH, is doing OK financially.

 

 

And Hop's observation is correct. Those charged never seem to get the idea they were doing anything wrong.

 

SA

[evmori]

Excellent observation, Hops!

 

These morons should be glad the cops showed up when they did so that nothing REALLY BAD did happen! Like one of these bozos getting in a car & driving!

 

I hope they throw the book at the parents! What a terrible example they are to their son! Kinda makes you wonder if this Scout deserved his Eagle!

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[packsaddle]

My family had a terrible brush with a drunk driver years ago. I can't adequately express my contempt for an adult who allows something like this, much less promotes it.

[SR540Beaver]

I am always amazed at the stupidity or apathy of some parents. I'm no prude by a long shot, but I do know what is and is not age appropriate and there are certain standards that we maintain in our home. My son is only 11 and so far we have been fortunate to not have him rebel against our rules. We do make an honest effort to explain why we have the rules we do and never resort to "because we said so". My son comes home all the time telling me about 8 and 9 year old kids he knows who get to watch R rated movies with their parents. He knows kids who get to buy and play video games rated Teen or Mature. He had one scout friend (when they were Webelos) who came to spend the night and brought two Austin Powers movies with him. They never got around to asking to watch them. The answer would have been NO. The Eagle Trail instructor at summer camp had to ask for adults from our troop to come to class to supervise three of our new scouts due to language and respect issues. They would not be allowed to return to class unless we came with them. It is far beyond me to understand why some parents think it is OK to expose their own children to behavior and influences that there children are not ready for. It is their business if they want to do that, but my son will not be allowed to participate. So far, he polices himself and won't participate on his own and doesn't even ask to or whine about it. I like to think that we are raising him correctly.

 

OK, I'm thru with this soapbox. Anyone else want it?

[marinelaw]

Sound like these are some real bright adults! Seems the apple didn't fall far from the tree either. One can only hope these adults will be punished severely for their stupidity and lack of concern. I would think such a fool could not make Eagle, I mean they are supposed to be exemplary Boy Scouts correct. Sounds like revocation of(This message has been edited by marinelaw)

[Hunt]

I agree with what's been said, but I think this kind of thing will continue to happen as long as we act like the same behavior is perfectly OK when done by adults. Teens are simply not going to except that a particular behavior is heinous, awful and deserving of harsh punishment when the exact same behavior magically becomes OK at age 21.

[thanes]

I feel strongly that this young adult has not lived up to the established standard of scouting, never mind that of an Eagle Scout. Hence I posted the report to this specific web site, because I am interested in the opinion of people who have current backgrounds in this area.

 

While some mentioned the unworthiness of this person for such rank, I was sure there would be stronger sentiment expressed about his receiving this particular award and immediately conducting himself in such a fashion, I guess I am wrong.

 

Its easy to shift the blame to the parents, however his age and displayed inability to rise above such conduct by understanding the consequences of his actions before hand seem to me to have been a prerequisite for this award. I see his attempts to rationalize, even dismissing his own culpability, as what has become the standard in many levels of society today.

 

Sadly, some years removed from my scouting/explorer experience, his performance now becomes the point of reference, for myself and likely many others, as to what it takes to achieve what should be considered a significant and prestigious accomplishment. A sad testimony to the efforts of those truly worthy, that they may now have the brilliance of their awards diminished in the eyes of those who witnessed this performance.

 

I personally think this individual is unworthy of this position. He has clearly shown that he can talk the talk but he obviously isnt qualified to walk the walk.

 

I think it would be most appropriate to adopt the words of Donald Trump in this situation by saying to him, YOUR FIRED! It would go a long way toward restoring some dignity to this program.

 

 

[Bob White]

I would think everyone will agree that his reported actions and attitude do not represent the rank or the program accurately.

 

For all we know the national office could already be in the process of removing his Eagle. The National Board of Review only meets once a quarter to make such decisions. If it is done you will probably never know since, for reasons of confidentiality, the BSA will not publish the action.

[boleta]

Such an occurrence would have barely been noted except that the young man was an Eagle Scout. It demonstrates that the rank truly marks the individual for life. All of his actions, good or bad, will be placed in context with respect to being an Eagle.

[scoutldr]

Bob said: "If it is done you will probably never know since, for reasons of confidentiality, the BSA will not publish the action."

As far as I'm concerned, the "Eagle Scout" has forfeited his right to confidentiality by allowing the good name of the BSA and of all Eagle Scouts everywhere (myself included) to be dragged through the mud.  The only acceptable outcome is for the parents to be tried and convicted and for the BSA to revoke the Eagle award....publicly. 

[Eamonn]

I am not so sure about taking away the Eagle Scout rank that this boy earned. Sure what he and the adults have done is both foolish and wrong. Sure the media have played on the fact that he is an Eagle Scout and this has put Scouting in a poor light.

But where was the media when he was working on his project?

I don't know the workings of the National Board of Review. I do know that I am glad that I don't serve on it.

Eamonn.

PS Wouldn't "Never ever get in trouble for the rest of your life." Amount to adding to the requirements?

[evmori]

I think, considering his actions & his parents actions, his Eagle should be scrutinized closely! Did he actually "earn" the rank or was it "given" to him? This sort of behavior doesn't just "happen".

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peer 4:10