We were at my sister's retirement dinner a few years ago when my wife, Lynn*, called to check on our then-14-year-old daughter, Katie, who was at home with her 11-year-old brother and a friend. Lynn didn't recognize the person who answered the phone, and she could hear noise in the background. When she got Katie on the line and asked what was happening, Katie said that she'd invited a friend over. Lynn didn't buy this; she realized something was wrong and said we had to leave right away.
When we arrived at our house a little after 10 p.m., we were shocked to find beer bottles strewn across the lawn and two police officers at our front door. The scene inside our home was every parent's nightmare. Broken beer bottles and glasses were littered all over the floor, the carpets were soaked with alcohol, the kitchen table was covered in vomit and an end table was destroyed. A couple of kids were still in the house, including Katie and her boyfriend, who were both drunk. The next day we also discovered that jewelry had been stolen, along with my cellphone, a printer and some software.
Word spreads quickly
How did this happen to us? That was what I kept asking myself. We were completely taken aback because we had only left home for a couple of hours, Katie hadn't been involved in something like this before, and we had never caught her drinking.
It turned out that Katie planned a party behind our backs, but it got out of control. Earlier in the week, when she knew we were going out for the evening, she invited several friends over without telling us. Word soon spread at her school and through kids sending text messages to one another that a party was happening at our place. Katie said she was overwhelmed when so many teens began arriving, many she had never even seen before. There were about 70 kids in the house at one point; some even arrived with backpacks, intent on smuggling property out.
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*Names have been changed.
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