As spring break approaches for high schools, families pre-plan their vacation spots. The go-to spring break spot, Miami, tends to become overcrowded as high schoolers end up acting recklessly across the beach. Miami Beach suffers from all the actions of irresponsible young adults such as the litter and violence the adolescents bring through the holiday week.
Last year, Miami experienced a stampede of people through the beaches and after two deadly shootings, Miami attempted to tackle the violence with curfews. South Beach invoked an emergency curfew at midnight to prevent drunk civilians, reckless driving and violence. As Miami cracked down on the rules, tourists became irritated and occasions escalated with their actions.
As the time for spring break arrived, Miami released a video on all their social media platforms stating they plan to “break up with spring breakers.” The minute-long video features people acting as residents of the area saying they collectively do not support tourists who disrespect the beach. The video details how parking will increase to one hundred dollars on certain streets along with a strict curfew set in place. Tourists can expect checkpoints to look out for drunk drivers and stricter drinking limits in bars.
“We reached out to not just Miami Beach but communities all across the state and said listen, rather than have it where things get out of hand and then the state is asked to come in and provide support, why not just have a plan going in? You are going to pay the price and be held accountable if you’re coming for reasons other than to have fun. That is not gonna fly in the Sunshine State,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.
Miami shortly released a long list of illegal activities now enforced through the city and beach area. The list mentioned drinking in public, smoking of any kind and driving a scooter or vehicle irresponsibly. The beach handed out a separate list prohibiting activities including loud music, coolers and drinking. The heavily enforced laws proved the point that the city did not welcome the inconsiderate springbreakers.
“They were very strict with beaches closing at 10 p.m. for any kids every night. They would station police officers at the entrances and some even had little scooters to drive around the beach. Me and my friends got kicked off the beach at like 9:50 p.m. cause it was closing and they watched us leave,” NC sophomore Abigail Burgess said.
Tourists supply the majority of the money that Miami uses to support its economy throughout the year, so announcing that the city planned to break up with spring breakers sprung a risk. Spring breakers took the announcement fairly well and families planned their vacations in another area in Florida to respect Miami’s wishes. Although the city loses a significant part of its identity in its attempt to banish spring break, the residents feel the losses outweigh the cons.
Spring break vacations tend to cause reckless and endangering issues while the week off from the typical stressful school or work week. Changing the stereotype of the spring break experience could allow Miami to reopen its doors. Spring break can hold wonderful memories at the beach that lack dangerous acts and inebriation in public.
