{"id":927,"date":"2009-02-20T19:38:10","date_gmt":"2009-02-20T03:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2009\/02\/20\/open-parties\/"},"modified":"2009-02-20T19:38:10","modified_gmt":"2009-02-20T03:38:10","slug":"open-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2009\/02\/20\/open-parties","title":{"rendered":"Open Parties"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a post about an incident during an open party which sparked so much attention. Read about it here.<\/a> And read the organizer’s side here<\/a><\/p>\n

While it is true that a bunch of things have to be addressed with regards to the party(ies) nowadays, I can’t help but feel a tad frustrated as to how both ends of the spectrum are seeing this. To me, both sides have raised legitimate points (yes, even the whole “that’s society today” argument, to me, is valid), but I think they all went a bit overboard as to the sense of entitlement they think they deserve.<\/p>\n

So let me try to tackle this complex issue as best I can.<\/p>\n

Without going to much detail now (there’ll be a lot of that in a minute) here are quick points I’d like to get across.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The issue people should be focusing on is proper<\/strong> accountability and enforcing of “house rules” (rules which these parties should have had in the first place)… not ways to “ban” these parties in and of<\/em> themselves.<\/li>\n
  2. Schools are not to blame for this…. period. These parties were held outside of the schools – hence outside of their jurisdiction. And while it’s entirely up to the schools, they have no obligation<\/strong> to take action in addressing these events – nor should any parent expect it from the school (again, see #1)<\/li>\n
  3. Organizers should be wary of “worst case scenarios” when attempting to mount these types of events – this includes the decision to engage in “questionable” activities (liquor served to minors etc.)<\/li>\n
  4. These events are opt-in<\/strong> sorts of things… which ultimately<\/em> means a lot of responsibility is on the partygoers.<\/strong> That the incident that sparked this issue had turned out the way it did is indeed unfortunate – but again, ultimately<\/em> no one was forced to attend these parties. It’s just a case of extreme bad luck.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So most of my drilling down will basically revolve around these 4 points… only to great detail (so you have been warned). But I guess the point I’d really like to make is that it is really easy to get carried away when it’s your own child at the business end if the “incident.” And I have to admit if it were my child, I’d probably feel the same.<\/p>\n

    But if you really look at it, the whole “What if it was your child”<\/em> argument being used by most parents is pretty lame. And again, the problem really isn’t that they’re making a stink of it (like I said, I’d feel the same if it was my kid) the problem is the degree<\/em> in which they’re willing to take it to. It’s good to find accountability, but you should be informed exactly where that accountability is to be searched from. What parents are trying to do is do a blanket banning of these parties, holding schools responsible for events that aren’t sanctioned by them.<\/p>\n

    If I go to Quiapo wearing something that would make me a prime candidate for a mugging, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen. It obviously isn’t my fault that I got mugged (as mugging is wrong no matter what) but I personally<\/em> could’ve prevented it either by dressing down, bringing some sort of protection, having enough reliable<\/em> friends come along, or to simply not go<\/strong> to Quiapo. <\/p>\n

    It’s also worth mentioning that things like this still can happen no matter how prepared you are. My GF was a victim of a holdup twice; the second time she was even slashed in her arms for trying to defend herself (or her “stuff” more precisely. I swear teachers and their papers; mas mahalaga pa ang test paper kesa sa buhay nila<\/em> apparently). No matter how emotional I was<\/a> about it, it ultimately was sheer bad luck. The only way she could’ve avoided that was to stay in the front, or simply not commute. 1 <\/sup><\/a>Recently though, Cris was given a car – so problem solved<\/span><\/span>