Parties and Living in the Community

It is likely that your child will want to have friends round or will be invited to a party whilst they are living away from their parental home. This is to be expected and in some cases, a normal part of growing up. With the responsibility of living independently comes the responsibility of being a sensible member of a community. Your child is now responsible for who they allow into their accommodation and how their guests behave.

Some parties can have serious consequences and can be particularly distressing for other housemates and those surrounding the property. It is for these reasons that the police offer ‘words of advice’ about parties. For example, your child should avoid publicising parties to people they don't know. Using social networking sites can attract the wrong people. Huge numbers of strangers turning up can prove difficult to manage. If you are a parent, why not ask your child; “would you hold a party like that at home?” If the answer is no, why should they behave any differently in their new home?

Students' unions and universities put a lot of hard work into responding to community complaints about some students' behaviour. Most residents want to get to know their student neighbours and the longer term community welcomes student input, particularly at community meetings. Please encourage your child to be considerate and help them understand that letting off steam when returning home after a night out may not feel very loud to them but could well be loud enough to wake up people who have to go to work and university the next day.