This morning, I stumbled across a local petition that I simply couldn't wait to share with you. My friend Chris Lyon with Heliopolis has started a petition to send to our city council with the goal of giving young adults in our community more to do. A petition that encourages our city to allow 18+ into local bars and nightclubs.

Think about it, if you're an 18-year-old in Shreveport, what can you do? You can enlist in the Military, you can work a full-time job, you can buy a car or home, but you can't enjoy quality nightlife entertainment. That's wild to me, considering that if you drive thirty minutes in any direction from Shreveport, you'll find a bar or nightclub that welcomes all all patrons, as long as they're 18.

The fact that in Shreveport, you have to be 21 just to enter a bar or nightclub has always blown my mind. How can we expect to grow into the city we all know Shreveport can be, if we set restrictions on our young adults that weaken their will to want to live here? If an 18-year-old is looking for something to do with his/her friends in this town, what can they do? They can go to the Boardwalk, sure. They could go to a concert at the CenturyLink Center, absolutely. However, on a weekly basis, what they do for fun is severely hindered by the fact they can't enjoy the nightlife that most people their age can around the country. In fact, I've never been to a town in America where you have to be 21 to walk in.

The first thing people who oppose letting 18+ into bars think is that it would make it easy for these 18-year-olds to get in and drink in the establishment. I completely disagree, and there are many ways clubs all around the country make sure the underage patrons can only enjoy the entertainment, and not partake in the alcohol. I'm not worried about our bar owner's abilities to make sure that the law is followed, if this petition makes headway and changes things in our community.

Also presented in the petition is the fact that not all bars and nightclubs have to comply. Meaning, if they don't want to let 18+ in, they simply don't have to. It would be nice, however, to give each establishment the choice to allow these young adults in.

As someone who makes a living in the nightlife industry, I wholeheartedly support this petition and hope that many of you feel the same way. I think this could be the shot-in-the-arm that not only downtown Shreveport needs, but also what our younger community needs as well.

Lookout for Chris's full story on this proposal in the upcoming edition of Heliopolis magazine, hitting shelves in Shreveport this weekend.

To sign this petition, please click HERE!

 

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