Should stag parties be banned?
In March of this year, Amsterdam came in with new guidelines, almost banning groups and stag parties from visiting the area. Why did they do this? It was mainly lousy behaviour by the partygoers. Alcohol was drunk to excess, which harmed some of the stag party attendees and the locals in the area.
Hospital admissions were going up, and one of the main reasons given was for people's safety. However, locals even said that it wasn't that British stags in particular were the problem; it was just the people visiting in general and drinking to excess. Stags were not any more troublesome than any other group visiting or any worse than the locals.
Stag parties are notoriously renowned for heavy drinking. This can lead to 'laddish' behaviour. But what about people's liberties and freedoms? As long as laws are not broken, and no harm is done to property or verbally, then people really should be able to do what they want. It is our opinion that a few can spoil the fun for the rest. 99% of stag parties are just a laugh and a drink with friends; it's a tiny minority spoiling them for the majority.
With the Amsterdam situation, the complete opposite effect has happened. Due to all the press, bookings have gone UP. That's right, whilst the Amsterdam authorities had the intention of reducing stag parties in the area, more have now been booked. At HoM stag parties we have never seen trouble reported elsewhere in Europe.
There was also a report in which a stag party from the U.K. were seen at the 9/11 World Trade Center location taking selfies with inflatables. This shouldn't have happened at all. They were led away by the Police, and rightly so. These examples are few and far between, though, and it is a case of a small minority spoiling the fun for others.
Our stance is that Stag parties are great fun, and we cannot ban things because of a tiny percentage that misbehaves. Enjoy your stag party, but respect local laws and people, and there shouldn't be any need for clamping down on stag parties.
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