Spring break. Give me a break.

Back in my college days spring break meant an all-night ride to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We were on the quarter system, so we finished finals on Thursday, grabbed some dinner in the school cafeteria and hit the road with eight people in two cars.

Back then the only concerns anyone had about spring break were whether someone drank too much, got sunburned at the beach, stayed out too late or fell in love with a girl they would never see again.

The eight of us shared one hotel room with two beds and a couch. Often, we would wake up to find other people sleeping in the room as well.

It was an idyllic time – a break from ending one quarter and having some fun before the next quarter of school began.

My how all that has changed.

Fort Lauderdale and spring break were featured in a number of movies. But many years ago the citizens of Fort Lauderdale decided spring break was too much for the city to deal with and went to work making the beach area very unfriendly to college kids. I have visited since all those changes were made and the area has little resemblance to what it once was. Even the Holiday Inn, the unofficial spring break headquarters across the road from the beach, was torn down.

Miami and Panama City grew in popularity as a result. Texas has its share of revelers and Cancun, Mexico also attracts a large number of college students.

But instead of fun in the sun and dancing into the early morning hours spring break has become dangerous. Problems have been escalating through the years during spring break, but it appears violence is as much a part of the experience as taking a dip in the ocean.

Two shootings, resulting in two deaths and two victims wounded in Miami Beach, prompted the city to call for a curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. which was soon suspended. Ironically, one of the killers charged is from Fort Lauderdale.

“The volume of people in our city and the unruly nature of too many and the presence of guns has created a peril that cannot go unchecked,” Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber said.

Peril and spring break are two words that should not be in the same sentence.

Also in Miami men and women are fighting on the beach for no apparent reasons.

In Cancun armed security roams the beaches to guard against the type of violence Mexico is becoming known for.

Life in the  United States is changing in so many ways and seldom for the better. There have always been incidences of people injured or killed during spring break,s in the past, but usually those have been accidents. When spring break becomes as dangerous as it now appears it is time for a wake-up call for us all.