About a month ago, Boston City Council held a hearing on a new “Ordinance Regarding Nuisance Control,” which would beef up the consequences for “excessive and unnecessary noise” throughout the city in an effort to quiet down student-riddled neighborhoods. As the docket, sponsored by Councilor Sal LaMattina, states “loud parties and gatherings cause disruptive behavior leading to sleep disturbances and anxiety creating a substantial disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of the neighborhood.”

What constitutes a gathering? “A party or event where two or more persons have assembled for a social occasion or social activity.” According to Section 1 of the docket, there has been too much “excessive noise, obstruction of public ways by crowds or vehicles, illegal parking, the service of alcohol to underage persons, fights, and disturbances of peace.” During the hearing, numerous residents (none under the age of 40) heavily criticized students for staining their neighborhoods and forcing friends and families with heavy roots to pack up and leave for the suburbs. Specifically – the main neighborhood in question is the North End, and the students are mainly seen as coming from Emerson College and Suffolk University. One neighbor even mentioned that these students (yes, if you’ve done it – you’re at fault) are urinating off of roofs and having sex in the hallways of residential buildings.

While not all North End students have are at fault, one of the biggest life lessons is learning to be courteous. Everyone enjoys blowing off steam and hanging with friends but nobody wants the police to knock on their door. The best way to avoid this is to be courteous and realize there are a whole lot of people around you with their own busy schedules in need of sleep late at night.

Being on the opposite end of loudness when you’re trying to sleep is never a fun situation to be in, so just try your best not to put others in this scenario when hanging out and having fun with friends. It’s not an easy task, but effort does go a long way.