NEW RULE: Wildwood, NJ Approves Backpack Ban After Chaotic Summer Kickoff

Wildwood is putting its foot dow

The City of Wildwood, New Jersey has just approved a ban on backpacks on the beach and on the boardwalk. The new policy comes a few weeks after the chaos that broke out across Jersey Shore towns over Memorial Day weekend.

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The decision to enact the new policy was made unanimously, banning backpacks from 8pm to 4am every night, going into effect starting on Thursday, June 13.

Despite teen curfews in a select few Jersey shore towns, young people and teenagers swarmed New Jersey boardwalks and beaches with unruly, disruptive behavior. It was madness! Especially after nightfall.

Wildwood even had to declare a temporary state of emergency, shutting down their boardwalks for hours.

Another part of the problem was drugs, alcohol and weapons being stored in backpacks. So Wildwood is taking this action to decrease the risk of more wild, criminal behavior.

There's also a teen curfew that went into effect in the spring.

City officials are hoping this decreases the risk of danger so families can enjoy the boardwalk more safely this summer season.

Since the ban goes into effect at nightfall, this shouldn't affect parents with small children too much, but there are exceptions to the policy, including medical bags and diaper bags according to CBS News. 

Do you think the ban will be effective? It's better than nothing, because in the long run, it's all about keeping people safer. It's just a shame that people with bad behavior had to make this a necessary step.