Turning 18 -- a user's guide

<p>Ariel Brantley-Snowden turns 18 in a week, which means a lot of celebrating.</p><p>But on Thursday, Brantley-Snowden, a senior at Ridgway High School in Santa Rosa, learned that becoming an adult brings with it lots of added responsibility.</p><p>"I learned how much trouble you can actually get into," she said.</p><p>Brantley-Snowden was one of about 50 teenagers who attended "When You Become 18, A Survival Guide for Teenagers," a two-hour session on the rights and obligations that go into effect when 17-year-olds reach the age of majority.</p><p>Sponsored by the Sonoma County Office of Education in partnership with the Sonoma County Bar Association, the event gave students from across the county a taste of how the justice system changes when a juvenile becomes an adult.</p><p>The second half of the program featured representatives from eight agencies, including the FBI, Sonoma County Office of Emergency Services and Sonoma State University's paralegal program, who answered students' questions about what it takes to follow various career paths.</p><p>"I see it as an outreach of what I do," said Juvenile Court Judge Allan Hardcastle. "I wanted to impress on them the importance of making good choices and responsible choices."</p><p>Hardcastle said employers are frequently looking for information on potential employees on Web sites like Facebook and MySpace. And what they are finding doesn't appear on a resume, and it doesn't always look good, he said.</p><p>Think it was funny to shotgun that beer last Friday night? Your potential boss might not agree, he said.</p><p>"These things can go from cell phones to Internet, then it's on YouTube," he said. "They think it's funny, but it has consequences."</p><p>And those consequences are tougher as soon as teens turn 18.</p><p>"The law begins to see you differently," said Rebecca Gallagher, education specialist in career development for the county Office of Education. "It's nuts and bolts stuff that we don't teach in schools, frankly, like before you enter into a contract, what do you need to know?"</p><p>Students walked out with "A Survival Guide for Teenagers," paid for the by the California Bar Foundation, which outlines laws related to drinking and driving laws, becoming a renter, having sex, opening a bank account and filing taxes.</p><p>Katrina Marlow doesn't want to go into law enforcement when she graduates -- she wants to be a phlebotomist -- but she was looking for a tutorial on how the law sees her now that she is 18.</p><p>"I like to learn about everything," said the senior at the Arts and Ethics Academy at the Chops Teen Center. "And I wanted to learn about what I can and can't do."</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.</p><p>com.</p>