If your parents could be sentenced to jail time for your truancy, would you keep skipping school? If you were at a party and your friend passed out drunk, would you call for help even if you might be arrested for underage drinking?

Out of the hundreds of bills that California legislators passed during 2010, many will have a direct impact on teenagers. Though there were 700+ laws passed, these are a few that students might want to be aware of.

1. Underage drinkers granted immunity in emergency situations

Previously, if an underage drinker called police in order to get medical help for a friend, they could have faced legal consequences. Now however, drinkers who report a medical emergency and who cooperate with police and paramedics are now immune from prosecution. The law, Assembly Bill 1999, was passed in October because of incidents in which teens were too scared to call for police even if a friend needed medical attention.

2. Online impersonation now illegal

Does anyone really know who they are interacting with online? The number of cases of online harassment, identity theft and cyberbullying  has prompted legislators to pass a law on Saturday that makes impersonating others with the intention to “harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud another person” illegal. Senator Joe Simitian, who wrote the bill, told the Los Angeles Times that, “E-personation is the dark side of the social-networking revolution.”

3. Restrictions on marijuana possession loosen

Though Proposition 19 didn’t pass, which would have legalized marijuana, a new law lessens the severity of punishment for possessing it. Instead of a misdemeanor, people caught with an ounce or less of marijuana will be charged with an infraction. They will still have to pay $100, but the incident will not be put on a criminal record.

4. Chelsea’s Law cracks down on sex offenders

Chelsea’s Law, which passed unanimously in June, has a “one-strike” clause that will put sex offenders who commit certain crimes against minors behind bars for life. The bill was written after Chelsea King was raped and killed by a registered sex offender who had already been convicted of sexual offenses against a minor.

5. Parents responsible for student’s truancy

A law that went into effect in June punishes parents with up to a $2,000 fine or a year in prison if their kindergarten to eighth grade child skips school for more than 10% of the school year, which is 18 days, without a valid excuse. The main reasoning behind the bill is that students who drop-out of school are more likely to begin a life of crime.

Here’s information about the other new California laws that took affect this month.