Schoolies at the Gold Coast - Would you let your kids go?

I was too busy having babies.

Will have to revisit this one in about 15 years I think. Not a fan of the schoolies myself and didn’t go. Packed my gear and went travelling around Europe for 3 months instead.

I’m a bit like that, p1.

: )

Nah, my kids (both prodigies), will be at home.

My son will be getting ready for medical school while my daughter will be preparing to become a nun until she’s about 30.

.

Oh, you just threw me with the sudden reminiscing about Russian orphans.

What am I in trouble for now?!

*LOL*

Good grief! It’s not like I’m seeing little green Cornish piskies running around the place.

Granny, have you been hitting the sherry a bit early this afternoon?

The little Russian orphans were like cats – the things they could do!

Our hearts were constantly in our mouths fearing that they would get hurt, but nobody else seemed concerned and they were the fittest little kids – a bit small sometimes through lack of nutrition though.

It really showed me how much we stifle our children through our own fears. And don’t even get me started on the crap playground equipment again … huh!

I recall a 4WD trip with my parents and siblings, and my aunt, uncle and cousins. We had set up the tents, and myself and siblings were climbing in a tree, improvising a hammock/swing from some rope, etc, and my cousins were not allowed to climb the tree because it was too dangerous. I mean really, talk about stunting a persons development.

Sure i’d let them go, they have to learn to handle themselves and grow up one day, and if it’s not at the end of highschool when is it? seriously i come accross parents who won’t let their children catch buses (when they are in high-school!) and i think to myselves: my god how soft are you? kids have to learn how to handle the real world, which *gasp* includes drunken bufoons and clowns. Of course i’ll let them go, and hope and pray nothing happens that doesn’t already happen in civic on a friday night at the beginning of uni semester!

Did you know that ageing toolies are known as droolies!

I guess it could be helpful in establishing paternity if necessary.

I suppose if your kids (particularly if they are girls) go AWOL during the period that schoolies are on – then deny that they went there, take up watching the “Girls Gone Wild” series on DVD. I believe the American based producers and crew were filming up North last year, and you could probably catch any silly business, albeit probably a few months too late.

If you catch your kids out, then have the remote control poised for the stop button. I know I wouldn’t need too much additional detail once the identifying had been done.

“Hey, Samantha has a birthmark just like that on her thigh” – “OH GOD, JEBUS CHRIST, stop button, where’s the STOP BUTTON”!

i went to schoolies in 96. Did LSD and sat all night watching two minute noodle seasoning move all over a table by itself. A friend jumped of the balcony into the pool. No big deal except we were on the 6th floor.

Good times. Good Times.

I did year twelve in the nineties. Did not go to schoolies, however I was reasonably independent as far as going away without parent was concerned, and a week at the coast with friends would only have attracted my parents attention because of the other 20000 idiots.

On the having jobs front, I would say probably a similar number of year 11 and 12 students have jobs as 10 or 15 years ago, but some of them seem to work a lot more hours. I did the usual paper run, Chinese food delivery jobs, but nothing like the hours a week a few 17 year old I know have managed to work while at school.

blueberry said :

>Is it just me, or was it more common for kids about 15 years ago to actually work for money from the age of about 16? I I wanted to go when I was 18 it would have been no prob. I (and many of my mates) had been working for over a couple of years by then.

I don’t think so. I have had a casual job since i was 14 and all through high school and collage most of my friends and classmates had casual jobs. This was only 2 years ago.

Luxury.

I used to work in the coal mines from the time I was 12 months old.

I never went to no fancy ‘collage’ neither.

>Is it just me, or was it more common for kids about 15 years ago to actually work for money from the age of about 16? I I wanted to go when I was 18 it would have been no prob. I (and many of my mates) had been working for over a couple of years by then.

I don’t think so. I have had a casual job since i was 14 and all through high school and collage most of my friends and classmates had casual jobs. This was only 2 years ago.

I’m guessing i’m the token year 12 student, who’s just finished??

We cant actulary go to schoolies. Guess who’s school’s exams are on all this week??

and i suppose i could of gone in theory, i definatly would have enough money for it, thankyou part time job. But really, i dont see all the fuss.

Mrs G, it’s you!!

: )

how do most of these kids pay for the trip – the parents must be giving them the money? if i was a parent there is no way my kid would be going.

Is it just me, or was it more common for kids about 15 years ago to actually work for money from the age of about 16? I I wanted to go when I was 18 it would have been no prob. I (and many of my mates) had been working for over a couple of years by then.

I guess there’s something to be said for encouraging your kids to be independent hey?!

I personally chose to go to Port Macquarie and had a great time with some friends…we avoided the crowds and toolies at the Gold Coast but had an awesome week (all self-funded too.)

However, a close friend of mine chose to go to the Gold Coast and ended up with a drink spiked and being sexually abused in an alley. This girl was normally careful with drinks and was with friends at the time, but left the club for a few minutes to get some cool air(after the affects of drink spiking kicked in) and ended up missing for half the night while friends and police tried to find her.

This is obviously not the ‘common’ experience at the Gold Coast, but I wonder if it’s really the best place to go to relax and party after school…I think there’s better options, and maybe parents can give schoolies brochures or info about other places to go, even if they can’t lock them up at home.

Interesting report in the CT about just who is the serious problem… toolie arrests up, schoolie arrests down, and toolies making up the vast majority of the total arrested.

Yeah, it could even be nice to go as a bunch of families.

I was a Hotel Chaplain at schoolies a few years ago. We basically give the kids advice and help whenever they need it, kind of like a parental figure except that we can’t tell them what to do unless they ask us.

It might not seem like much help if we can’t tell them not to do drugs or drink but we really did help a ton of kids who were having a tough time. Its super emotional for alot of the kids as well, especially if they are coming down off nasty stuff. We were able to talk to alot of them when they were feeling depressed and help out with lots of the kids who had overdosed or gotten way too drunk and violent when their friends were too scared to call the police.

They have so many different groups at schoolies trying to look out for these kids but most of them just act so stupidly and think they are invincible. I doubt many of them have a good time. They do have lots of activities planned, like beach volleyball and cricket and lots of bands.

I would really hope that my kids wouldn’t want to go and I really like the idea of planning a family trip at the same time. I wouldn’t even mind taking some of my kid’s friends along for the trip.

I’m Not sure how many Canberra kids actually go to schoolies??
I know nobody from my year went the year i finished and i don’t think their end of year lines up with schoolies as neatly as QLD and NSW.

If I had kids, I’d be very reluctant to have them going to this bacchanalia. Some enterprising type should set up a rival event, like a monster week-long B & S with Ute Show in Hay or something. Or have a Schoolies Cruise, but craftily water down all the grog and have drug dogs patrolling.

And when we went up, you had to show ID to get into the hotel we were in, to prove you were staying there. So mischief had t happy on the streets

My parents paid for me to head up there. I spent the week getting drunk and sunburnt, but didn’t really get up to too much mischuief *shrugs* But i was with a subdued bunch of kids.

Jim Jones said :

To be fair, we only ever hear the worst stuff about schoolies – the meeja just loves pictures of vomiting teenagers, and will seek them out and repeat them on air nauseum.

There’s probably any number of schoolies who have a great time but don’t end up destroying themselves or anyone/anything else.

You can say that again, I’ve been to many an event which according to the media was “kids running out of control, it’s the end of the world as we know it” when in reality the coppers came down and told [b]a[/b] kid off for underage drinking.

You are a demagogue. Should I bow or something?

*chuckle*

London may have been a bit cold and brillig at the time, however.

Thumper: It was an especially easy choice to make, considering I was living in Brisbane at the time!

I looked into going a few years ago (a couple of years after my years schoolies) and found that most events have age limits to prevent older people going and that there are even entire hotels booked out to only genuine schoolies which then have pretty tight security. While some people will always get wasted because they can, the organisers are trying harm minimisation.

My parents bribed me with a ticket to London if I skipped Schoolies. It worked. From what I heard of my friends (and this was a decade ago), it was mostly week-long soap opera drama.

Make the economic argument: the south coast is a much cheaper option, leaving more money for booze!

I’ve heard of a few parents who organise a fiji familiy holiday to coincide with schoolies so the kids don’t go and there’s no arguments about it.

To be fair, we only ever hear the worst stuff about schoolies – the meeja just loves pictures of vomiting teenagers, and will seek them out and repeat them on air nauseum.

There’s probably any number of schoolies who have a great time but don’t end up destroying themselves or anyone/anything else.

My friend owned her own car as a teenager from working at the old Boulevard cinemas. She could have easily gone to the Gold Coast.

I would think the same applies to any teen capable of saving a bit of money from a casual job for something they really want.

Damn straight! That’s an excellent idea!!

: )

how do most of these kids pay for the trip – the parents must be giving them the money? if i was a parent there is no way my kid would be going.

A couple of good ropes … a pair of handcuffs ….

*chuckle*

I’d hope my 13 year old would have developed enough taste and decency not to want to go by the time she reaches that age.

That’s right, Granny. Try stopping a 17 or 18 year old from going. Can’t imagine that would be easy.

My three oldest finished school in Sydney. I don’t know what they got up to, but they weren’t at the Gold Coast. I would have known about that.

My next oldest has another five years, but I can’t imagine letting her go. Then again, for those that are already eighteen and have income from part-time jobs, what can the parents do to stop them?

I don’t have teenage kids, but having seen some of the behaviour up there, I wouldn’t want them going. Another big problem up there are the “toolies” – older men who try to hang out with the younger crowd. They start a lot of the fights and sell a lot of the drugs.