Should Schoolies Week be stopped?
Queensland - 28/11/2005
Another year, another schoolies week, another round of drunken parties, violence, arrests and calls for Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast to be stopped.
Two of my family members were at schoolies this year – so as the reports came in of schoolies being bashed, of course I had concerns.
But should the event be stopped altogether?
First of all, what to people mean by "stopped"? How can anyone prevent a group of people heading to a popular holiday destination?
The simple answer is, "You can’t!" So what are we stopping? The organised events that occur during the week? Will that stop people going? Will that stop the problems?
Again, the answer is, "No."
The organised events are a way to give schoolies something to do, rather than getting totally drunk or high on drugs and end up passed out or arrested. Schoolies are registered and given tags to better-control who attends schoolies events.
Given this, I don’t understand what people mean when they say they want schoolies week on the Gold Coast stopped. There is no way anyone can stop people heading to the coast – and the organised events create more control – not less.
The majority of problems are caused by older people or "toolies" who like to party with the younger generation. Rather than stopping schoolies week, there needs to be more controlled areas where only registered schoolies are allowed to enter. Rather than banning schoolies, we should be banning toolies!
Links:
www.goldcoastschoolies.com.au
gold-coast.schoolies.org.au
| Others' Views: Based on 17 votes |
|
| Totally agree: | 
(76.5%) |
| Mostly agree: | 
(11.8%) |
| Mostly disagree: |
(5.9%) |
| Totally disagree: |
(5.9%) |