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The annual pilgrimage to schoolies for tens of thousands of high school graduates can throw up some tricky questions ... about sex. The migration of teenagers to different states creates murky legal dilemmas, particularly around the issue of consent. In Queensland, a popular destination for schoolies celebrations, the age of consent for sodomy is 18, compared [...]
Research tells us clearly that teens and alcohol don't mix. (In fact, medical studies routinely suggest that humans and alcohol don't mix!) One in ten teens have a regrettable sexual experience related to alcohol consumption. One in five injure themselves while drunk. And the earlier our kids start drinking, the greater the risk of alcohol [...]
Around 40,000 schoolies flock to the Gold Coast each year for a well-earned celebration of 13 years of study, and thousands more head to places like Byron Bay, Bali and even Thailand. A 2012 study revealed that around three-quarters of those involved in the festivities got drunk, and a quarter of all schoolies were injured as a [...]
It is that time of the year again…the impending departure of year 12 students from school and the associated ‘rights of passage’ that accompany this departure. In Australia, one ‘right of passage’ is referred to as ‘schoolies’ and the term itself elicits numerous discussion and debates. One of the most controversial issues centres on the [...]
This so-called rite-of-passage – more like a week-long binge – sees hundreds arrested for serious assault, drunk and disorderly conduct, drug possession and obstructing police. Scarce resources are deployed to mop up the mess. Many girls suffer sexual violence. Some families are left grieving the loss of a child who died at a schoolies event. [...]
BALI has gone berserk with schoolies - with the teens' disregard for terrorism warnings just as crazy as their drunken partying. Thousands of overly excited schoolies making the pilgrimage abroad have touched down in Bali despite Australian Government warnings that there is a high chance they could become victims of a terrorist attack. While Queensland's [...]
PARENTS will be stopped by security guards outside Queensland's biggest alcohol retailer if it is thought they are buying booze for their children during Schoolies. BWS and Dan Murphy's will turn away adults from the front doors of 50 outlets if it appears they are helping teenagers stockpile grog for the end-of-year celebrations. And groups [...]
