What price peace?

Another party went feral last week. This time in the well-heeled Melbourne suburb of Kew. The host parent had called me earlier, but baulked at my $500 quote for full event security. When I sent one of my staff to watch the night go off the rails, he saw plenty more than $500 worth of…

Your taxes at work

Even when I warned him his party would spiral out of control, a Wheelers Hill kid ignored my advice and held a party last weekend. As I predicted, it turned ugly. And the emergency services response cost tax payers (you and me) a small fortune. Words of warning The boy rang me last Thursday to…

Violence ain’t ‘senseless’

We hear a lot about ‘senseless violence’. But when kids get injured at parties, it’s not the violence that’s senseless. It’s the parents. With prior planning, parties needn’t suffer any violence. To me, ‘senseless’ is someone stabbing you in the street. Car accidents aren’t senseless. Most are due to speed, alcohol, fatigue or other driver…

Sweet Sixteen & Utterly Pissed

16-year-old Sophie* attends a gathering at a friend’s house at 4 pm.  Sophie drinks a bottle of vodka while the host parents party elsewhere on the property – not caring what’s happening in their home.  Sophie passes out. Her eyes roll back. Her breathing becomes laboured. Her friends become distressed and wonder if they should…

Second Thoughts

Nasty Surprise After my recent one-hour interview with the Member for Doncaster, Mary Wooldridge, it was discovered that the secondary supply law due to come into effect in Feb 2012 will NOT include BYO alcohol at teen parties. In my experience of planning and protecting 700 teen events, most problems have been with drinks brought…

Serving Suggestions

Good News / Bad News I’m delighted the State Government is concerned about teenage alcohol abuse. However, I strongly feel the law described in this article is too narrow. If we fine adults who give alcohol to children visiting their homes without their parents’ permission, the ripple effect may be bigger than we think. Private…

All the Wrong Moves

  There’s a right way and a wrong way. The wrong way costs MUCH more. Girl Talk A young girl rang and asked if I could provide crowd control for an after-formal party for 400 teens in an inner-Melbourne factory area. She couldn’t believe I was concerned when she told me: The school didn’t want…

Six Faces of Pain

Last weekend in sunny Adelaide, an ambulance attended a party to treat a girl who’d sustained a (probably alcohol-related) injury: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/teen-struck-by-car-after-running-from-ambulance/story-e6frea83-1226012328983 As this girl was being treated, she ran onto the road and got hit by a car, whereupon the party guests began abusing the paramedics. Based on my experiences as a police officer, security…

Too Cool for School

I can’t say enough about the duty of care of parents who host parties. Here’s yet another report of a party turned to crap (courtesy of Police News): ‘Police are appealing for information after a party turned ugly at Carrum Downs last Thursday night. At about 10.30pm on 20 January a group of people turned…

Safe Party Line

Your teen party questions answered. For free! I’ve written plenty of blog posts about parties gone wrong. Today I have some good news! Last month I founded Safe Partying Australia: a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to keeping our kids safe by implementing my Safe Event Laws Proposal. Today I’m launching a national online support service for…