As teen parties get bigger, riskier and more elaborate, host parents are finding there’s extra help at hand: other parents and responsible (i.e. mature, sober) adults. This is good news, as parents planning teen events need all the help they can get. They also need to realise some really important points. Key among these is…
As our communities struggle to cope with the rise of teen parties, we now have a popularity contest: 100 guests (or more) is the new way to be cool and hip! Yes, teen parties are getting bigger. I’m now regularly speaking to parents planning 150+ guest events for kids as young as 14! Yesterday I…
The mayhem caused by unplanned teen parties is alarming. With no experience of planning a successful teen event, parents are continually putting kids in harm’s way. As Managing Director of U-Nome Security and Founder of Safe Partying Australia, I’ve planned and worked at more than 700 teenage parties. Every weekend, I see first-hand exactly why…
Perth has been having so many major problems with teen parties that I have to say my piece. Since the start of March, I’ve counted more than 30 teen events that have hit the media for all the wrong reasons. The most serious incident was last week when gatecrashers attacked, stabbed and hospitalised four young…
The link between teen parties and sexual assault is real and alarming. Here’s the latest horrific story. How many more times must this happen before we wake up from this nightmare?! I was recently involved in a situation that resulted in a young birthday boy being charged with sexual assault at a party. Prior to…
In recent weeks, my security industry contacts have reported an alarming trend. A growing number of parents are leaving their children at home while they go on holiday. Why? Because they think that if their kids have a party while they’re away, they won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, they…
The things people say! Here are things parents commonly say before a teen party. Along with the reality. ‘We know them; they’re all nice boys.’ Then they drink. ‘The kids will be okay in the pool while they drink.’ Then we have two broken noses and a brawl at the end of the night. ‘Our…
I’m concerned at the growing number of licensed venues being used for teen parties. They raise issues parents need to know. Venues see teen events as easy money, but rarely convey the legal implications to parents. Two weeks ago, another gatecrasher horror story hit the media. A venue is liable for the event it hosts.…
I don’t usually post on Sundays, but a terrifying incident last night compels me to issue a dire warning. If you’re a teen, or have a teen child, please read on. I was working at an 18th birthday party in Melbourne’s east. At 9 pm, two 16-year-old girls arrived. I noticed that one girl was…
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…