Schoolies week

Schoolies or Schoolies week (known as Leavers' or Leavers' week in Western Australia) refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates (known as "Schoolies" or "Leavers") having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams in late November and early December.

Locations

Queensland's Gold Coast, particularly Surfers Paradise, maintains its status as the largest single venue for this revelry, attracting tens of thousands of Schoolies. Schoolies have similar traditions at Magnetic Island in Townsville, Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Sunshine Coast and Port Macquarie. Byron Bay & Surfers Paradise are particularly popular amongst private school graduates. For South Australia, Victor Harbor is the location of choice, while in Victoria the Surf Coast is popular, mainly consisting of Lorne and Torquay. In Western Australia (where it is always referred to as 'Leavers'), Rottnest Island off Perth and the South West towns of Dunsborough and Busselton are popular destinations. In Tasmania there is not an established "Schoolies" location or tradition as such.

Internationally, the Pacific island of Vanuatu has also established itself as a Schoolies destination [http://www.surething.com.au/Schoolies_Vanuatu.shtml Schoolies Vanuatu] .

Official Schoolies Events

Official Schoolies Events, which are drug and alcohol free, are held at many Schoolies destinations, They include concerts, dances and parties. For all official events, attendees are required to be a registered Schoolie and present Schoolie ID on entry. This schoolies ID, which at some locations includes a photo, is given to Schoolies upon registering, which requires the presentation of current school ID and incurs a small fee. At many destinations, the official events are held in fenced-off areas or in nightclubs to prevent the infiltration of "toolies" and to maintain crowd control. Some events are free while others (often those held at nightclubs) incur an entry fee.

Criticism

Since the event began to attract large enough numbers to warrant annual media attention, the Schoolies week has become a familiar concept nation-wide. Popular media frequently criticise what has become a rite of passage due to binge drinking and promiscuity. Police attention is regularly required where the collective behaviour of Schoolies at some locations gets out of hand, such as Rottnest in 1986. In efforts to reduce such acts, the week-long event on Rottnest in Western Australia has, as of 2006, been reduced to six days, which itself has resulted in a fair amount of criticism from the youth public.

In recent years, violence (notably sexual violence) has become an increased threat to the safety of attendees. Fights have broken out between Schoolies from one area and another, [http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s758263.htm Schoolies Week Review] ] and predictable media coverage of antics, accidents, and attacks has followed. The Queensland Government has been criticised for their efforts to stage-manage the event and limit celebrations. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/welcome-to-schoolies-now-behave-yourselves/2006/11/17/1163266787566.html]

2007 saw one of the most troublesome Gold Coast Schoolies celebrations in history, where in one night, police arrested 30 Schoolies and the number of arrests for the entire week doubled compared to the previous year. Supt. Jim Keogh said that over the past eight days of Schoolies celebrations, 217 Schoolies had been arrested on 244 charges compared with 94 Schoolies arrested for the same period in 2006. Charges were laid against Schoolies for serious assault, drunk and disorderly, drugs and obstructing police. It prompted talks of banning Schoolies week. [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=328343] . This has led Schoolies to look at safer alternatives to ensure their wellbeing.

Toolies

Popular Schoolies venues are often attended by people well past school age, labelled by the media as "toolies". The word is derived from the notation "too old for Schoolies" and also the slang expression "tool", which is synonymous with "wanker." Toolies are associated with the targeting of drunk teenagers for sex, and are also frequently involved in any disturbances that take place during the celebrations. Because of this, toolies are a major topic of media scrutiny during Schoolies week. Toolies also refers to early school leavers which are in apprenticeship training but join in the Schoolies celebrations.

Another group that have some presence at Schoolies week celebrations are those known as "foolies" or sometimes "pre-Schoolies". These are adolescents who haven't yet left school but still partake in activities during Schoolies week.

Many organised events during Schoolies week, such as concerts, only admit those who are school leavers. On the Gold Coast in particular, Schoolies are often given wristbands as a form of identification.

ee also

* Spring break a week-long recess from studying in early spring at universities in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, China and other countries.
* Civil disturbances in Western Australia
* Russ Norwegian graduate revelry.

References

External links

* [http://www.schoolies2009.com.au/ 2009 Schoolies Website]
* [http://www.schooliesweek.qld.gov.au/ Queensland Government's Schoolies Week site]
* [http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=835 Victoria's "youthcentral" schoolies week resources]
* [http://www.schoolies.org.au/ National Schoolies Website]