Party Smart: The Schoolies Edition

With Schoolies kicking off this weekend, thousands of excited graduates are heading to Victor Harbor to celebrate. In today’s episode, we’re breaking down everything you need to know - staying safe in big crowds, looking out for your mates, and making smart choices around alcohol.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow ardess.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hi, I'm Jackie Loomb with iHeart Essay with School is
kicking off this weekend. Thousands of excited graduates are heading
to Victor Harbor to celebrate, and we're here to make
sure you do it safely. In today's episode, we're breaking
down everything you need to know, travel options, staying safe
in big crowns, looking out for your mates, and making
smart choices around alcohol. Whether you're celebrating, parenting or volunteering.

(00:26):
This is your guide to a fun and safe weekend.
First up, let's talk getting there. Thousands of levers will
be hitting the road this morning, hundreds of which will
board the newly expanded Schoolies Express buses, which now leave
from regional hubs including Claire Renmark, Portagusta, murray Bridge and Wallaroo.
Minister for Police Blair Boyer says he and many others

(00:46):
across the state are hoping the buses are utilized as
much as possible.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
That's what I certainly hope, is the Minister. I think
many other South Australians will feel the same way, particularly
parents of young people who are heading off to celebrate
at Schoolies this weekend. And we've really increased the number
of free buses available on the locations from which they
can be caught, including I think importantly in regional parts
of the state. There are express services now that are
going to provide free turn north the Air Peninsula, Limestone

(01:14):
Coast and the York Peninsula as well. So we're trying
to do everything we can to increase access to the
free bus service, so we have that incentive there for
young people to not worry about driving, so they can
make the choice just to have a free bus. Take
that kind of I guess concern for them and worry
for their parents, no doubt, out of the equation a bit,
and just make the whole process of getting to and

(01:34):
from our school is a bit more risk free.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Absolutely, And I know this can be a bit of
a saw point, but of course we've only two years
ago now lost Commissioner Grant Stephenson due to a car
accident on this very weekend, so I'm sure that this
is something that people think of actually when they hear
school is now, you know, it's associated now with just
being safe on the roads and whatever can be done

(01:59):
to help that.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
I think that's right. I know many South for Trains,
including myself, thinking of the Stephens family always at this time,
and people will have that fresh in their minds for
a long long time. And I guess in the spirit
of that, we're trying to do more as a government
to make the school is kind of experience as safe
as we possibly can, as risk free for the young people,

(02:22):
but also take the worry out for parents. Like it
is a time of excitement and celebration for young people.
It is a right of passage to celebrate finishing your
time in high school. We all remember it. I certainly
remember it, even though this is about twenty five years
since I've finished mine this year, and you want people
to enjoy that time, but do it safely and make
good decisions and good decisions for their for their mates

(02:44):
as well. That's my encouragement. But it's the biggest expansion
of the bus service that we've ever done, and it's
a free service, so take advantage of it.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
And with all of the other locations. Now, I mean
the Air Peninsula is a fair hike from Victor Harbor.
How long is the trip expected to take. If that's
something that people have thinking, oh it's going to take
too long, you know, what, can you put their mind
at rest.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
There's a lot of information online where you can book
the bus services about how long they expect it to take.
But the other positive thing about having the bus service
and a free bus service and having more pickup locations
is that it takes cars off the road. Other cars
are off the road. That diminishes the traffic, diminishes the
number of younger drivers too, who might be a bit
less experienced behind the wheel. That's good for all motorists,

(03:24):
I think at a time of year like this, and
as I said though, the other government acknowledges that it's
an important time for those who finished their high school
and they want to go out and celebrate with friends.
What we're trying to do is play a role along
with the work that Encounter use and they're Green Team
down at Victor Harbor do which is really important in
making it as safe and is enjoyable for everyone.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, and once at the event, they've got the shuttle
buses as well. I remember them being quite a good
time actually. So they go between Victor and Acounter Bay,
Middleton Port Elliott. So if anyone's staying out of the
immediate Victor area, that's an option. Make sure that they're
not getting by find the wheel. If they've had a
drink or two, that's right.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
And that's thanks to Encounter Youth and the work the
Green team is doing there with the shuttle bus services.
It's extremely popular used a lot at school is event
because we know, as you said, that a lot of
people don't stay necessarily right on site. They might be
an accommodation elsewhere and they're traveling to the site each day.
So for those people, you have a look at the
shuttle bus service. Again, free takes the worry out of things,

(04:25):
makes it easy for everybody. All those details are available.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Online for those who aren't going to catch the bus.
What would you say to anyone taking to the.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Roads, be very careful. Okay, this is the time. There's
going to be other drivers on the road, some of
whom are young and inexperienced, excited, you know, emotions will
be running high. Sometimes that's not conducive I think to
making really smart choices. So think about how you want
to remember this time in your life in five or
ten years time. You want to look back and say
what a great experience it was. Have positive memories. Don't

(04:55):
make this something that you look back with a whole
lot of regret. It's about looking after yourself, it's around
looking after the people around you as well. So let's
make this a really memorable weekend for all the right reasons.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
We'll have more after the Breaks my Heart essay, Welcome back.
We just spoke with the Minister the police about a
new transport option designed to take the guess work out
of getting to the Schoolies Festival safely. We'll now hear
from those who have first hand experience on the ground

(05:26):
of the festival. They'll give us some tips on how
to make it a weekend to remember safely. I caught
up with a former schooling security guard, Luke Stevens, who
says problems can actually arise in areas you wouldn't normally
think about. He's also issued a warning to be respectful
to locals and follow the rules laid out by the
authorities to make it a pleasant time for everyone concerned.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
It's really interesting to see the mindset of what their
expectations is of when people come to schools, because I
think it's a preconceived idea that you go down the
humanity drunk and carry on and it's a free for
all to be able to do what you want to
do really so, which is really weird because putting these
people into a normal state, they probably wouldn't be the

(06:10):
way they are, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, yeah, it might be their first taste of letting loose,
as you say as well, yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
And I think that's the problem. Like on, a lot
of the issues stem from the females. Like I've bounced
a lot of major nightclubs in Adelaide back in the day,
A lot of the problems do stem from the females
tend to get drunk very quickly down at schools because
it might be their first taste of alcohol and they
haven't been able to experience it, where where males seem

(06:36):
to you know, have a beer with dad or something
like that when they're a little bit younger, or what
tends to happen is the female they seem to go
through a lot of sweeter drinks that just taste like
a soft drink, and they drink it in that way.
So therefore when it hits them, it all hits them
at once, and that's not like doubt for them. Whereas
the boys are you know, they'll go grab a car
and the beer to share, and you know, bee is

(06:58):
not an easy drink to when you're young. Like once again,
it's an expectation that beer is what as a young float,
it's what you should drink. So I'll go and get
a cart and a beer, won't necessarily enjoy the beer
and tend to drink a little bit slower, really, And
so were.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
You personally were you working you know, the stage, were
you working the gates? Where did you kind of get
stationed and what were some of the trouble areas.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
Do you think I?

Speaker 3 (07:21):
I was a supervisor, so I was really all over
the place ensuring that everyone was getting what they needed
and things like that. So you get called to a fight,
or you get called to someone you know not doing
the right thing, or people jumping fences and things like that.
But it's just really it's really surprising, even over the years,

(07:42):
the change in respect of authority is completely different now
compared to what it used to be. Like if a
police officer when I was a young boy told me off,
I would be so scared that he was going to
talk to my family or my parents or even just
I was just scared of and full stop. Whereas now
there's just no respect for any authority at all.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Did you find as well, then people were being a
bit disrespectful to the people who live in Victor I
know that not a lot of locals don't love that
it's there every year.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, I think it's a real concern. Obviously being part
of it and driving past the Caribbean parks and things
like that, even the day after. These kids would never
do what they're doing down in their own houses or
under the guidance of their parents or family members. So
I think it's really it's just a mentality of an
expectation of what you need to do at schools. I mean,

(08:30):
the thing is we publicize, you know, what happens up
on the goal Coase for schools and things like that.
Young kids see that and then they want to be that,
and it's just that mentality of what school you mean.
A lot of these people aren't from Victor Harbor, so
therefore they don't know anyone down there. So I don't care.
There's a care factor. It's just not there because they're
never going to see these people again. It takes one
second to go from a really enjoyable time to a

(08:53):
not enjoyable time. But saying that, I mean, there's nothing
more as an organizer that you can do volunteers security
first aid all that there's nothing much more that you
can do to control this situation. I mean, the party
isn't just within the Victor Harvest Square. It spreads out
through the whole town and you've got people traversing between

(09:15):
the carby and Park and the main harb area. That
annoys the locals. You know, people push down leadterboxes. There's
a cost to the community by having these events, but
also it brings in money, so you've got to weigh
that up. You know, what is the cost on the
local community compared to what it brings into the town.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Definitely some words of warning there. Now. Finally, on a
more upbeat note, our reporter Chris Guskeert spoke to Encounter
Youth CEO Nigel Knowles, who says he's looking forward to
another fantastic year this You.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Were expecting about three and a half to four thousand
graduating year twelve to be celebrating in the Surio region.
And it's really a privilege for in county. As a
charity based here in Adelaide for twenty seven years, we've
filled this really vital gap for our twelves. This year,
we've got three unique theme nights and we're bumping in
and out the festival zone to incorporate and match those themes.

(10:08):
So Friday night is Carnival Night with sichow Ali rides
in games where the year twelves will get an opportunity
to win prizes from those games that's all included in
their ticket. A giant rock climbing wall where the actually
can host four partistants at one time, and we're going
to set up once they got used to it, races
to get up that wall as fast as possible. Who knows,

(10:29):
we might find a new Olympic champion out there. And
on Saturday night we're heading back to wild West. We
have a bucking Bull. It's a mechanical bull where there's
a riding competition to see who can stay on that
for as long as possible, as well as the best
dress competition. And Sunday is always schools out Sunday, so
it's not us to raf for their school uniforms. We

(10:50):
wanted to honor that this year and we've introduced this
year a red carpet walk complete with paparazzi and a glambot,
and we're really excited last year we introduced an Australia
first in a sensory space that's coming back this year
with a special grant from the Office for Autism and
that's for our young people that might have sensory sensitivities

(11:10):
or hidden disabilities, so that they can participate in the
festival but also go somewhere to recuperate, recharge and then
head back on out.

Speaker 5 (11:18):
One thing that I've been really fascinated about and seeing
this develop over time is a difference in attitude towards
alcohol by younger people. And I think overtime people would
associate schoolies with alcohol consumption, but it seems to be shifting.
Have you been able to see that from where you
sit as to how younger people are viewing events like
schoolies for example?

Speaker 4 (11:37):
Young people are changing and they're leading the way more
and more delaying their first drink, and more and more
of them are choosing not to drink at all. So
that's a really great impact that they're having and hence
we want to really encourage our young people to continue
those great trends. But Adam County Youth and our over
three hundred Green Team volunteers that come from all over

(11:57):
say we absolutely loved filling this g app in South
Australia for our young people and we love putting on
this celebration for them. It's pretty tough to being a
young person in this day and age and we love
to get around them and support them through their largest
celebrating their largest milestone that they've had in their young lives.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
And speaking of messaging, tragic anniversary associated with Schoolies is
the death of Grant Stephenson and everything that followed after that.
Beyond alcohol and drugs. What role does incounter use play
and Schoolies is a whole play in messaging for responsible
behavior towards school leavers, teenagers, young adults.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
We take our role that was held for twenty seven
years in this state very seriously and what we know
with these types of events and this phase of life
for our young people is that the best thing that
they can do is prepare early, formulate a plan of
where they're staying, what their celebration is going to look like,
inform the people around them of what those plans are,

(12:54):
their friends, their families, and stick to that plan. So
we have a really far reaching operation. This is a
big operation for our organization with many different volunteers on
hand to support and our great partnerships with our emergency
services that really do provide exceptional support to our year twelves.
And if the time does arise where you need help,

(13:17):
there are hundreds of volunteers and emergency services on hand
there to support you. So reach out immediately for help.
But on a nice note over the weekend, we always
like to encourage our year twelves to reach out to
mom and dad over the weekend. Send them a little
man in a call, just let them know that you're
okay and you're having a good time. It just puts
the best parts in mind to these.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
So to all the kids heading down to the Flurio
this weekend, be safe, have fun and look after one another.
That's it for this week. Don't forget you can hear
iHeart Essay and the iHeart app or wherever you get
your podcasts. I'm Jackie Limb. Join us again next week
for more of the stories you want to hear. I
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