Thousands of teens are about to celebrate the end of their schooling years — a traditionally scary prospect for some parents.
Schoolies, which takes place on the Gold Coast and other local and international destinations, kicks off on November 16.
While most partygoers will come home unscathed and with fond memories, the event has a reputation for sometimes being unsafe.
We spoke to three parents about how they've navigated the milestone with their children.
'I stayed close by'
Nigel Sharpe told his son he could either attend the traditional Schoolies festivities on the Gold Coast or organise a trip with a group of mates somewhere else.
"We were hoping he'd take the latter — every parent does," the 51-year-old from Goondiwindi in regional Queensland says.
Nigel's son and seven of his friends chose to fund a trip to Noosa. Nigel, working in real estate, was able to guarantee the accommodation for the boys, and booked his own unit about 500 metres away.
Nigel would pop over to the house each morning to cook the boys breakfast and check if anyone needed anything.
Despite traditional Schoolies being cancelled that year due to COVID, and many more kids hitting the Sunshine Coast than usual, Nigel says it was still a "fairly quiet" alternative that worked out well.
"Knowing the cohort, I was fairly confident [it would be a good experience]," Nigel says.
"We had discussions with all their parents about their concerns [including] their views on drinking, girls staying over — that sort of thing."
Nigel has two other children who are yet to graduate. He says he will make the same offer to them.
"We just want to try and avoid that exposure, especially on the Gold Coast.
"And I would be close by. Not live in their pocket, but just to be there if something happens."
'Made some great memories'
Jo lives on the Gold Coast, where her then-18-year-old son attended Schoolies last year.
She says her main concerns were the behaviour of other attendees who might be affected by drugs or alcohol.
"We ensured my son's phone was kept on and that he could call at any time," the 46-year-old says.
"I was happy that my son and his friends chose not to stay in Surfers [Paradise]."
Jo was keen to chauffeur the kids when needed.
"We offered to drive friends there and back, which we did. We had a group chat with parents and kept each other updated."
She says her son paid for his own tickets when attending specific Schoolies events.
"It was very well organised, and he made some great Schoolies memories."
'We said no to our kids. Some went anyway'
Nikki Mahony from Central Queensland has four children who have graduated from high school.
She wasn't keen on them attending traditional Schoolies.
"We probably had a precedent that my mother set," Nikki, 49, explains. "We were all at boarding school and she had offered us money to travel in the year following school if we didn't go to Schoolies."
Nikki's children also attended boarding school, and she says she was worried they didn't have the "street smarts" to navigate some of the action Schoolies attracts.
"While we probably didn't consider [Schoolies] completely dangerous, it certainly has its dangers.
"They're unsupervised and don't have a safety net close by."
Nikki's children were offered money to travel if they chose not to attend.
"We also basically said 'no' to going. None of our children had turned 18 before the end of school.
"But of course, we also said that they were their own people and if they wanted to be independent, they had to organise and pay for it themselves."
Two of Nikki's kids took the money and stayed home. One went on the Noosa trip with Nigel, who we heard from earlier, and another attended Schoolies on the Gold Coast.
"He turned 18 halfway through Schoolies but came home that day.
"I think his experience was that it was a waste of time and money. He got sick of his mates very quickly."
Nikki's advice to other parents is to make sure kids know there is always the option to come home early.
"Forget how long you've booked it for. As soon as you don't want to be there, have that option to leave."
