Alcohol is flooding our health system
January 27, 2013 at 12:07 am | Posted in Security | 2 CommentsTags: alcohol, BYO, child, death, drinking, duty of care, event, hospital, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, secondary supply, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
WA’s new party laws won’t prevent this.
Here’s a lovely article that I read with interest, then dismay: Drunk callouts swamp ambos.
Did you know that Western Australia’s stretched ambulance crews are treating ten drunks a day?!
I find this and other figures sobering.
What a pity other people don’t!
Lie of the land
In WA, more than seven teenagers a week are taken to hospital for intoxication.
Unfortunately, the State’s new reactive party legislation will not prevent alcohol abuse at teen and young adult events.
Whether these parties have supplied or BYO alcohol, it must be managed and served properly.
The only way parents can ensure this is to have an alcohol management plan that includes Responsible Serving of Alcohol.
If they don’t, more and more children will be carted off to hospital – or worse.
Shame game
Parents who collect their intoxicated son or daughter from a party should ask (or be asked) a serious question:
How did they allow this to happen to their child?
I have first-hand experience of parents who’ve:
- Picked up their unconscious child from a party.
- Detoured to a hospital to get their kid’s stomach pumped.
- Collected a kid from hospital who was rushed by ambulance from a party.
- Sent the party host the ambulance and/or hospital bill!
Seriously: does this look like a recipe for ‘good times’ to you?
Parental guidance
It’s really quite simple: adults hosting events must be made accountable
Until we have a party management system that requires parents to apply for a permit that ensures they fully discharge their duty of care, kids will continue to end up in hospitals.
And coffins.
So what will it take?
Must we wait until your family is torn apart by (totally preventable) injury and loss?
The answer is right in front of you.
Please read this and think about it!
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Midnight son
December 27, 2012 at 8:14 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: alcohol, child, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, sexual assault, teen, teenage, teenager, U-NOME Security, underage drinking, underage sex, youth
WAKE. UP!
Kids.
They grow up so fast!
Like to know how fast?
A 24-year-old drives his kid brother to a girl’s twelfth birthday.
The party’s in the well-heeled Melbourne suburb of Brighton.
When the man returns to collect his brother several hours later, he sees pre-teens (i.e. children) staggering round the front yard, vomiting profusely on the hydrangeas.
His young brother gets into the car.
When quizzed by his older sibling, the boy reports that it was the birthday girl’s parents who supplied the (copious) alcohol at this party.
The boy goes on to say that he used his mobile phone to photograph 12-year-old guests having oral and penetrative sex at various concealed locations around the multi-million-dollar property.
Nor was he the sole happy snapper.
There’s every chance these images will end up online.
And stay there.
Forever.
This tawdry tale illustrates three points I’ve been making for years:
- Parents holding events for young people are utterly failing to show any duty of care.
- One can only hope this sexual activity was consensual. Far too often it is not.
- Alcohol leads to violence, injury and death. How many more kids must be killed at these parties before stupid parents realise it’s unacceptable to just let it happen?
Happy New Year?
Not unless we change our tune!
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Why each parent should have 20 kids
July 30, 2012 at 5:10 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: alcohol, bottle, child, crowd control, drinking, duty of care, event, fight, gatecrasher, injury, kid, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, U-NOME Security, venue, violence, youth
Less really is more.
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 the ratio of parents to kids.
Numbers game
If you work on 1 parent for every 15-20 kids, you take a massive step in the right direction.
This manageable ratio means you can task parents to areas that invariably cause problems, like:
- Monitor toilets and bathrooms to prevent these areas being trashed.
- Observe bedrooms to discourage unwanted activity.
- Manage the alcohol area for reasons too important and numerous to list!
- Patrol fences and other perimeter areas to thwart gatecrashers.
On the list
Another vital thing is to ensure you have the guest list at least 3 days before the event and DO NOT allow any more names to be added.
As the host parent, it’s up to YOU to provide a safe environment for the kids and security staff who come to your home or other venue.
If you tell me you’re having 100 kids, I’ll tell you to have 2 crowd control professionals and 5 parents.
I know this for a fact, because I’ve kept more than 700 teen events incident free.
Some host parents agree to my recommendation.
But when my staff and I arrive at their event, we often find 140 kids and only 2 parents.
This not only infuriates me, it puts everyone in and around the party in danger.
Here’s how.
Eight steps to chaos
- You can NOT manage a bar with just two parents.
- Your two security staff (if you’re wise enough to book them) will have their hands full securing your front door, enforcing your guest list and searching for drugs and alcohol.
- With no adults available to check your perimeter, unwanted guests will stream over the back fence like rodents.
- People will start vomiting on couches and behind doors.
- Fights will start to simmer all over the place.
- The situation will become volatile, needing just a small push to become an all-in brawl.
- With no parents to stop them, your back-door gatecrashes will start trashing your home.
- With the adults now totally outnumbered, you’ll then blame me and my staff for not entering your home to sort out your self-made disaster (and cop a bottle in the head for our trouble).
Get the picture?
I sure hope so, as I’m NOT making this up.
Your move
I can’t force you to do the right thing.
As a ‘grown-up’, you’re free to make your own mistakes.
But if you do, you may not only harm yourself, your kids, your possessions and your home.
You may also risk the lives of others – along with the chronic and crippling legal, financial and moral consequences of your arrogance, carelessness and stupidity.
So by all means do your own thing, if you must.
But when all hell breaks loose at your event, don’t you dare try to pass the buck.
KNOW THAT THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME IS YOU!
If, on the other hand, you decide to take a reasonable and responsible approach to hosting a teen party, read my positive proposal for change.
It’s all there.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
It’s NO ‘accident’!
July 16, 2012 at 7:34 am | Posted in Security | 2 CommentsTags: accident, alcohol, car, crash, death, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, party, Party Plan Checklist, prevention, safe parties, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
Youth + Intoxication = Disaster.
In my view, an accident is something you have no control over.
If, for instance:
- you’re driving a car;
- a large spider drops on you from behind the sun visor and
- you crash into a tree,
that’s an accident.
If, on the other hand:
- you’re rushing and driving at speed;
- you tailgate the car in front of you and
- you rear-end them when they brake,
that’s no accident.
That’s plain carelessness.
Media scrum
Sadly, the tragedies listed below were no accident.
Had proper planning been in place, these teen celebrations would have been spared the associated injury and death:
- Five young men killed in high speed crash.
- Young girl killed and four injured in smash.
- Dead girl’s friends claim drink was spiked with ecstasy.
- Man stabbed in chest after house party.
- Man who died after king hit ‘wanted a fight’.
- One dead and three injured in car ‘accident’.
When is enough enough?!
To protect our children from serious injury and death, parents wanting to hold a teen event must:
- Apply for a party permit.
- Have a proper party plan in place.
- Discharge their duty of care to guests and the community before, during and after the event.
But until we introduce legislation to ensure parents do these things, we’re doomed to witness yet more carnage.
Parents must realise it isn’t just about their child’s celebration. Failing to plan an event can all-too-easily lead to the planning of funerals.
As a parent of a teenager myself, I beg you to act responsibly and support my positive proposal for change.
Unless, of course, your child’s happiness and welfare mean nothing to you.
In which case our society is surely lost.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Death rattle
June 12, 2012 at 7:05 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: crowd control, death, drinking, duty of care, event, fight, gang, grievous bodily harm, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, police, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, violence, youth
Our very own killing fields.
What’s up, Western Australia?!
From what we’ve read these last few months, you really are dying to have fun.
Since the start of March, 40 of your teen parties have hit the media for appalling reasons.
In case you’ve been lying drunk in a ditch or king-hit by a bottle, here’s a fool’s guide to the most serious incidents:
25 March. Teen in coma. Police officer kicked unconscious.
1 April. Guest in hospital with serious head injuries from gatecrasher missiles.
6 May. Four teens smashed, slashed and robbed by 30 partygoers.
8 June. Police cars damaged in party violence.
9 June. Machete-wielding thugs fracture teen’s skull and smash property.
These totally preventable situations are injuring your kids, destroying your communities and costing you (and the rest of us!) a fortune in wasted taxes.
When will we see positive action?
How many more children must be maimed to create change in your State?
Are we Australia?
Or Syria?
Parents must be accountable for these events.
As things stand, they don’t need any kind of plan or permit to throw a party for their child.
If your kid were involved in one of the traumas listed above, would you want justice?
If you hold a party that goes wrong, do you really think you’ll avoid a criminal investigation and/or civil suit?
Checking your sickening stats, it’s clear it’s only a matter of time till WA mourns its next dead reveller.
Instead of praying it’s not your child, or hoping for change, why not be the change you want to see?
We need legislative reform. It’s not impossible. It’s not even hard. Here’s the plan. Read it!
Can’t you see the time has come to get with the program?
Or will it take that knock at your door to rouse you from your stupor?
It’s your baby.
Literally.
So show some guts.
And maturity.
Make the call.
Before it’s too late.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Pull the plug on energy drinks!
June 8, 2012 at 10:17 pm | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: alcohol, bottle, drinking, duty of care, energy drink, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, safe parties, secondary supply, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
We must stop playing with fire.
As I continue to lobby government stakeholders in relation to safe teen parties, yet more tragedy unfolds.
Another young life wasted. A death that could have been avoided.
Alcohol-related trauma is one of the biggest issues at teen events. My submission takes a holistic approach to its resolution.
Sadly, it looks like it’s going to take many more deaths (or perhaps the death of a politician’s child?) for any serious legislative change to take place.
At the very least, we can introduce an amendment to the Victorian Government’s new Secondary Supply Legislation.
For instance, if we could:
- include bring your own (BYO) alcohol;
- underline the duty of care of hosts; and
- stress the responsible serving of alcohol,
I’m certain this would dramatically reduce the carnage we see each weekend.
Most of the parties I’ve planned and managed over the years are BYO events. The breakdown of alcohol brought into venues (chiefly homes and halls) is as follows:
- 40% pre-mixed (either commercially packaged booze or home-made hooch like cider bombs).
- 30% beer and wine (bottle and cask).
- 30% energy drinks (either mixed with grog or on their own).
My staff and I manage energy drinks the same as alcohol because we’ve witnessed first-hand how they can dramatically change people and even risk life.
We ensure that all drinks brought into an event are labelled and managed correctly by responsible adults.
That’s the proper execution of the duty of care parents have to kids coming to a party they’ve organised.
Anything less is a recipe for chaos, property damage, personal injury, expensive litigation … and death.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Failure to plan = planning to fail
May 28, 2012 at 3:19 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: accident, child, crowd control, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, legislation, loss, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, Party Plan Checklist, police, safe parties, security, social media, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, youth
How to keep the cops from your door.
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 parties are causing tragedy across our nation.
I often wonder how many injuries in the home result from mismanaged parties. Though this was a mature-aged event, it highlights the risks of homes unsuitable for celebrations.
Sadly, this sort of tragedy is far from rare.
Today’s teen parties are more likely to be held in homes. This is because most public venues no longer support them.
To make things worse, there are many more teen events.
20 years ago, people celebrated turning 21. These days, every birthday from 13 on is seen as ‘significant’.
I believe this spike in birthday celebrations is due to American television now available online or via cable in most homes. Our kids are watching teen movies and music videos that promote the coolness of ‘Sweet 16’ and other birthdays.
So, with more events in more homes, we have problems.
While most private dwellings have limited public liability cover in case something goes wrong, it’s far wiser to prevent problems (and subsequent claims) before they occur.
To this end, I inspect every party venue in advance. The many issues I find and flag include:
- Swimming pools.
- Rickety balconies designed and made for domestic use only.
- Extremely steep stair wells.
- Homes in the middle of renovations.
- Homes on busy roads.
Combine these risk elements with underage drinking and explosive social networking and you literally have a recipe for disaster.
I believe that if we had legislation to protect kids at parties, it would:
- Increase community security.
- Ensure our young people return home safely.
- Minimise injury claims stemming from teen party mayhem.
- Reduce the financial impact on our community (e.g. wasted emergency service call-outs and pressure on our already-stretched health system).
You may think this is all someone else’s problem.
It isn’t.
Will you wait until your child fails to come home?
And two grim-faced police officers wake you at 3 am
with a heart-stopping knock at your door?
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Teen parties & sexual assault
May 2, 2012 at 5:30 am | Posted in Security | 1 CommentTags: alcohol, child, crowd control, death, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, legislation, loss, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, youth
A tragic combination.
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 this event, I warned the host parents to control alcohol and organise responsible adults to help manage the party.
Alas, my advice was ignored.
Countless times I’ve seen girls passed out from too much alcohol on vacant blocks near parties. Usually, their girlfriends abandon them to pursue their own (unsafe) sexploits in the bushes and the dark.
Teens leaving parties by themselves is also a common scenario.
In my security company, staff don’t just help parents monitor booze-related issues during an event. At the end of the night, they also engage with kids to convince them to head home with a group of friends or make alternative transport arrangements.
Unfortunately, in most cases, kids with a few drinks under their belt feel invincible.
Worse, there are sick individuals (teen and adult) eager to take advantage of them in and after these events.
Parents who host parties can minimise the risks if they provide adequate duty of care by assigning responsible (and sober!) parents to:
- Monitor bedrooms, toilets and hiding places.
- Establish how guests are getting home.
The latter precaution may prevent kids from walking home alone or entering a vehicle driven by someone who is unlicensed, unknown to them, or too intoxicated to drive.
Each weekend, as I head home at around 2 am from working at a party, I see two or three young women drunk, alone and wearing barely a stitch of clothing.
I firmly believe that legislative change in relation to teen events could prevent the horrendous situations I’ve cited.
I want my kids to get home from parties safely.
How about you?
Click here to learn more.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Folks away? Kids will play!
April 29, 2012 at 11:45 pm | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: child, duty of care, kid, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, safe parties, secondary supply, security, teen, U-NOME Security
What you don't know CAN hurt you!
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 won’t be responsible for any party-related catastrophes.
Can you believe this line of thinking?!
It’s quite likely parents are choosing this crazy strategy because of the new secondary supply legislation and its legal implications.
It’s a very nasty double-edged sword:
- First, today’s parents aren’t willing to provide boundaries for their kids.
- Second, they’re scared and unsure about controlling alcohol that’s brought onto their property.
A deadly combination.
For two years I’ve been lobbying state governments to create smart, effective safe party laws.
Neighbours are fed up with riots, emergency services have better things to do than chase drunks and we need to ensure our kids get home safely from poorly managed events.
It’s time to step up and stem the rising tide of damage, injury and deaths.
Kids do not arrive on this planet by stork or basket.
Parents must be made accountable and must take charge.
Click here to learn more.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Who pays the mortgage?
April 26, 2012 at 12:32 am | Posted in Security | 1 CommentTags: alcohol, child, crowd control, death, drinking, duty of care, event, fight, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, neighbour, parent, party, police, prevention, safe parties, secondary supply, security, teen, teenage, teenager, U-NOME Security, violence, youth
Truth is far worse than fiction.
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 balcony will be fine for this party of 100.’
No it won’t.
‘We’ve had a stern talk to our son and he said they won’t drink much.’
Yes they will.
‘Our son thinks we don’t need security.’
Yes you do.
‘Our daughter doesn’t want the drinks managed.’
When we find two half-naked girls passed out behind the property, we call an ambulance.
‘They’re a quiet bunch.’
No they’re not.
‘They’ve promised to keep the guest list to 100.’
150 patrons later, two guests have been hit, security staff have been injured, the police are outnumbered and we need back up. Fast.
‘Do we really need to cloak bags?’
Once we start finding hidden drugs and booze, they get the picture.
Take out
This message is about keeping our teens alive.
Parents, having a party isn’t just about you and your child.
It’s about:
- Duty of care to guests.
- Responsible alcohol serving and management.
- Keeping parties safe for any staff attending.
- Looking after your neighbours.
- Ensuring kids leave your home (and get to theirs) safely.
If you don’t want to do this right or you can’t make the tough decisions to make it happen,
DON’T HAVE A PARTY!
Or the next teen death may be on you.
Parents must be made accountable.
We need legislative change.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Naomi Oakley
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