Why each parent should have 20 kids

July 30, 2012 at 5:10 am | Posted in Security | Leave a comment
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safe teen parties depend on a sensible child to adult ratio

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

  1. You can NOT manage a bar with just two parents.
  2. 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.
  3. With no adults available to check your perimeter, unwanted guests will stream over the back fence like rodents.
  4. People will start vomiting on couches and behind doors.
  5. Fights will start to simmer all over the place.
  6. The situation will become volatile, needing just a small push to become an all-in brawl.
  7. With no parents to stop them, your back-door gatecrashes will start trashing your home.
  8. 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.

100 is enough!

June 28, 2012 at 5:36 am | Posted in Security | 1 Comment
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safe teen party security

Keep it to close friends …

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 spoke with a father planning a 200-guest 18th. I naturally assumed this was a double birthday.

Wrong! His daughter is just really really popular.

Whatever happened to ‘one guest for each year of your life?!’

Weekend warriors

Last weekend I did two parties. One was for a 16-year-old (140 kids). The other for an 18-year-old (150 kids).

As usual, the ‘dry’16th in a lovely, up-market, bayside suburb proved the more eventful and difficult to handle.

Money sure doesn’t buy class – especially with events this big. Instead, you need 3 professional security staff and a ratio of 1 (sober, responsible) parent to every 10 kids.

This is extremely important. While you can get away with a ratio of 1:20 in smaller events, big parties are much greater than the sum of their parts.

Why security?

Parents and security, working in concert, are absolutely vital. Among their many responsibilities, they must:

  • Staff every door, window and other entry and point. (Gatecrashers are like rats; they can get in anywhere.)
  • Cloak all bags. (Some are the size of suitcases: 60% are filled with alcohol.)
  • Detect kids smoking cannabis in toilets. (Yes, Mum and Dad, your darling babies really do use drugs.)
  • Patrol grounds and move on kids drinking in bushes and dark spots.
  • Catch and evict kids trying to enter under false names.

As you do all this, you can expect to see teens swearing and abusing parents, neighbours, security staff, police, passers by and each other.

Teens in groups with a few drinks on board believe they’re invincible and often want to ‘take on’ adults en masse.

Yet every time I witness this outside a venue, the parents of the mob are nowhere to be seen.

Solution

If you’re a parent wishing for a safer (more fun, less litigious) event, here’s what to do:

  1. Keep guest numbers below a manageable 100.
  2. Even if it’s an alcohol-free event, expect most kids to bring booze in bags and cloak them accordingly.
  3. Expect half the guests to ‘pre-load’ on grog before they rock up. If you see them gathering in groups or loitering under trees outside your venue, that’s what they’re doing.
  4. Expect gatecrashers. And fear them. A crowd of drunk boys has no respect for adults – quite the opposite. So think twice about approaching them, as they’ll likely attack you as an authority figure.

Lastly, why does any child under 18 even need a boozy party?

Alcohol-fuelled celebrations for minors are not mandatory.

Go roller-skating.

Go cart racing.

Go to a movie.

Do whatever else it takes to talk your child out of the worst decision they may ever make.

And if you think I write this blog just to flog my security business, think again.

I have no desire see your precious teen paralytic, assaulted and face-down in dog shit.

Nor should you.

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

Death rattle

June 12, 2012 at 7:05 am | Posted in Security | Leave a comment
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safe teen party

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.

Crash tackle

May 22, 2012 at 1:51 am | Posted in Security | 1 Comment
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Take a seat. In the head!

Moon madness

Last Saturday night kept me and my staff very busy.

I’m not sure what the moon was doing, but every party we handled had issues. Problems that would’ve turned very ugly had security not been present

Ironically, the alcohol-free events were the most difficult. This was because gatecrashers targeted both.

You wouldn’t believe the lengths they went to! Or the stuff they tried. We had kids crawling in through toilet windows little bit bigger than a post box.

The intruders we kept at bay occupied the neighbour’s yard (lovely!) and hurled garden stakes and deck chairs over the back fence.

These missiles just missed my staff member who’d confronted two intruders that had made it over the fence. As soon as they saw her, they quickly jumped back …

… Then came back with more unwanted guests!

It was sheer luck no-one was impaled.

Remote control

The event I attended had 150 21-year-olds in a fairly remote venue.

The responsible service of alcohol by bar staff was spot on, so (for once!) booze wasn’t a problem.

Our drama came from a different quarter: the frustration of waiting for a taxi.

We knew taxis would be a worry this far out of town, so we tried to call them early. But with little success.

As 30 irritated teens milled waiting in the car park and surrounding dark, the tension was evident and growing.

Though I’d assigned a staff member to observe this area, I thought it best to ring local police for a bit of presence.

While on the phone, I was told a brawl had started. I left a staff member in the venue and ran to where my other colleague was busy separating three angry (and far from little) boys.

We bundled them into waiting transport. Fortunately the police arrived soon after to help control the crowd.

We’re not always this lucky.

Far out

When choosing your party venue, find out if transport will be an issue. Remote sites are great for reducing gatecrashers. But if you go too far out, you’ll have problems moving on the guests you did invite.

Parents must also realise they can’t run a party alone. When they plan one, they need to include responsible assisting parents in the mix.

Both the ‘dry’ teen events had inadequate parent supervision and proved the most difficult to manage.

While our security handled all of Saturday’s parties extremely well, there were issues.

One event had a guest list blow out from 90 to 140 at the last minute. The other had teens pre-guzzling and smuggling booze, urinating in baths and vomiting behind couches.

When you plan a party, you need 1 parent for every 20 kids.  You also need the final guest list in your hand on the Wednesday prior to avoid nasty surprises.

Be smart, or you might not be as ‘lucky’ as these hosts we pulled back from the brink.

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

The west ain’t the best!

May 15, 2012 at 3:50 am | Posted in Security | Leave a comment
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Heading to a sad state of affairs.

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 departing guests.

These figures show that emergency service providers are being tied up unnecessarily every weekend.

Dealing with teen party chaos is stopping units from attending (or preventing!) more legitimate jobs such as road accidents, serious assaults and other crimes.

I shudder even to estimate the cost of using our precious police and ambulance services to clean up the messes stupid parents create!

Western Australia’s long coastline and party-friendly climate have a dark side: WA ‘leads’ the nation in teen party mayhem.

As a result, this otherwise impressive State must make radical changes in relation to teen events.

You may think I’m like a computer virus – always popping up in your face.

But if your child doesn’t make it home from their next party, you’ll wish someone (anyone!) had answered these vital questions I keep raising.

Every single party drama I’ve read about could have been avoided if we had suitable legislation in place.

It’s crazy …

You need a permit to own a dog, dig a pool or build a verandah.

Yet you don’t need a permit to responsibly plan and manage an event that ensures the safety of guests, neighbours and the community.

The days of ‘quiet’ teen parties for up to 100 kids are over.

Make a stand, WA, before it’s too late!

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

Who pays the mortgage?

April 26, 2012 at 12:32 am | Posted in Security | 1 Comment
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smashed up house

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.

As thick as two parents

January 17, 2012 at 3:29 am | Posted in Security | 5 Comments
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Are you really that dumb?

I’ve taken security briefs for hundreds of teen events.

There’s a moment at which I know I’m dealing with parents who are weak, stupid or both.

Here’s how it goes.

Happy families

Parents ask me to visit their property to discuss safety and security measures. Their teenager is often present.

It all starts well as I walk them through my checklist:

  • Physical issues of the venue.
  • Guest list management.
  • Food.
  • Police notification.

Everyone’s smiling and supportive.

Until we reach the topic of alcohol.

Cracking the sads

While vocally supporting my alcohol recommendations, the parent’s (hitherto constant) nodding becomes irregular.

The teen breaks eye contact with me and starts glaring at her parents – trying to get their attention.

I describe the best way to provide duty of care to guests: by labelling all alcohol for responsible adults to monitor and control.

The teen becomes sullen, acquires the “cat’s bum look” and stares fiercely at the floor with arms crossed.

I leave the home knowing that at this party, the tail will wag the dog.

NOT a good thing!

Ruining the roost

Within two days, the parents backflip and decide to follow their child’s wise alcohol recommendation: to let all kids bring and drink all they want.

From this moment, the party is doomed.

All that remains is for me, my staff (and perhaps the media) to witness the carnage.

Here’s a breakdown of a recent breakdown. This account is true (and indicative of dozens more).

Countdown to destruction

Guests bring vast amounts of alcohol. Parents are amazed at how much is coming onto their property. (REALLY!)

At about 11 pm, teens start to stagger round the grounds.

A few fall face-first into dog crap.

More start spewing party pies and fairy bread (in that order).

By the time my team and I take control, we have ten teenagers in a room hugging buckets and throwing up.

The parents actually think it’s … FUNNY. That emptying buckets of vomit is laughable. A reaction which, being a parent myself, is beyond my comprehension.

Towards night’s end, kids get abusive and want to fight us, the parents and each other.

At this point, the hosts demand that we risk injury by throwing out the very guests they’ve let get intoxicated; even if it means they may not make it home. Kids walking home from parties is another whole (horrific) post.

I find it tragic that parents who refuse to control alcohol or show duty of care also shirk their responsibilities when things turn ugly.

Rewind

This entire situation can be avoided if parents get some backbone and stop trying to be their teen’s best friend.

It really isn’t rocket science:

  • Their house.
  • Their mortgage.
  • Their rules!

I’m sure if the Coroner called you to explain why you let a teen get so drunk that she choked on her own vomit or died crossing the road, you’d wish you’d listened to me.

My advice isn’t designed to annoy people.

It’s to ensure parties are safe.

Duty of care is your responsibility.

The police can’t help you, as the new minor supply laws don’t cover BYO grog.

So parents,

GROW UP!

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

Thrown to the wolves

November 23, 2011 at 6:04 am | Posted in Security | Leave a comment
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teen party security

Nights need expert handling by a sufficient force of mature, trained professionals.

Throughout my career (13 years at Victoria Police and 6 years specialising in teen events) I’ve seen my share of dreadful things.

These days, I also receive many calls from staff from other security firms.

They call because they’re concerned about the types of teen parties to which their employer is sending them.

I think it’s vital security firms ensure the events they send their staff to are safe.

I’m not just talking alcohol; there are many more issues to worry about, like: 

  • Pools.
  • Balconies.
  • Perimeter fencing.
  • Exit and entry points.
  • Ratio of guests to crowd control staff

Some security firms send just one crowd controller to a party with 100 guests!

How can one person possibly handle a brawl? Or simultaneously patrol dark, unsafe back areas while gatecrashers invade the front and sides?

I recently saw an eastern-suburb party turn pear-shaped.

The teen organiser had been strongly advised to have four crowd controllers. But as he hadn’t budgeted for the event, he went for the cheapest quote.

The result? Just two crowd controllers for 300 kids!

Inevitably, the event was shut down. It was clear the security firm hadn’t done any risk assessment of this party, thus placing guests, hosts, property and even their own staff in danger.

Unfortunately, this case isn’t rare. I liaise with many parents and teens seeking crowd control for their parties. Often they:

  • Haven’t budgeted for the event.
  • Don’t accept the quote and information given.
  • Are too weak to stand up to their kids or peers.
  • Don’t insist an alcohol plan is put in place.

They then choose the security firm with the lowest quote who doesn’t care if alcohol is managed.

This firm will ask a few questions (maybe) and send one or two (at most) teenaged crowd controllers, to deal with other teens.

This is a very bad start.

In addition to the crowd controllers being the same age as the host and/or guests, they often lack the experience and maturity to deal with the myriad of dicey situations uncontrolled environments invariably throw up.

It completely defeats the purpose of having security.

Event hosts expect their crowd controllers to:

  1. Enter the property if guests get too drunk.
  2. Break up fights that arise from the lack of planning or (backbone) from the parents.

Meanwhile, the ‘responsible adults’ at these events often have a party of their own elsewhere on the property.

I believe security firms must ensure the staff they assign to teen parties operate in a safe environment.

It’s not only their duty to provide a safe workplace under occupational health and safety laws.

It’s also the right and decent thing to do by their staff, their clients

and our community.

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

Serving Suggestions

March 21, 2011 at 3:15 am | Posted in Security | 3 Comments
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safe teen party alcohol drink can mouth

A too-narrow law could tip us into the abyss.

Good News / Bad News

I’m delighted the State Government is concerned about teenage alcohol abuse.

However, I strongly feel the law described in this article is too narrow.

If we fine adults who give alcohol to children visiting their homes without their parents’ permission, the ripple effect may be bigger than we think.

Private parties need to be managed long before they begin. This is why I’ve been pushing to regulate these events.

It’s not just about alcohol. Parties unravel due to a number of things, including:

  • Parents not assisting with planning.
  • Inadequate private and public venues.

Creating a secondary alcohol supply offence for parents in relation to private parties may actually do more harm than good.

Parent Trap

One of my methods of controlling teen parties is to mange all booze at a central point, including BYO.

Parents collect a teen’s BYO on entry, then take it to a secure bar area where other responsible parents control and serve it. The teen can only drink via this method.

If this new law gets up, parents will be too scared to step in and manage any booze coming into a party, including BYO.

Kid Power

With parents unwilling to handle the booze, kids will help themselves and end up sick, brawling or passed out – all of which are a burden on our community and emergency services.

Proof in the Pudding

During 12 years in Victoria Police and six years as MD of a private security firm, I’ve handled around 650 teen parties. I know how to make them safe.

In the last seven months alone, I’ve planned and organised 70 events using the recommendations in my Safe Event Law Proposal.

Of these 70 events, NOT ONE had alcohol-fuelled issues.

Questions

Planning a teen party is the key. I don’t think creating a secondary supply offence will reduce issues at parties.

If the government does proceed, however, I have some questions:

  1. What happens to parents who want to do the right thing and manage alcohol as it’s brought in?
  2. What type of parent permission is required for a teen who wants to drink? Email? Note? What if the teen forges it? Will we analyse hand writing?
  3. Who will enforce this law? If the police, then with what resources?

The key is to have a holistic regulatory framework. One that includes gatecrashing and social networking offences.

As I’ve suggested in my proposal.

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

All the Wrong Moves

March 17, 2011 at 5:16 am | Posted in Security | Leave a comment
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safe teen parties security crowd control
There’s a right way and a wrong way.
The wrong way costs MUCH more.

Girl Talk

A young girl rang and asked if I could provide crowd control for an after-formal party for 400 teens in an inner-Melbourne factory area.

She couldn’t believe I was concerned when she told me:

  • The school didn’t want to know about it. (No kidding!)
  • Only two parents would assist … then leave after just one hour.
  • It was BYO alcohol (and everything else) as they couldn’t be bothered sorting this out.
  • The average guest age was 16. 
  • Police hadn’t been notified. (I wonder why?)

Father Knows Best?

Having planned and worked at 600 teen parties, I know how to do pre-party assessments for parents.

These include making the venue safe, preventing unwanted guests and planning for risks, alcohol and transport.

A father decided that, despite my vast experience, he didn’t want any restrictions on his son’s 18th birthday (or his 60 teenage guests).

He ‘knew them all’; they were ‘good kids’. Yet he did ask if my staff would break up any fights.

Not on my watch! I provide a safe environment for my staff and the people they protect.

This is called:

DUTY.

OF.

CARE!

Write it down, before it bites you on the bum.

Begging for Trouble

A young man asked me to provide security for 350 16-year-olds in the western suburbs. Once again, just two parents home, unrestricted alcohol and not a word to the cops.

Recipe for disaster doesn’t begin to cover this.

Out of Her Mind

A mother asked me about security for a teenage party:

  • 50 kids? Yep.
  • Eastern suburbs? Yep.
  • Alcohol? Not restricted.
  • Parents? Nup.

WHAT?!

The mother was going overseas that weekend, leaving her teen to party with 50 others in her house. Pity her neighbour! Yet she whinged about a recent party that had deposited underwear and empty booze bottles in her yard!

Are you getting this?!

Crash & Burn

Two distressed mothers enquired about crowd control for their teens’ birthday. Their kids had been at the same party a few weeks ago. This party had parents ‘doing security’ -thinking anyone can perform this demanding and difficult job.

Two hours in, 20 gatecrashers arrived, started a brawl, injured guests and ended the event.

The birthday boy was shattered that he couldn’t celebrate his special day.

The Usual Suspects

All this happened in the last few weeks. The usual common elements are:

Alcohol control.  If you don’t restrict grog, guests will fight, vomit or pass out. If not this time, then the next. Your luck will run out.

Police notification.  It’s extremely stressful for police to attend an event they know nothing about. Do the right thing and inform them. You may need them more than you could ever imagine.

Duty of care.  If you don’t provide a safe environment for guests and neighbours, you could be liable. Think before you plan a party and ensure parents are there to assist.

I’ll cover social media in detail soon. For now, do NOT promote any event on social networking spaces unless you want it to end in anti-social behaviour!

I’m not the party police, but I do know how to ensure everyone has a great time at yours.

Ignore these warnings at your (considerable) peril.

Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.

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