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.
Another Bloody Tragedy
April 27, 2010 at 10:07 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: alcohol, child, crowd control, death, drinking, event, fight, kid, loss, nightmare, party, police, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, violence, youth
Love your kid? Act like it.
Yet another poor teenage girl dead at a party.
Yet more Police officers injured at another.
So many of these event-based tragedies could be easily prevented.
So when will it end?
It’ll end when Parents take charge.
Parents who care for their kids will read this post.
Parents:
- You are in control, not teenagers.
- You decide where your teen’s party will be held.
- You must attend the Police station to register your party.
- You make the decisions about alcohol type and amount.
- You are the one who must observe your teen’s party.
- When your child’s party turns to crap, you are to blame: no one else.
These are bloody harsh words.
But I know I don’t want my teenager injured or killed due to other parents not taking control.
How about you?
If a party isn’t registered with police, or it has inadequate security provisions, my daughter doesn’t go.
Better to annoy and disappoint her and keep her home with me than to identify her body at some morgue.
Emergency services do not exist to clean up your mess and mind your kids.
YOU ARE IN CHARGE.
Be an adult.
Be a parent.
Take responsibility, draw the line and call the shots.
Naomi Oakley, Managing Director, U-NOME Security Communication Specialists.
Death of the Party
February 5, 2010 at 5:36 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: bottle, crowd control, death, energy drink, fantasy, gamma hydroxybutyrate, GHB, grievous bodily harm, kid, loss, marijuana, Naomi Oakley, nightmare, parent, party, Party Plan Checklist, prevention, safe parties, teenager, tragedy
Another Tragedy
This week I read with utter dismay that yet another teenager had lost her life at a party which didn’t have adequate security measures.
Two men also became violently ill on what’s thought to be gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB).
This so-called ‘recreational’ drug has an appropriate nickname of Grievous Bodily Harm.
Escalating Problem
Recreational drugs used to be the domain of people aged 20 and over. Today’s users are getting younger and younger.
Parents must be aware and vigilant. As long as we ignore this problem, teenagers will continue to harm and destroy themselves.
Parties need proper security. Parents and professional crowd controllers can prevent tragedies like this.
Experience
As a former police member and professional crowd controller, I worked many private parties.
I encountered pills, marijuana, liquid drugs and energy drinks (which are far more dangerous than they sound).
With responsible adults supervising an event and observing guests, trouble can be stopped before it starts.
Using clear plastic containers makes it easy to identify alcohol.
Preventing young guests from helping themselves to (what appears to be) alcohol is also vital.
Back packs, sports bags and other large bags often carry large amounts of alcohol to parties. Drugs can be concealed in small cavities.
Solutions
Based on my public and private sector experience, I created a Party Plan Checklist.
Experience has since shown that using this list effectively deters drug use at parties.
I’ve also tabled a legal framework to control private parties.
I firmly believe all these measures are needed to protect young people from today’s deadly dangers.
Naomi Oakley, Managing Director, U-NOME Security Communication Specialists.
Tragic Loss Prevention
January 18, 2010 at 7:39 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: accident, car, cell phone, crash, crowd control, death, event, legislation, loss, mobile phone, Naomi Oakley, nightmare, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, security, speed, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
A tragedy that could have been prevented. Photo by redheat.
On hearing of last weekend’s horrific car crash, I was as shocked as the rest of our community.
I did some checking and learned the kids were coming home from a private party, close to the crash scene.
Also confirmed was the information I dreaded: these kids were fleeing gate crashers who’d arrived at the house and were trying to get into the car.
Some of the victims had actually organised a lift beforehand, but it ‘fell through’.
For parents of teenagers, this is our worst nightmare.
Had professional crowd controllers been at the house, they may have been able to calm the situation.
First, the gatecrashers wouldn’t have got near the party. My expert security staff know how to spot and handle intruders in and around an event.
This means observing the area, detecting gatecrashers and removing them quickly.
Speed is vital, to avoid both confrontation and escalation. Thanks to mobile (cell) phones, 10 gatecrashers can swell to 40 in just 20 minutes.
Second, alternative transport could have been organised. Not only could these kids have waited safely with my team, we could’ve got them home safely too.
What an absolute tragedy!
We must develop legislation for safe parties to curb street violence and prevent more needless deaths.
I’m working hard to make this happen right now.
If you feel the same, subscribe to this blog for updates on my recent submission to the Victorian Government.
Naomi Oakley, Managing Director, U-NOME Security Communication Specialists.
Naomi Oakley
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