Schoolies week
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Schoolies or Schoolies week (known as Leavers' or Leavers' week in Western Australia) refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates (known as "Schoolies") having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams in late November and early December.
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[edit] Locations
Queensland's Gold Coast, particularly Surfers Paradise, maintains its status as the largest single venue for this revelry, attracting tens of thousands of Schoolies. Schoolies have similar traditions at Magnetic Island in Townsville, Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast and Port Macquarie. Byron Bay is particularly popular amongst private school graduates.
For South Australia, Victor Harbor is the location of choice, while in Victoria the Surf Coast is popular, mainly consisting of Lorne and Torquay.
In Western Australia, Rottnest Island off Perth and the South West towns of Dunsborough and Busselton are popular destinations.
[edit] Criticism
Since the event began to attract large enough numbers to warrant annual media attention, the schoolies week has become a familiar concept nation-wide. Popular media frequently criticise what has become a rite of passage due to binge drinking and promiscuity. Police attention is regularly required where the collective behaviour of schoolies at some locations gets out of hand such as Rottnest in 1986.
In efforts to reduce such acts, the week-long event in Western Australia has, as of 2006, been reduced to 6 days, which itself has resulted in a fair amount of criticism from the youth public. The island's capability of holding the large amount of people has been put under strain, and now the total number of teenagers allowed on has been reduced to an extremely limited amount. This has again resulted in criticism from Western Australian students, who claim they have the right for one week's partying to celebrate the end of school.
In recent years, violence (notably sexual violence) has become an increased threat to the safety of students and others participating. Fights have broken out between schoolies from one area and another<ref name="review">Schoolies Week Review</ref>, and predictable media coverage of antics, accidents, and attacks has followed.
The Queensland Government has been criticized for their efforts to stage manage the event and limit celebrations. [1]
[edit] Toolies
Also, there has been an increased presence of people well beyond school age taking part in the event; termed toolies, they have become associated with targeting drunk teenagers for sex, as well as taking part in parties intended for a younger audience.
The origins of the word "toolies" are debatable. It can be seen as an abbreviation of "too old for schoolies" or (more likely) as a modification of "schoolies" to incorporate the slang term "tool", meaning "jerk". The negative portrayal of the older attendants of schoolies week is in part due to the sexual violence associated with them, and partly because it is assumed that they should have better things to do.
Another group that is involved in schoolies week are 'pre-schoolies' or 'yoolies'. These are adolescents who haven't left school yet but still partake in activities during Schoolies week.
[edit] References in pop culture
The rough cultural equivalent of schoolies in the United States and Canada would be spring break or senior week. The 2002 movie Blurred was about Schoolies Week.
There is also a section in the DVD Fat Pizza Uncensored that shows graphically what happens at the Gold Coast Schoolies Week, continual partying, drinking and sex. It is alleged that girls even partake in 'tag team' sex while celebrating Schoolies Week - although this could be seen as attempting to excuse the sexual violence that is now associated with Schoolies.
[edit] See also
- Spring break a week-long recess from studying in early spring at universities in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, China and other countries.
- Civil disturbances in Western Australia
- Russ Norwegian graduate revelry.
