SCHOOL’S OUT
The craziest moments Schoolies has delivered since 2000.
THIS year will be the 39th year of Schoolies and it seems everyone has a story. Here are 19 of the craziest moments involving school leavers in the prime of their lives, some strange, some hilarious, some embarrassing, and some plain disgusting.
2000
A TEENAGER’S fashion sense cost him $300 after studded belts he wore around his knee and ankle were found to be potentially dangerous weapons by a Southport magistrate.
The self-described goth was found guilty under the Queensland Weapons Act after being arrested near the Surfers Paradise police post during Schoolies Festival. “I was discriminated against because of my dress. Goths don’t have a bad reputation for violence,” he said.
2001
A MINISTER was handcuffed, thrown into a paddywagon and locked in the watchhouse after preaching to schoolies in Cavill Mall.
The Reverend Terrence O’Brien was accused of touting and faced two charges.
A defiant Mr O’Brien was back in Cavill Mall the next night, doing what he had done for the past 10 Schoolies Festivals, “spreading the love message’’. “I will gladly spend a night in prison and pay their fines,” he said. “My dying breath will be spreading Jesus’s love.” And to be fair, if there’s any place people could use a little Jesus it’s definitely Schoolies.
2002
SOME of the worst property damage happened during 2002. Schoolies flooded two floors of the Australis Sovereign hotel, vandalised cars and threw full drink can missiles from balconies. In the opening weekend, there were knife attacks, a violent assault on two police officers and more than 50 arrests.
2003
A 17-YEAR-OLD girl was arrested and charged after she started a “catfight” with a girl she believed was trying to steal her boyfriend.
The altercation started after Melanie spotted the pair canoodling in Cavill Mall and lost her temper, lashing out at the other girl. She said she was not sure if she would patch things up with Peter, who she had been dating for almost a year.
“I was devastated. It was our first night at Schoolies,” she said.
Days later, a young female schoolie was injured after a firecracker thrown from a high rise exploded near her leg. She was treated for bruises, abrasions and shock.
2004
AN 18-year-old who found a one-metre carpet snake in the Gold Coast Hinterland took it to Schoolies.
Police seized the snake but the young man tried to escape, only to be recaptured and charged with obstructing police and assault.
Queensland Wildlife Service officers returned the python to the bush.
2005
THE Queensland Police Service was left red-faced after one of its employees was arrested for possessing a knife at the Schoolies Festival.
The 17-year-old trainee police clerk from Brisbane was arrested after police responded to calls of a brawl involving a number of youths outside a surf club. When interviewed by detectives, the youth reportedly explained he was a QPS employee. Officers passed the information to the Police Ethical Standards Command, and a short time later his employment was terminated.
2005
A MAGISTRATE banned a schoolie from going to Surfers Paradise after he was arrested three times at the festival. The 17-year-old from Southport was ordered to stay away from Schoolies in Surfers Paradise after being arrested on three nights. “This big guy comes out of nowhere and I said ‘let’s go’ and I punched myself in the face,” he said. “I got arrested for punching myself.”
2006
A VARSITY Lakes labourer was charged with the assault of a Brisbane teenager, who was battling life-threatening head injuries in jospital.
The 17-year-old victim, from Herston, was placed in an induced coma in intensive care. Doctors described his condition at the time as critical. Police said the youth was struck twice in the face and fell limply backwards, hitting his head on the pavement.
Doctors said he suffered damage and bleeding to the front and rear of his brain.
2007
PARENTS of schoolies came under heavy criticism in 2007 for supplying their underage children with alcohol.
One mum was fined $600 for supplying three cartons of “mixed spirits” to her son’s apartment.
2008
THE Gold Coast Bulletin introduced the “Pash Mat”, touted as a modern-day, portable mistletoe.
The promotional blurb said: “You stand on it instead of under it. It’s called the pash mat and it’s the perfect icebreaker for the start of Schoolies Festival. Free in today’s Weekend Bulletin, the pash mat takes the awkwardness out of first kisses, allowing schoolies to laugh off their inhibitions and step up to first base.”
2009
TOUTED as the “Grubbiest Schoolies ever”, reporter Ben Dillaway wrote of the festival in 2009: “They’re not stabbing, robbing or raping each other … just peeing in public, spewing in the street and drinking until they pass out.”
Police labelled the year’s participants as “louts”, saying arrests were up more than 50 per cent on the previous year.
2010
THE first week of Schoolies went off without any huge dramas.
The graduating class of 2010 was reported to be loud, at times rude and prone to drinking in public, but there were no sexual assaults, no grievous bodily harm and no permanent damage done to young bodies.
They were praised as the best to hit the Glitter Strip in years – until the second weekend that is.
In two days police arrested 19 schoolies for drugs, obstructing police and public nuisance and handed out 292 liquor infringement notices.
I WAS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BECAUSE OF MY DRESS. GOTHS DON’T HAVE A BAD REPUTATION FOR VIOLENCE.
SCHOOLIE IN 2000
2011
A VIOLENT brawl erupted in Surfers Paradise one night only metres from the Queensland Police Commissioner as he toured the precinct. The fight between five schoolies broke out about 9.30pm at the entrance to the
beach hub on The Esplanade.
Within minutes four police vans and more than 20 officers swarmed the area.
Four males and a female schoolie were taken away, as well as two bystanders who were in the way.
2012
A SCHOOLIE ruffled a few feathers when he grabbed a seagull by the neck and waved it around to show it off to his friends. The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to animal cruelty when he appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court and was fined $1100.
The NSW man was seen chasing and trying to catch seagulls, before diving on a flock and trapping one.
“I wasn’t expecting to catch it, it was quite a shock to me that I did,’’ he said. “Out of shock, out of absolute shock, I ran over to my friends to show them I actually caught one.” The bird survived and flew away.
2013
DESPITE a schoolie falling to her death from a balcony the year before, one of the class of 2013 still decided to drink 15 beers and balcony hop 11 floors up.
He said he jumped between balconies because his room only had one key and he needed to get in the room.
He was charged with public nuisance and admitted it was an act of stupidity.
This was also the year of a coffee cup bashing, in which a schoolie named Kate allegedly struck another named Izobel in the face with a ceramic mug. A photo of the girl’s bloodied face circulated on the internet.
But in June the next year charges were dropped and the girl accused of wielding the cup claimed the victim just wanted “a bit of fame”.
2014
TWENTY-SIX schoolies were arrested as a brawl broke out in Cavill Ave. Most arrests were for public nuisance and street offences. There were seven drug-related matters.
The night before, a woman was attacked and her head slammed into a metal fence, leaving her shaken and bloodied. A man who tried to step in was also attacked.
2015
A SCHOOLIE with a hairy bum let a friend set his buttocks on fire in a stunt that ended painfully.
The 17-year-old had been drinking when a mate began singeing people’s hair with a lighter and aerosol can. As his rear end was torched he let out a piercing scream and required a trip to the Schoolies Festival medical tent.
2016
SCHOOLIES lined up to take pictures of a mate who was lying on the ground in agony after falling from a Surfers Paradise balcony.
The 17-year-old Cairns school leaver fell from the second floor of an apartment building in Cypress Ave, smashing into a guardrail and slamming into the ground at 3am. It is believed he had been reaching for a packet of cigarette filters when he overbalanced and fell. He was taken to hospital and treated for a broken pelvis.
2017
A YOUTH was left bleeding from the ears after a horrific coward’s punch outside a Surfers Paradise nightclub.
The violent attack was caught on camera and went viral, sickening viewers.
The offender was New Zealand man Caleb Maraku, who gained notoriety this year for laughing as he left courts with no jail time. However, after a surge of public protest, he was deported to New Zealand.
What will happen in 2018? We’ll have to wait and see …