RETHINKING SCHOOLIES

THE Schoolies festival is part of the DNA of Surfers Paradise. There’s no denying that whatever your opinion of the annual rite of passage.

School-leavers from around the country flock to the heart of the Gold Coast every November to celebrate their graduation before embarking on the next stage of their lives.

It’s a positive experience for the overwhelming majority and often leads to a lifelong love of the Gold Coast and repeat visits throughout their lives.

Schoolies have always fallen into two groups – Queenslanders aged 17 who are unable to enter licensed premises and those from interstate aged 18 who can.

However from 2019 almost all Schoolies will be of legal drinking age due to changes to the Queensland schooling system.

With these changes the Surfers Paradise Alliance is right to question the current format of the event – whether it should be shortened and if some beach areas should be returned to the public.

If Schoolies can legally enter pubs and clubs, taxpayers and the State Government do not want to find themselves providing entertainment in direct competition to local businesses.

There have been calls to scrap the whole thing, with detractors saying TV images of young people getting drunk and being arrested is a bad look for the city.

That’s going too far. But at 18 they will be adults and surely require less coddling.