Parents not playing by schoolie rule

PARENTS of schoolies are reportedly trying to sneak their children into unsupervised hotels at alarming rates.

Judy Stevens, who manages Baronnet Apartments at Surfers Paradise, said the business had banned unsupervised school leavers durig Schoolies week and that they have received more complaints from parents than teens.

“We don’t take schoolies, and we are careful about it,” she said.

“We email and call people in the lead up to make sure they are aware that they are booking in during this period – and we allow them to cancel free of charge if they want.

“We don’t pay for extra security over schoolies, so we aren’t equipped to care for minors and we make that very clear online.”

Ms Stevens, who has been schoolies free for a number of years, said she expected some school leavers to try to slip under the radar.

However, she said she has been amazed by the number of parents trying to break the rule this year.

“We try to be honest about it and are happy if a parent will stay with them the whole time but it is the lying that has really bothered me,” Ms Stevens said.

In one instance during the weekend a father who had pretended be holidaying with a young family was actually dropping off a pair of 17-yearolds and leaving them unsupervised.

In another instance, a group of three 17-year-old boys were turned away, only to return with an angry mother.

“They are 17. Spend a little bit more money to ensure they are in accommodation that can cater for them at that age,” Ms Stevens said. “The parents were given the option of staying with them, but none of them wanted to.

“The industry gets a bad wrap for trying to make money out of the schoolies, but when we choose not to participate we also cop abuse.”

House of Brews owner Sacha Kanaghines has barred schoolies from his venue for the past three years and doesn’t regret it for a moment.

He said his #noschoolies movement had given adults, visitors and locals, a place to have a drink away from the partying teens.

Instead, he uses the self-imposed quiet period to renovate and get other jobs done at the venue.

Mr Kanaghines said his bar had been losing about 40 per cent of its earnings during Schoolies.

“We find this is a better use of our time,” he said.