How to keep your teenager’s formal after-party safe

PARENTS using amateur waivers or consent forms when hosting school formal after-parties are being lulled into a false sense of security, lawyers warn.

14/3/15. Story about lawyers warning parents they have no legal protection from getting other parents to sign waiver/consent forms before after-parties - Tori and Belle ready for their Formal Pic Keryn Stevens

PARENTS using amateur “waivers” or consent forms when hosting school formal after-parties are being lulled into a false sense of security, because they are not legally protected and such documents could even void insurance policies in the event of a drunken accident, lawyers warn.

And the state’s biggest provider of alcohol and drug education to high schools, Encounter Youth, argues that forms specifying acceptable amounts of alcohol should not be issued because they put “massive pressures” on teenagers to drink.

Parents say there has been an explosion in the use of such forms over the past few years as after-parties become more elaborate, often being held in warehouses or paddocks rather than suburban homes and catering for hundreds of revellers.

One form obtained by The Advertiser specifies bringing a maximum of four drinks, that all bags will be checked on entry, that any drunk child will be asked to leave and have to be picked up, and that in a medical emergency, an ambulance will be called at the expense of the ill teenager’s parents.

Students are denied entry unless a parent has signed the form, which includes an option to refuse permission for their son or daughter to drink.

One mother of four said she had seen “a couple of dozen” similar forms over the past few years as her children progressively went through Year 12, while they were much rarer when her first daughter graduated in 2010.

Lawyers warn that even forms couched as waivers, denying legal responsibility for what happens at parties, would do nothing to abrogate a host’s duty of care to guests and would likely have very little weight in any negligence case.

Duncan Basheer Hannon partner Patrick Boylen said they were “close enough to useless” but might offer a slim chance of avoiding some liability, though only proof of adequate supervision would provide a reliable defence to a negligence claim.

“I wouldn’t have a party with hundreds of kids unless you have got security guards,” he said.

Tindall Gask Bentley partner Mal Byrne said hosts were “on very dangerous ground having the party and supplying alcohol to underage kids, regardless of whether the parents consent”.

Mr Byrne said hosts of house parties should call their insurers before issuing any forms, because they could be risking their public liability cover by “bringing formality” to the teenage drinking on their property.

Celebs dust off school formal pics

Encounter Youth, which delivers safe partying seminars to more than 15,000 students a year, warned against consent forms.

“Consent forms place massive pressures on young people attending the party to drink, and to drink to the level that is suggested on the consent form,” education manager Kimberley Price said.

“To set a number of drinks that each guest can consume is risky and dangerous. A parent (host) cannot know exactly how this will affect each young person in their care.

“Delaying the use of alcohol as long as possible ensures the best outcomes for a young person’s drinking behaviour now and into the future, and allows for the key structures in the brain to develop.”

Federation of Catholic School Parent Communities SA executive director Ann Bliss said as long as party forms were not used as a substitute for proper supervision, they could be a good source of information about rules set for parties.

Ms Bliss said that at the best-run parties, students with permission to drink had different wristbands to those who did not. Hosts keep control of the alcohol and distribute it at intervals.

“(But) I have no doubt that there are many of these parties taking place where there is not that wisdom around supervision,” she said.

SA Secondary Principals Association president Peter Mader said schools commonly sent letters to parents advising against any after-parties and emphasising that schools took no responsibility for any non-sanctioned events after formals finished.

Seymour College student Belle, 17, attended her school’s formal at the Convention Centre on Saturday night.

She said students and parents had to sign a consent form for the after-party at a house in the Adelaide Hills.

“I think it’s good because it allows the people that are hosting it to legitimately know who’s coming. There’s no chance of anyone getting in who hasn’t paid ($50) and signed,” Belle said.

The eastern states have laws requiring parental permission before alcohol can be served to their underage children at private parties.

Liberal MP John Gardner, who has previously pushed for similar laws in SA, said he had not given up on the idea. Mr Gardner said consent forms were needed to firmly establish expectations for parties but were “not a legal safety net against liability”.

A police spokeswoman said: “We aren’t aware of any parties causing particular concern this season to date, but have a wide range of ‘party safe’ information available on the SA Police website.”

Party safely

Encounter Youth’s tips for parents

If your son or daughter is attending a party, call ahead and ask the host lots of questions around the provision of alcohol and how the party will be supervised.

Meet the hosts on the night. Park the car, walk your child to the door and get to know the host parents. Strongly consider making this a condition for allowing your child to attend.

Discuss with your child how they can get out of the party safely at any time and that you will be available to pick them up. Devise a code word they can use in a call or text that means “Come and get me now”. Organise another family member or friend as a backup contact.

Police tips for safe parties

Parents and teens should establish rules and expectations together.

Inform neighbours.

Keep guest lists manageable and individualise and number each written invitation to prevent copying.

Discourage using internet, SMS or email distribution for invitations.

Have a final list of all invited guest names and check guests off as they arrive, and consider using identification wrist bands.

Avoid displaying balloons or signs along the street as this may attract uninvited guests.

Aim to have only one entry and exit and supervise them to prevent uninvited guests entering.

Originally published as How to keep your teenager’s formal after-party safe