‘Queues of teens’: Surprising trend on the rise at Schoolies

Seas of school leavers have been spotted lining up to take part in this unconventional initiative on the Gold Coast.

Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast has long been synonymous with wild parties, underage drinking, drug-taking and, in recent years, “barely legal” teens sleeping with sex workers.

However, a surprising new trend is on the rise, offering a very different kind of transformative experience for school leavers.

An organisation called Youth for Christ (YFC) is hosting public baptisms, inviting teenagers to embrace a more spiritual path amid the usual Schoolies chaos.

Baptism is a Christian tradition practised by the majority of the world’s estimated 2.38 billion Christians.

It is a public declaration of faith signifying the symbolic death of a believer’s old life and the beginning of a brand new life following Jesus.

This wholesome side of Schoolies has caught the attention of many on TikTok, where one YFC missionary is sharing videos of their initiative.

It’s certainly an unusual sight – in one clip, a sea of young people walk through the main strip of Surfers Paradise holding ‘Jesus Loves You’ and ‘Get Baptised’ signs.

In another, teens are seen lining up on the street to visit the YFC stall on the main strip.

Music-backed montages show board short-clad men being submerged in the surf on their nights out.

Cindy McGarvie, National Director of Youth for Christ Australia, said their mission teams have been offering baptisms at Schoolies since 2016.

“We’re at Schoolies to share the hope of Jesus. It’s the message we want to be sharing wherever we go. The baptisms are a small but significant outworking of this simple focus,” she said.

A Christian organisation is offering baptisms during Schoolies week on the Gold Coast. Picture: TikTok/Pat Steele

Teens have been lining up to visit their stall on the main strip of Surfers Paradise. Picture: TikTok/Pat Steele

The feedback they had this year was “overwhelmingly positive”, Ms McGarvie said, noting that “most nights” the team would have a constant flow of schoolies coming up to them, asking genuine questions about God.

“Some described to us the excitement they had for an opportunity to ask questions about faith and, in many cases, connect with the culture and faith of their childhood, family or cultural or ethnic group,” she explained.

“Australia is a multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious country, which means there is a diverse range of ways that young people explore their own ‘coming of age’.

“So for some, it’s about choosing to take ownership of the faith of their childhood, and for others, it can be about deciding to explore something positive.”

A teen being baptised at the beach. Picture: TikTok/Pat Steele

Baptisms are a symbolic representation of someone’s new faith. Picture: TikTok/Pat Steele

She believes that there can be a lot of “negative influences” on young people at Schoolies, so she is “thrilled” to see so many keen to learn about Christianity.

“The past few years, we’ve heard many stories and anecdotes of young people in Gen Z turning to the Christian faith, from all sorts of unexpected journeys,” she notes.

“Some people are saying, ‘Jesus is trending on TikTok’, since a lot of young people approach us and share their stories of exploring the Christian faith through posts they see from their friends.”

Gen Zs have been turning to the Christian faith. Picture: TikTok/Pat Steele

39 per cent of Gen Zs report being a Christian. Picture: TikTok/Pat Steele

Over the past 50 years, there has been a steady decline in the proportion of Australians who reported an affiliation with Christianity, according to the 2021 census.

The same period has seen a consistent rise in ‘Other religions’ and ‘No religion’, particularly in the last 20 years.

However, it is still the most common religion in the country, with 43.9 per cent of the population saying they were Christian.

Christian affiliation varies across generations, with 39 per cent of Gen Zs reporting being Christian, which is more than the 30.6 per cent of millennials who identify as such.

Spirituality in general is on the rise among Gen Z, according to recent research that shows 38 per cent of this generation of Aussies identify as spiritual.

Spirituality is the connection to something greater than oneself — such as God, consciousness, or nature — that fosters a sense of responsibility to care for oneself and others.

People may identify as spiritual but not religious, or they may identify as both religious and spiritual.