I’m regularly asked about my views and concerns of school formal after-parties, particularly those where every aspect of the after-party is outsourced to a private company. I want to share with you an emerging concern for some of these parties that is particularly of interest to schools, parents and teachers.

In some cases, a private company contracts a photographer and videographer as part of the after-party package. The video footage and photos are then uploaded on the company’s social media channels, where students can link to the videos via YouTube. Photo-sharing is a fantastic aspect of new technologies, however, some of the photos and videos show some young men and women extremely intoxicated, with some drinking out of a ‘goon’ sack and drinking high concentration of alcohol. Risky sexual behaviour is also prevalent with some young people potentially not aware of the vulnerable situation they were in or the filming of it (for example, due to blacking out as a result of alcohol use).

I believe discussions in the school and the broader community are required about this issue. It certainly is not solely the teacher and/or school’s responsibility. Each community member has a social responsibility and needs to be better informed about what these parties entail. For schools, there are immediate concerns for students’ safety and the messages portrayed to younger students. Broader than this, how are the students and school reflected to the public? Unfortunately many videos show students wearing their school jumpers and they make it clear to the camera where they are from. So what can teachers, the school and broader community do to protect young people’s online reputation at school formal after parties?

 

Don’t dismiss it, but speak about it.

We know from a strong evidence base that students want to be informed about alcohol and other drug education. In the 2013 survey by the Australian National Council on Drugs titled Young peoples opinions of alcohol and other drug issues, young people said they desired “…drug education that was perceived to be balanced, ‘real’ and non-judgmental, with programs delivered by ‘outsiders’ (not teachers or those in positions of authority).’

Survey link: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/newsevents/events/RP27-young-peoples-opinions.pdf

However, we know that best practice for teaching party safe information requires conversations to start in the classrooms. Students need opportunities to discuss their plans and assistance from teachers with regard to the plans themselves. This will contribute to students developing strategies to keep themselves and their mates safe, before, during and after the party, in real life and online.

 

Take them on the journey to what impact these videos & photos may have in their life.

Real stories are powerful and enable students to truly appreciate the impact of videos and photos posted online. Each student needs to come to this understanding in his or her own way. As we know, lecturing with the facts will not go anywhere towards students changing their behaviour but we can facilitate this learning by taking them on the journey.

 

Allow students to own their choices to ensure safe, meaningful photos and videos are created of the event.

As students are usually the primary contact with the company, they need to be empowered and own the choice to say ‘we need to protect our online profile.’ Discuss with students how they can protect their image. Could they liaise with the company via phone/email and provide clear expectations to the videographer and photographer to ensure meaningful photos are taken on the night? Security and tagging ability on social media accounts also needs to be reinforced.

If you’re interested in us presenting our Party Safe Education seminars to your school’s students and parents about this topic, please contact Kim at Encounter Youth on 08 8179 0300

or Kimberly@encounteryouth.com.au, or visit http://www.encounteryouth.com.au/party-safe-education/seminars/.

Image by Michael Discenza from Unsplash