Schoolies week

"Toolies" refers to older revellers who participate in Schoolies week but graduated in an earlier year.

[1][2] "Foolies" refers to younger adolescents, who participate in Schoolies week but have not yet graduated from high school.

[10] Schoolies week is seen as a transitional period from youth to adulthood, marking a change of state from the imposition of school discipline to the chosen freedom to have a body which is out of control.

[11] According to the Official National Schoolies Week Website, "The most-enduring Schoolies-week tradition is the first run down the beach and dive into the ocean after school is finished forever.

The Gold Coast is viewed as a liminal space, somewhere to get away, a city of theme parks and leisure by the sea where transitions are possible.

[16] Schoolies have similar traditions at Magnetic Island off Townsville, Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays and Port Macquarie.

[17] In Western Australia, Rottnest Island off Perth and the South West towns of Dunsborough and Busselton are popular destinations.

Of the 10 Australian destinations, three are in Queensland (Airlie Beach, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast (Coolum, Mooloolaba and Noosa Heads)), three are in Victoria (Lorne, Phillip Island and Rye), one is in New South Wales (Byron Bay) and one is in Western Australia (Dunsborough).

Additionally, the official list also includes three international destinations: Fiji, Vanuatu and the island of Bali in Indonesia.

At many destinations, the official events are held in fenced-off areas or in nightclubs to prevent the infiltration of "toolies" and to maintain crowd control.

Popular schoolies' (or leavers') venues are often attended by people well past school age, labelled by the media as "toolies"[20] or "droolies".

[21] Toolies are associated with the targeting of drunk teenagers for sex, and are also frequently involved in disturbances taking place during the celebrations.

The term also includes early school leavers who are in apprenticeship training but join in the schoolies celebrations.

Since the event began to attract large enough numbers to warrant annual media attention, Schoolies week has become a familiar concept nationwide.

Police attention is regularly required where the collective behaviour of schoolies at some locations gets out of hand, such as at Rottnest Island in 1986.

[citation needed] Charges were laid against schoolies for serious assault, drunk and disorderly conduct, drug possession and obstructing police.

Schoolies week celebrations can involve large volumes of alcohol and other drugs such as tobacco, cannabis and ecstasy.

[12] Police were under-resourced, as several violent clashes occurred involving groups of people every night that week.

[citation needed] The most significant statistic regarding violence at schoolies over the past few decades has placed the blame more so in the hands of 'toolies' than 'schoolies' themselves.