Could this be the tamest Schoolies yet?

Schoolies have long flocked to the Gold Coast to celebrate the end of their schooling years. Picture: Jerad Williams

WHAT used to be regarded as a hotbed of teenage debauchery now looks set to be awash with common sense and lots of caution.

Schoolies begins this weekend on the Gold Coast, where teens will this year swap booze for health juices as they celebrate the end of their schooling years at nightclubs and beach parties.

Grant Gehrke, national program director for Schoolies support group Red Frogs, said the trend towards health-consciousness has been gaining pace over a couple of years.

“We’ve seen a bit of a trend over a few years now where there’s more young people choosing to stay sober, which is awesome,” he told news.com.au.

“We’ve done a lot of (safe celebration) education programs at schools — we’ve visited 360 schools nationally with that program — and it’s been a real focus for us.

“I think that’s helping change the culture and the whole environment at Schoolies, nationally. We’re seeing more people say, ‘You know what, I’m choosing not to drink’ or ‘I’m choosing healthier options’.

“And it’s to the point where I think it’s quite safe in a lot of Schoolies locations now. There are still some who will choose to go pretty hard on the alcohol but we’re just saying look after your friends, know your limit and don’t go past it.

“But I think generally, and this is a generalisation, we’re seeing them take a bit more of a responsibility for their actions.”

About 680 Red Frogs volunteers will be at Schoolies events on the Gold Coast offering support to young revellers who do run into trouble.

And that trouble included “anything you’d see in any normal nightclub”, Mr Gehrke said, from intoxication and messy breakups to people needing help getting home.

Mates at Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast in 2014. Picture: David Clark

Mates at Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast in 2014. Picture: David ClarkSource:News Corp Australia

Sometimes it also includes emergency situations.

“We can come and help when we can and often because we’re staying in the same buildings already, we can get there in a minute or two and help calm them down and wait for the emergency services to arrive,” he said.

“We also look at some alternative things, such as getting the schoolies out of the hotels so they’re not drinking all night and getting them down to a safe environment we call The Hub, which is alcohol free and just for school leavers, and I think that’s changing things, too.

“We also cook a lot of pancakes for the young people to get a bit of food in their bellies — it distracts them a bit as well if they’re eating, and it’s a real strategy for us as well.

“It’s changing that expectation of how they’re going to have fun — and remember their Schoolies experience.”

Mr Gehrke said even “toolies” — older people notorious for being a general nuisance at Schoolies events — were slowly starting to get the message about buggering off.

“I think we’re seeing a slight trend towards seeing some of them stay away,” he said. “With that number of people around you’re still going to have issues with toolies and our message is that you need to stay away and let this year’s cohort enjoy themselves without people coming back feeling like they need to have a second or third Schoolies.”

But that’s not to say authorities aren’t bracing for bad behaviour when an expected 25,000 revved-up teens descend on the Glitter Strip this weekend for the annual rite of passage.

Police have already warned to partygoers to be safe after they arrested a man in Surfers Paradise on Wednesday night with trafficable amounts of ecstasy and liquid fantasy.

They are also concerned about “rooftopping”, a dangerous new Instagram craze that sees people take risky selfies on high-rise balconies and rooftops.

A rooftopper in Melbourne risks his safety for an Instagram snap.

A rooftopper in Melbourne risks his safety for an Instagram snap.Source:Supplied

“High risk balcony behaviour has historically been a concern during the Schoolies response period,” Gold Coast police Inspector Damien Crosby told news.com.au.

“Such behaviour is illegal and any persons detected engaging in high risk balcony behaviour will be liable to prosecution.”

Insp Crosby said Schoolies who did engage in risky behaviour on balconies could also risk getting kicked out of their Gold Coast accommodation.

Strata Community Australia, the peak body representing body corporates and managers, has issued an alert to high rise managers on the Glitter Strip and urged for a zero-tolerance policy on balcony stunts.

“It’s the emergence of new crazes like rooftopping that are posing the biggest threat to safety in strata communities, as revellers go to the extreme and often dangerous lengths to get the best photographs,” SCA chief Kim Henshaw said.

One Surfers Paradise high-rises that has promised to get tough on balcony skylarkers is the Beachcomber Resort, which has previously been the scene of several fatal balcony falls.

“When they (the Schoolies) arrive we will give them all a talk and directions,” manager Greg Kafritsas told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

A Schoolie climbs from one balcony to another at a Surfers Paradise hotel. Picture: Marc Robertson

A Schoolie climbs from one balcony to another at a Surfers Paradise hotel. Picture: Marc RobertsonSource:The Courier-Mail

“Any misbehaviour on the balconies ... and they will be evicted.”

But school leaves who are worried about a possible terrorist attack on the Gold Coast “don’t have to come to Schoolies,” Gold Coast Schoolies advisory group chairman Mark Reaburn has said today.

A security crackdown will be a major focus for police at this years events, which begin one week after the deadly terror attacks in Paris.

Insp Crosby told news.com.au there was no information to suggest that “recent events in France will have any nexus or impact on Queensland in general, or Schoolies in particular”, but said the police response this year would be “significant and comprehensive”.

Police commandos will be dispatched to Schoolies events with bomb squad officers and sniffer dogs also be on hand to deal with any terrorist threats.

“We’ve revisited our plans and redirected our resources to harden and strengthen our presence, purely as a precaution,” Queensland Police’s South Eastern Region police assistant commissioner Brian Codd told the Courier Mail.

“We’ll have some additional high-visibility policing in Surfers during Schoolies and we’ve also made arrangements to fast-track the response from some of our specialist areas.”

Revelry could be further downplayed with reports that two popular Surfers Paradise beach parties in the second week of festivities could be axed, with Gold Coast City Council officers recommending against approving them to spare residents extra headaches.

In written comments to a council committee, Councillor Lex Bell said he had received negative feedback from locals following the beach parties last year.

“Their assertion was that they had to tolerate a beach concert until midnight or later in the first week of the Schoolies festival,” he wrote.

“They expected peace and quiet on the second week.”

Schoolies events are due to officially begin in NSW and Victoria next week.

Watch the new chant dominating schoolies week. WARNING: ADULT CONTENT

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