it can't be stopped

One sleep to go. In less than 24 hours Rotto Bloggo and our associates will be breathing the freshest air in the world.

Last week was good for blog stats: adding something about Tory Troy and the quokka saw an astronomical increase in visitors. 'troy buswell quokka' and variants saw Rotto Bloggo's most visited-day ever.

But always popular search terms concern leavers. 'rottnest leavers 1986', 'rotto leavers 07', and even 'rotto toolies' bring people here.

Should we be providing more information about leavers on the beautiful island? Gotta help the young people. schoolies.org.au is interesting. There's also some WA Gov't sites.

A great read is this 89-page document. School Leaver Celebrations on Rottnest Island: Going It Alone was published in July 2002 and makes for very interesting reading. They interviewed 112 leavers; most came from the coastal or inner-southern suburbs. There were a couple of kids from Armadale as well.

'Each year in late November school leaver celebrations occur in Western Australia. The most popular destination for these celebrations is Rottnest Island. Here 16 – 17 year old leavers gather to unwind after the stress of their final exams, socialise and mark their passage into adulthood. For most participants alcohol consumption is involved in their celebrations, while for some the consumption is excessive and accompanied by the use of illicit drugs.'

It's a comprehensive look at what the kiddies do, and why. We were surprised at how many didn't drink to excess or get on the Mary Jane.

'Leavers responses...indicate that violence and tension were among the most common negative experiences...'

The activity authorities - schools, police, gov't - do in telling the kiddies about what can happen, or what has happened, in previous years is remarkable. And there's increased activity on Rotto: on the island there's been a fast-food outlet outside the police station. What do the kids make of it all?

'In 2001 the most common response was a call for less intrusive regulation by the various authorities, including police, security and the RIA with regards to the accommodation. This theme was unprecedented in its occurrence.'

Probably have more leverage – don’t crack down as much coz that’s when people want to rebel more. Don’t kick people off for stupid things – Female
The 18 year old rule is stupid because they cause all the trouble - Male
Police need to change their attitude a bit. They won’t give a wave or a grin. They are too negative – Female
The street drinking rule is ridiculous. Getting charged for crossing the street. It actually makes us drink more because you have to scull to get across the street – Male
The rule that you can’t bring alcohol is stupid because people turn to drugs - it’s easier to bring them. People are going to get alcohol anyway –Male
I think it is a massive invasion of civil rights – they search your bags when you come off the boat – Male.