Kerre Woodham: Let teens' parents play ball

Girls angst over what to wear and which after-party to attend. Photo / Getty Images

What a furore over school balls. The season is on us and all over the country, young women and men are starring in the soap opera that is the School Ball.

If only they'd actually read their Jane Austen rather than just reading about her on Wikipedia for their English essays, they'd realise little has changed in 200 years.

I can't begin to imagine how many man hours are wasted on The Ball. Senior teachers know there is little point trying to introduce anything new in the fortnight leading up to The Ball. Deans and prefects are in full secret squirrel mode trying to find out where the illicit after-balls are taking place so they can foil them.

And while Vodafone may offer 2000 texts a month for $10, the girls will churn through those in a matter of days as they agonise over what to wear, who to go with and which after-party to attend.

It must be a nightmare for schools to manage and this week we've seen two vastly different approaches.

Rangitoto College's principal has said there will be no ball next year after an after-ball party went ahead this year despite assurances from pupils and parents that it would not.

David Hodge had concerns that the party, which was held in a warehouse in Onehunga, would be poorly supervised, with an open bar. After voicing his concerns, he was told the party would be cancelled.

It went ahead and Hodge spat the dummy. Now two years worth of Rangitoto Cinderellas won't be going to the ball. It's a bit stiff that the Year 12s miss out, seeing as they had nothing to do with the duplicity, but there you go.

Some of the parents of Rangitoto students have said they'll act as Fairy Godmothers and put on a ball of their own to ensure the little North Shore princesses won't miss out on their day of days. Still more have said that the college can't control what kids do in their own time.

That's quite true, but when the school puts on a ball and the after-party is associated with it you can hardly blame Hodge for wanting to ensure it's run as safely as possible.

At the other end of the country, Christ's College is putting on a do for its students that will see a ball, a three-course dinner and an open bar. And even though alcohol will be served to underage students, it seems the college has found a loophole in the liquor licensing rules.

The principal says that it's important to teach their students how to drink sensibly and responsibly, that parents will have to give written permission for the teens to be able to drink and that students will be given a ticket that will help staff monitor what they are drinking and when they drink it.

Seems a sensible sort of compromise but again, what a lot of time has been spent organising the event and defending the decision to serve grog to all and sundry. If I were a school principal I'd cancel the school ball altogether.

If parents feel so strongly that a ball is a rite of passage for their teenagers, let them organise it and deal with all the attendant responsibility. Teachers simply aren't paid enough to put up with the hassle.

* www.kerrewoodham.com