School Balls & Afterballs

Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 July 2010 12:07

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School ball season is coming up and that means planning is in full force for ball committees around the country. School balls also often mean afterballs, and with all the stories in the media lately, we thought you might be wondering what the deal is.

We’ve found an awesome website called www.schoolball.co.nz that provides some great tips and information on organizing both school balls and afterball parties. Below are some basic tips, but check out the website for more info.

Organising the school ball

1. Get a responsible adult on side – this could be a teacher, year dean or parent. It’s a good idea to get someone who has had experience in organizing events before and knows a bit about checking over formal documents like ‘Terms and Conditions’, contracts and booking forms.

2. Bring together a committee – there are lots of decisions to be made around the ball – it’s a good idea to have a group of people who can make these decisions together and vote on things if need be. Make sure your ‘responsible adult’ can also make these meetings, as it will be good to hear their thoughts and experiences.

3. Elect a leader – this person will be responsible for keeping track of ALL paperwork and details, keeping communication open and making sure all the necessary tasks get completed.

4. Invite your school to get involved – they can be a great resource. Talk to your year dean or principal about how to go about preparing for the ball, they can often help with navigating any potential problems and with things like collecting ball ticket money.

5. Open a bank account – school balls can cost a lot to organise so you need to have a safe way of organizing your funds. Some schools will make use of their own bank account or have one on hand from previous years. It’s a good idea to have a minimum of 2 signatories to withdraw any money, and one should be the adult that you have on board to help.

6. Talk to your year - it's really important to keep your year informed about the decisions the committee is making. Getting them excited about the ball from the beginning is the best way to make sure they all buy their tickets early and save you chasing them when deadlines approach.

The Afterball

Afterballs are generally organised by students and have sometimes been associated with the excessive use of alcohol and alcohol- related harm. This has been reported on quite a lot in the media lately and there are debates around whether these should be formally banned, because of reports of violence, drink driving crashes, property damage, unsafe and unwanted sex and other alcohol-related injuries.

As a result a number of people around the country including health promoters, youth workers, road safety coordinators, liquor licensing staff and parents have worked alongside students to reduce these alcohol-related harms. Although this approach is gaining popularity, the issue of afterball parties continues to be a controversial one.

Schools in particular have expressed different views about afterball parties. Some have threatened to cancel the school ball if the afterball goes ahead, some do not acknowledge these events take place, while others are very supportive. Schools can be put in a difficult position when they have not organised the event but are linked to any negative outcomes.

To help you in organizing any afterball functions and ensuring that they are run within the law, it’s a good idea to seek advice from council licensing agencies (the contact for this varies depending on what area you live in, so click here to figure out what council region you live in) and the Police Alcohol Harm Reduction Officer. There is also some really useful information on the Police website which you can get to by clicking here.

Remember: It is not only students who can organise afterballs - external event companies can be hired to ensure all the boxes are ticked in terms of adequate security, band or DJ liaison, staging, lighting, sound system, hireage of hall and communication with police. This can be a good alternative to ensuring that all these aspects are covered off well, and ticket prices can often cover the costs of using an external event organiser.

Some useful after ball organizing criteria including how to contact the police. Note, while this website contains a section on legal issues, the legal advice on these types of commercial websites may not always be entirely accurate. To be on the safe side you should check with your local Police Alcohol Harm Reduction Officer whether your arrangements are okay.

If you’d like to have your say on afterballs, check out our online forum and let us know what you think!