SCHOOL balls aren’t strictly ballroom.
Students going to their annual school balls have been drinking to excess at pre-ball and after-ball parties.  There have been many unfortunate incidents and, as the record shows, intoxicated young people are easy prey for sexual predators, gatecrashers, drug-pushers and Forbidden Fruit of all kinds.  Also, the recent death of an Auckland boy from alcohol poisoning can’t be ignored.
I like the dynamism of some of the responses that have gone down lately.  In one instance, the police intercepted a vanload of grog on its way to a party, and they also simply banned three others. 
Almost in contrast, some headmasters have got absolutely pristine, and seem in a state of denial about their pupils’ drinking. Come on, why not join the real world. So top marks to Wellington High School’s principal Prue Kelly who has called off this year’s ball because of the antisocial behaviour of some at last year’s dance. 
She said it offended both students and teachers.  At last, someone who can openly talk common sense as well as treating staff and students alike.
Balls are a kind of milestone and a crossroads in our lives. You’re leaving childhood, trying firewater for the first time, learning to dance, discovering the opposite (or same) sex, and feeling for balance in the irresistible flood waters of your own hard-out peer group. 
And let’s remember: Brand New Zealand has never been snow-white.  Our first Capital (Kororareka, in the Bay of Islands, now Russell) was labelled the “Hell Hole of the Pacific” due to riotous drunkenness and violence there. 
It was in the face of barbaric boozing that New Zealand women campaigned for (and very nearly got) an alcohol-free nation in the late 19th century.  Kiwi adults drank like fish in the Six O’Clock Swill when all pubs shut at 6pm till not so long ago. 
And even John Key felt obliged to assure us that alcohol won’t go up in price ahead of the Rugby World Cup and that “Party Central” (read, Big Glorified Piss-up) in Auckland will proceed unmolested. 
Clearly, coming up with the right answer to the balls thing will take openness and discussion between all parties.  We hear far too little from the young people themselves.  That’s no surprise as they are almost non-existent in our media and political systems.  But they’re more clued and networked than any generation ever before them and my pick is, even if ignored by mainstream culture, they’ll get it sorted.  And that’s good because people always abide by rules and events they’ve helped organise for themselves: the “nothing About me Without me” principle.  Watch this space. 
And, of course, some will lead by personal example.  Perhaps our social historians might have something to offer Wellington at this time.  For example, the Prohibitionists had a poster showing a drop-dead gorgeous (but well-buttoned) hottie who vowed bewitchingly, “Lips that touch alcohol shall never touch mine.” She perfectly embodied that heavenly cocktail of sobriety and sex.
See?  You don’t need grog to have a ball.