Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato is compiling a set of recommendations, including legislative changes, to ensure better regulation of teen parties.
This follows reports in The Times about parties targeted at under-17s where alcohol is banned but girls, as young as 14, dance erotically in lingerie costumes, with at least one girl saying she was paid €10. A party organiser insists he does not pay girl dancers aged under 17.
“I’m worried that there is no age bracket. In the photos (posted on Facebook, some later reproduced by The Times) there are children younger than 13 and men and women in their 20s. This is not a healthy mix,” Ms D’Amato said, pointing out that some boys in the photos could not have been a day older than 11.
She argued that if such parties must be organised for young teenagers who would otherwise not be allowed into nightclubs, there should to be an age limit. “But to do this we need to change the subsidiary legislation that regulates permits for such parties. This is the way forward.”
Ms D’Amato said she was disturbed by the fact that the parties mimicked the entertainment scene frequented by adults, stressing that children’s activities should be more age-appropriate.
There should also be a curfew regulated by law, she said, and certain activities, such as pole-dancing, should be banned. “This might require self-regulation by the owners to make sure the activities are appropriate for children and not mimicking adult entertainment,” she said, adding that some of the activities, such as dancing in lingerie, were not even commonplace in ordinary nightclubs.
Ms D’Amato also pointed out that it was illegal for children to work, so if the girls were really paid €10 to dance, this could go against the law.
She pointed out that she was alerted to the parties several weeks ago by teens who told her they were “worried” their friends were frequenting such events.
“The fact that children were worried convinced me even more that I needed to take action,” she said, jokingly adding that this allayed her fears that she was just thinking in an antiquated manner.
Ms D’Amato said she was also concerned by the use of Facebook by young children. While social networks could be put to good use, parents “need to learn how to say no” to certain behaviour and not fall for peer pressure from their children or other parents.
Her recommendations would be passed on to various authorities, Ms D’Amato said pointing out that there had to be a concerted effort by the government, the Malta Tourism Authority, the police, the venue owners, party organisers and educators.
Teen party organiser Joel Caruana denies paying underage dancers at teen events, saying the only dancers who get paid are aged 17 or over.
Reacting to the claim by a 15-year-old who said she was paid €10 for dancing in lingerie, he said: “Be sure that if you try to pay someone €10 nowadays they will burst out laughing in your face because €10 is nothing... I dare say that with €10 you won’t even afford transport.”
Mr Caruana said most of the time it was a matter of spontaneous dances between friends. “If everyone who claims to be a dancer or dresses in swimwear or these clothes gets paid, I’ll be paying 90 per cent of the girls,” he said.
“In the 1900s, they danced to Rock ‘n Roll... today we have this type of dancing where people like to look cool on boxes,” Mr Caruana added, pointing out that the venues were such parties were held were all equipped with boxes and other “decorations” to create an appealing atmosphere.