Commissioner alerted to teen parties a year ago

Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato was alerted to the controversial teen parties currently in the spotlight a year ago, according to the parent and youth worker who alerted her.

There should be a time for everything... a time to play and later on a time to party and go to clubs

Audrey Callus says she sent Ms D’Amato an e-mail on October 15, 2010 asking her to “investigate and/or comment” on the phenomenon of non-alcoholic parties in nightclubs being frequented by children as young as 12.

The Times sent a series of questions to Ms D’Amato but no reply was forthcoming. An employee in her office said she was too busy to reply yesterday and would do so at a later stage.

Ms Callus had told the Commissioner she did not think such young teenagers should be exposed to the club scene and staying out late, fearing that 12-year-old boys and girls were mixing with older teenagers.

“This certainly invites trouble,” she had written. “Parents, of course, have the option not to allow their children to go to these parties but these, more often than not, will end up being called names and bullied because they would not be part of the ‘in’ crowd and labelled babies and mummy’s boys or girls.”

Ms Callus said the Commissioner thanked her for the e-mail and promised to discuss the issue with the police. In response, Ms Callus said that even if the parties were being conducted legally, they are “damaging our youths” and were also likely to increase the rate of teenage pregnancy.

Stressing that she was not prudish, Ms Callus told Ms D’Amato that she was seeing the values of children changing by the day and she was worried about their future.

“There should be a time for everything... a time to play and later on a time to party and go to clubs. Lately these two phases are heavily overlapping and we are risking losing the ‘time to play’ phase once and for all.”

Ms Callus said she had also informed Sedqa, the government agency for drug and alcohol abuse. A spokesman said the agency was worried but its hands were tied because the organisers were acting within the law.

Welcoming the Commissioner’s statements last week, where she proposed changes to the law, Ms Callus warned the country not to go to the other extreme.

She said there should be an age bracket, preferably from 14 to 16 since those under 13 were still children and should not be exposed to the club culture, even if non-alcoholic. Meanwhile, 17-year-olds can access all clubs and mix with their peers there.

“The real problem for alternative entertainment lies between these two age groups.”

“I sincerely hope my suggestions are heeded this time round and hope to have a better regulation of this phenomenon,” she said, adding that other issues which should be looked at included the dress code, the way the teens procured alcohol and the closing time of these parties.

Ms Callus’s statement comes after a series of reports about teen parties by The Times last week, which culminated in the revelation that one of the teen party organisers was last year convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old and is currently serving a suspended sentence.

Meanwhile, party organiser Joel Caruana, 20, has called on his friends to support him.

In a Facebook comment he said there were many people involved in these events but he was the only one to confront the “press, parents, police, TV programmes and more”, while all the rest were hiding.

“Do we just want to call ourselves DJs and promoters and then jump off the boat as soon as there is a storm?” he asked.

Asked why parents should trust their children at his parties, Mr Caruana said parents had an option: either let their teenage children go out unsupervised or allow them to enter a “controlled environment where absolutely no alcohol is allowed”.

“We provide security staff to guarantee the protection of every client. We also provide medical assistance on standby in case of any accident - an ambulance is standing by at every party. This provides added peace of mind to parents and the teens themselves. We also keep prices to a minimum...”

He added that the events were kept out of Paceville as much as possible, opting for places like Rabat and Ta’ Qali instead.

“If I were a parent myself I would have my mind at rest that my kid is at one of these events rather than in an unmonitored environment.”