(Adds organiser's rebuttal)
A 15-year-old girl who dances with her friends in sexy lingerie at “teen parties” said she was paid €10 for her services though she did not do it for the money.
We do not do it for the money but because this is something we love to do
The girl, who is not being named due to her age even though she is more than willing to go public, also said her parents and those of her friends knew about their actions.
“We do not do it for the money but because this is something we love to do. That’s it... We’re now the talk of town and it’s not fair,” she said when contacted over a Facebook message, adding that teens should be left alone, not splashed on the papers.
The Times yesterday ran a story about the parties, quoting organiser Joel Caruana, from I Love Music Events, who defended his non-alcoholic parties and denied organising erotic dances or paying any of the dancers. He said his patrons were free to dress and dance as they wished.
The police and the Children’s Commissioner say they are investigating the case.
Outraged parents and worried readers have submitted photos and information about the parties. Some pointed out that the parties brought together a volatile mix of 13-year-olds and 20-year-olds.
Some said they saw alcohol sold from car booths outside the venue even though it was prohibited inside the nightclubs.
A number of photos also show minors smoking inside the clubs.
The 15-year-old who spoke about the dancers pointed out that teen parties were also organised by other promoters, including Scream Promo, and these too had dancers. Facebook photos and YouTube videos of these and other parties even show teenagers pole dancing.
The Facebook profiles of many of these girls showed them posing in sexy photo shoots, skimpily dressed. With their parents as Facebook friends, several readers pointed out that their behaviour was probably condoned.
Others said the children were out of their parents’ control because the teenagers could easily leave home dressed appropriately but hiding a skimpy dress and fishnet tights in their handbags. “I did this over 20 years ago,” one reader said.
Another blamed Facebook and said parents should keep a closer eye on their children’s internet activity while others blamed MTV and said the children’s idols dressed even more inappropriately.
Some readers were sympathetic to the argument that children under 17 have nowhere to go but others argued that they could become active in youth centres or in sports.
Miriam Cassar said this case highlighted the need for a parents’ group that campaigns for children’s rights. She said the Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulated that children had the right to age-appropriate recreational activities but should be protected from “economic, spiritual, moral and social exploitation” which could harm the child’s health or education. She feels these parties fall within this category.
“Alcohol or no alcohol, this is no place for children,” another reader said.
ORGANISER DENIES PAYING UNDERAGE DANCERS
Teen party organiser Joel Caruana has denied paying underage dancers at teen events, saying the only dancers who get paid are aged 17 or over.
Reacting to the claim of a 15-year-old girl who claims to be paid €10 for dancing in lingerie, he said: “Be sure that if you go to pay someone €10 today, 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 many of these were spontaneous dances between friends.
“If everyone who claims to be a dancer or dresses in swimwear of 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,” he said, pointing out that these venues were all equipped with boxes and other “decorations” to create this atmosphere.