There seems to be quite a lot of debate of late about the Brisbane Nightclub’s 2am Lockdown proposal.
Firstly, I must say that I am incredibly impressed by the way social media has been used to enroll a population of young people that are against it. 14,500 members on the Facebook group. Damn. That’s almost a third of the entire Australian Army!
Secondly, I want to disclose that I completely understand why the powers at be have proposed what they want to do. There are more people on Brunswick St on a Friday or Saturday night than there is on any night at Cavill during schoolies. I dare you to go through there sober, there are munted people everywhere! It’s crazy. I honestly have to take my hat off to the vastly outnumbered police, they really are paid to bear the brunt of our weekend indiscretions. I can understand why they would want to give up in desperation. I’m guessing the lockdown is probably the result of one of a police person getting badly hurt and they are now throwing their hands up.
However, thirdly (and more importantly) locking people out of a nightclub at 2am isn’t going to stop the problem of binge drinking, or by extension, the problem of violence. That’s pretty obvious. One way or another, unless there is a shift in an individual’s psychology, the individual will do whatever it takes to express that which they currently express through drinking or fighting. The more we try and contain a psychological problem (binge drinking) with laws and regulations, the more that psychological problem will manifest into something else. A 2am lock out might stop the violence for a couple of hours in the morning but it won’t stop the violence.
I believe that we need to work together (young people, police, government and the industry) and agree to work together to change those parts of our culture that has made this mess in the first place, rather than glorify them. We need to commit to an understanding of acceptable behaviour that is self-regulated by the expectations of our peers rather than enforced by others.
As a young person, every time we ignore when one of our mates writes themselves off or gets into a bit trouble without saying anything, we are actually condoning their dysfunctional behaviour and ultimately we are forcing the hands of the authorities. If we fail to stand up, the Brisbane nightclub’s 2am lockdown is just the start. That is how it is.
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For more information, here are some articles from Brisbanetimes.com on the facebook group and the lockdown plan.
To find out why a person drinks to excess, here are a couple of previous posts on the topic; Identity, Confidence, Emotional Intelligence.
4 Comments
Add a comment“A 2am lock out might stop the violence for a couple of hours in the morning but it won’t stop the violence.”How is this so? You do realise it is not actually a lock out its the whole valley shutting down. I Don’t think its such a bad idea people will head out earlier and get to bed earlier instead of staying out till 5 and being a complete wreck the whole next day…..Up the broncos
What I am trying to say here is that the core reason for the 2am lockdown is to stop certain people being violent. Unfortunately, some people are violent regardless whether they drink or not. If we want to help them not be violent, we need to provide ways for them to change their psychology – not remove ways from them to express it.
I agree with your article, but the section “As a young person, every time we ignore when one of our mates writes themselves off or gets into a bit trouble without saying anything, we are actually condoning their dysfunctional behaviour” made me wonder…
What do we do if one of our friends is drunk? I make sure they are safe of course, and get home safely, but do you mean we should talk to them about them getting drunk at a party? Feels like a bit of a fine line, as it’s their choice to drink?
I guess I’m taking about the friends who get drunk, but aren’t dangerous or in danger, maybe just making themself look silly?
I think there is always going to be grey areas Kaela. We are all entitled to freedom of choice to do whatever we want to our own bodies. I would hate to think that I ever specifically told someone what to do. I hope to think that as young people, we can stand up and inspire others to make choices and decisions that respect their bodies and their minds without any words having to be said at all.
However, sometimes, we do need a good friend to tell us that are being out of order. I know I have on numerous occasions in the past and I’m thankful for the slap in the face.
I think there will always be a place for getting drunk, for it is an experience that is just that – an experience. However, it is a problem if our mates are going out every weekend and drinking because they ‘need’ to drink. Because it has become apart of how they function in life. This is where the experience is lost to the excuse. This is when we need to stand up and say ‘No – there is a better way than this.’