Alcohol makes one less shy: Youth parties are closed, but the young still drink

It is Friday, and the day is spent at a cozy evening at home with one of the friends.

Katrine Plejdrup, Catarina Bechmann, and Amalie Jensen are in the 9th grade in Skive Commune.

While they sit on the couch, they laugh, watch videos on TikTok, and talk about boys. However, the evening could have been better.

"It's a bit annoying that we can't talk to many people and don't meet new people," says Katrine Plejdrup.

Two years ago, a majority in the Skive Commune council decided that the community's sports halls could no longer be used for so-called pose parties, where minors under 16 years old drink alcohol. This meant that the last party for the age group 14-17 years old was held in 2023.

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What is a pose party?

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Pose parties, half-balls, barn dances, or sweethearts have many names.

The parties differ slightly from commune to commune, but they are organized by volunteers and are typically for young people between 14-17 years old.

The young people bring their own alcohol, which they deliver at the entrance. Then they can receive one item at a time from their own stash.

The parties are under adult supervision.

Source: Various organizers

However, this has not eliminated the youth's interest in gathering around the hard liquor. Now it happens in parks, schools, or bars, the girls explain.

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> So it's mostly us who help people break things or help people up, because they simply fall over because they have drunk so much

> Catarina Bechmann, 9th grade

"I have also had experiences where things go wrong when you go out and sit in a schoolyard or city park or sports field," says Catarina Bechmann.

"The others may not think so much about how much they drink, and it's usually us young people who help people break things or help people up because they simply fall over because they have drunk so much," she says.

This is something Lene Sørensen recognizes. She is the chair of KB Festens board, formerly known as Spøttrup Festen, which was the ones who 10-12 times a year organized the pose parties for the young people.

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> Now we can't control it anymore, because they drink

> Lene Sørensen, chair, KB Festen

"Now we can't control it. Because they drink," says Lene Sørensen.

She has an experience of the young people drinking more without supervision.

"I think the young people in Skive sit in some unfortunate places and drink. And I think it has come to a greater extent, even after the parties closed," she says.

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The hen or the egg?

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Skive Commune is far from the only commune that has abolished pose parties. For example, Odder Commune has done so, and from next year it is also over in Thisted Commune.

One of the arguments for keeping the parties is the fear that it will become more difficult to control where and how the young people drink.

But this image is not shared by Skive Commune's leader of SSP and Criminal Prevention Prevention, Jan Snejbjerg.

"We actually experience that there were fewer young people in parks and other places in the summer than the previous summer. Just after the pose parties stopped, it was like a party was missing. But now the young people have gotten used to it," he evaluates.

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> I think the parties are contributing to creating the demand and the need to come to a party with alcohol

> Jan Snejbjerg, leader of SSP and Criminal Prevention Prevention, Skive Commune

"I think the parties are contributing to creating the demand and the need to come to a party with alcohol. So if they don't have a party to go to, it's not certain that alcohol will fill so much," says SSP leader.

However, Lene Sørensen disagrees that pose parties introduced and created the interest in alcohol among the young people.

"We gave them the framework for coming to the party, and for our sake, they had to come with soda water. We encouraged them to do so the first times. But the young people took alcohol with them anyway," says Lene Sørensen.

Since the pose parties closed, Skive Commune has not discussed a new alternative for gathering the young people.

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> Regardless of how we turn and twist it, alcohol is still a very influential factor for the young people

> Lene Sørensen, chair, KB Festen

"In the end, it comes down to the youth school offer for this target group, says SSP leader, Jan Snejbjerg,

But Lene Sørensen experiences that alcohol fills so much among the young people, and it will not help anything to discuss up with other alternatives.

"It could certainly be a way to do it, if there were some who would do it. But you forget the aspect that regardless of how we turn and twist it, alcohol is still a very influential factor for the young people," she says.

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They take friendships for life from us

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In the couch with the three 9th grade girls, they discuss whether soda water discos could be a replacement for the alcohol-based pose parties.

The verdict is clear:

"You can't compare it!"

"It doesn't work the same way!"

None of the three girls have had the opportunity to experience a pose party, but they are in agreement that they feel they are missing out on a chance to make new acquaintances.

"Alcohol is nice once in a while, and you become a little less shy about it. So you have better opportunities to get to know new people and talk and make bids for a conversation," says Amalie Jensen.

Is it not better to be sober and not drink so much?

"What is healthy for people? Alcohol is not. But you can also say: 'Is it not healthy for people to have fun and be happy and cozy themselves?' says Amalie Jensen.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.