June 21, 2003
Teenagers gatecrash thanks to SMS
William Birnbauer in an article for The Age describes the down side of SMS, enabling idle teenagers out prowling at night to find out what's happening where, through text messaging and then crashing parties.
"The beauty of text messages, according to Cherie of Melbourne Australia, is they are cheap, immediate and you don't have to talk to people to get the word out. But the downside, revealed by police and others this week, is that hordes of youths can quickly find out about parties and gatecrash them, leading to violence and injuries.
Cherie, a university student, invited 70 friends to her 18th birthday party, held at her parents' home in the eastern suburbs. About 300 youths turned up uninvited.
Gatecrashing is not new, but in the past 10 years mobile phones, extended hours for nightclubs and bottle shops, and bigger parties are to blame for increased drunkenness and violence, say youth workers".
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