Schoolies' shoey, bong and goonbag shirts have parents seeing red
An Adelaide high school is in hot water after its Year 12 students created a T-shirt condoning drugs and alcohol at the upcoming Schoolies festival.
"The drunkest and the highest" - that's what graduating students at Unley High claim they'll be at the end-of-year celebrations.
The T-shirt calls on the "Unley Army" and features a picture of a "shoey" (drinking beer out of a shoe), a bong and a bag of cask wine.
They may have been made with tongue planted in cheek, but parents and the school's principal are seeing red.
"It doesn't show that they have any respect for themselves, and secondly, probably the school," one parent said.
"It's not the message that is Unley High School, but what we're really concerned about is safety," principal Brenda Harris said.
They're not the only students ruffling feathers, however.
Saint Aloysius girls joke on their shirts that they'll "see you at confession" after partying at the Victor Harbor festival.
Just last year, a tasteless shirt from Henley High teens boasted about drugs, sex and football.
The festival's organisers say there is little they can do, and it seems Unley's hands are also tied.
The school has decided not the punish the students involved - instead, it has opted to educate them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
Parents are also being encouraged to have frank conversations with their children before the celebrations begin.
"As much as possible, try and avoid telling young people what to do, because that often stifles the conversation," Nigel Knowles from not-for-profit youth advocacy organisation Encounter Youth said.
