Students 'need' exam celebrations

Students have a real need to celebrate their Leaving Cert results, and parents only alienate them by taking hardline stances on such issues as alcohol, experts caution.

Educationalists and counsellors accept that parents will naturally worry about excessive drinking by their children at formal or informal parties tomorrow night.

But they also say that at the climax of five or six years' study, teenagers have an absolute right to let off steam. Wise parents will seek to involve themselves in the celebrations, if only by discussing them, rather than adopting authoritarian positions.

Several Dublin nightclubs are among those advertising parties tomorrow to mark the issue of the results. Typical of these is the Red Box in Harcourt Street, which expects at least 1,000 students to attend at €15.90 a head.

A spokeswoman said there would be a strict policy of serving alcohol only to over-18s, with passport, driver's licence or other photo ID required. Anyone obviously worse for wear already will not be admitted.

The Temple and Tivoli theatres are among a number of other city venues hosting parties, from 9 p.m. till "late" or "very late", depending on the advertisement. Admission to the theatres is €22 and €22.50 respectively.

A spokesman for the Temple said customers' age ID would be checked at the door, and those over 18 would have their hands stamped to allow them to buy alcohol. Security would be strict and "a full medical team and ambulance" would be on stand-by. The venue expects 600-700 to attend.

The spokesman added: "Teenagers are going to celebrate anyway. It's better to have them do it at an organised event, under supervision, that going into a field with a flagon of cider."

A former president of the National Parents' Council, Ms Rose Tully, agrees. Now running an information service, Parents' Education and Children's Health (PEACH), she says parents can and should urge moderation and warn of the dangers.

However, they should also appreciate that their children "have worked hard for five years and have been under a lot of stress and pressure, and they need to let their hair down".

The best approach was to discuss with children where would they be going and when, and to offer help in getting them there and back, if necessary.

A Dublin-based counsellor, Ms Norah Byrne, said celebrating the Leaving Cert results was "self-affirming" and reflected a real need to mark important events in a person's life.

Parents should add to the affirmation their children needed rather than let their own neuroses dominate.