Table 3 Schoolies as a much-anticipated present

Phase characteristics

Social interaction:

- ‘Being with’ friends

  Drink whenever and get a huge house for everyone to stay at (F, Yr12, high SES, >1/month, high-risk).

- ‘Doing with’ friends

 ○ Chill activities

  Chilling out with mates and being able to have casual drinks with people who matter. And also being able to go to the beach every day (F, Yr12, high SES, >1/month, high-risk).

 ○ Adrenaline activities

  Having a good time and partying hard eg hot biddies (girls) and drinking tons (M, Yr11, low SES, >1/month, high-risk).

- Avoiding undesirable others

  Rowdy, drunk men make me really uneasy and I think that there will be a lot of this down at Schoolies. Dealing with them is probably the thing I least am looking forward to (F, Yr12, low SES, <=1/month, low-risk).

Role of alcohol

- Facilitates interaction with desired others

  Stay at a house with a group of friends socialising. Not wild parties, just sitting around listening to music and drinking a bit of alcohol without getting outrageously drunk (F, Yr12, low SES, <=1/month, low-risk).

- Increases susceptibility to undesired others

  Rape/assault, drink spiking incidents etc. (F, Yr12, high SES, >1/month, high-risk).

- Negative consequences of heavy consumption expected and tolerated

  Dealing with hangovers and looking after drunk mates (M, Yr12, high SES, >1/month, high-risk).