Wānaka brawl a wake-up call

Teenagers throughout history have found themselves in trouble with adults: defying the expectations of one’s elders is a rite of passage for most.

And for as many years as offspring have been getting in trouble with their parents, adolescents have been misusing and misbehaving because of alcohol. Indeed, the two phenomena rather go hand in hand.

With that backdrop, it is easy to look at the youthful disorder at the dinosaur park at Wānaka on January 2 and ask so what else is new?

However, there are several elements which mark this out as being something a bit different from the run-of-the-mill trouble which teens can get themselves into.

The numbers involved in what has been described as a series of brawls, both as participants and onlookers, has been estimated at about 300. Even accounting for the annual surge in the population of Wānaka for Christmas, this is an unusually large number of young adults to be congregating late at night.

Had it been the previous evening, New Year’s Eve, it is unlikely that there would have been any trouble. Police and local volunteers are well experienced and well equipped to deal with the traditional Wānaka festivities and this year, like most preceding it, was an enjoyable evening with few incidents.

What happened the next night this year, however, should have authorities questioning if enough resources remained in the resort town to deal with troublemakers still in the neighbourhood. Wānaka remains a family-friendly holiday destination for now, but it can ill afford any similar incidents creating an impression that it might not be a safe place to visit.

Three of the assaults carried out that evening were described by police as serious, and some people were left unconscious. Many of the attackers appeared to be operating in groups and the suggestion has been made that turf rivalries from bigger cities has been transferred to a new location.

Wānaka’s Dinosaur Park was the picture of family fun on Thursday with no trace of the assaults...
Wānaka’s Dinosaur Park was the picture of family fun on Thursday with no trace of the assaults and brawls between groups of youths that happened in the small hours of the morning. Photo: Julie Asher
This is a new and disturbing development and one which police cannot afford to let get out of hand. The thin blue line does not have the resources to monitor every potential offender’s whereabouts, but their intelligence and youth aid teams may need to keep a closer handle on the holiday plans of people who may pack up their troubles and take them with them.

Police had stern words for parents this week for not monitoring their teens’ whereabouts closely enough and for supplying them with alcohol.

There can be some forgiveness for the former: while not sleepy at this time of year, the reputation that Wānaka has for being safe means parents feel comfortable about letting their children off the leash a little. This, too, might need a rethink.

The alcohol question is more vexed. This is a time of year when under-18s beg parents to allow them to drink alongside their peers, and their elders have to walk a thin line between being over-disciplinarian and being too lax.

However, the rumble in the park is a reminder alcohol is a dangerous drug and novice drinkers are the most susceptible to its baleful effects.

Another worry is the role that the ubiquitous cellphone has played in all this. It was no doubt used as a tool to organise the impromptu gathering and then used to film the mayhem which ensued — images of the brawls were available on YouTube soon afterwards.

While police will no doubt be grateful for the additional evidence when it comes to making charging suggestions, human decency should hopefully dictate that if someone is being assaulted you would go to their aid, rather than pull out a cellphone and turn the video on. Some teens might wish to consider the setting of their moral compass.

This fracas appears to have ended up being relatively minor, but it had the potential to be far worse. It should serve as a warning to prevent any recurrence next year and beyond.