Ruawai College sets down strict rules for ball

Booze, drugs, extra loud music and after-midnight parties have been ruled out by Ruawai College administrators anxious to control behaviour at the school ball next week.
The ball has been held at the Ruawai War Memorial Hall in recent years, but the college board of trustees has decided that for this year's ball from 8pm until midnight on June 17 it will move back into the school assembly hall.
Admission will be by ticket only and the latest issue of the college newsletter, Torrent, says the board reserves the right to refuse entry.
Tickets will not be available on the night and any student leaving the assembly hall, once admitted, will not be allowed to return.
Dress will be formal and the ball will be alcohol and drug-free. Maori wardens will provide security.
College principal Stephen Fordyce says dance music will be a combination of modern and more traditional dance forms. The "decibellic" level of the music will be controlled to allow for conversation to take place.
Ballroom dancing lessons are being provided for students four lunchtimes a week and Wednesday Activities provide an additional opportunity for tuition.
"Earlier in the year, senior teachers and I met with the college prefects to discuss these changes and, at the time, I raised my concerns about an after-ball function," Mr Fordyce says in the college newsletter.
"I indicated that I did not support the idea of an after-ball event and that I wanted an undertaking from them that they would not organise one. They agreed to this."
Mr Fordyce says he heard a rumour that an after-ball function was being organised by people with no current connection with the college.
"If this is true, I can only conclude that it is with the active support of some students," he says.
"If such an event goes ahead, the board of trustees will consider whether or not to stage a school ball in 2006 and beyond."
Mr Fordyce says he wants the ball to be the major social event on the college calendar - not the excuse needed to stage another unofficial social some time after midnight.
"Ruawai College will not be used to legitimise a party over which it has no control," he says.
"I am asking parents not to condone their sons and daughters attending an after-ball function.
"This is not because I want to be mean-spirited. The college ball should be the focus of the night. After all, the ball committee has gone to a lot of trouble to organise it."
Ruawai police Senior Constable Russell Booten told the Kaipara Advocate he had not been called to deal with any trouble relating to the college ball last year, but he considered the school had taken a very responsible attitude toward controlling behaviour at this year's ball.
The ban on after-ball functions was "very sensible, considering what has happened at after-ball parties in other areas," he said.