I really hope this doesn't arrive in UK

I think this is very exaggerated. I Denmark it certainly does not happen like that. The girls dress up in very pretty white dresses and wear their caps the boys usually wear white shirt and a butterfly and nice trousers. The whole year get on the bus to celebrate, which is usually an open lorry decorated by the students themselves or their families, then drive from home to home of all the students and get some form of refreshments everywhere they stop. They have a fabulous time and everyone stop and wave to them, it is just sheer happiness having finished years of studying. I have never heard of partying before the exams are over. My own second and third cousins did this and I have lovely photos tucked away somewhere to cherish.

I fear anything to do with partying, drinking will be adopted here. Just like the elaborate Prom parties in USA. Neighbour has spent £800 on her DDs outfit for her leaving "do". Dread to think what she'll spend on a Uni graduation ball outfit.
The Norwegians do the party buses before sitting exams and tgey are so costly it's the very well off who can partake.

Don't parents have enough to spend on their children without this?
Proms used to be about graduating, now every 16 year old girl wants an expensive dress and spends for post-GCSE party, post-18 party and then graduation for any other education.

I'd say "Oh well - you're only young once". The problem comes if one is in a country where they carry right on bingeing well into adulthood and don't give a monkeys if they hurt/kill someone else because of it.

Yep....thinking of a middle-aged local man where I live that couldnt resist boozing at lunchtime and then accidentally killed someone and couldnt give a monkeys and then went on to injure someone else several months later (yep...he was let out of jail very quickly the first time and seems to have got off totally scot-free the second time!!!!!) and couldnt give a darn about that either.

So - might as well let them "get it out of their system" when young and then expect them to be responsible once they're adults.....

A graduation ceremony is very different from a prom. My grandson had such a ceremony moving from nursery to primary one. I consider it a bit daft but it gives closure to nursery and acknowledged moving on. A prom is not the same

Grandmabatty I have copied a extract from a BBC news item for you
“More and more nurseries, kindergartens and other pre-school institutions are offering "graduation" ceremonies for the three and four-year-olds about to leave for primary school.
Tens of thousands of outfits, based on those worn by university students, are being sold every year in Europe, the Middle East and Far East. They usually retail at up to about £20 and are available in dozens of colours, from gold to maroon*.

They do in USA Grandmabatty my neice in law put a photo on fb of her tiny toddler at a nursery leaving party complete with mortarboard and robe

There's a difference between a party celebrating transition from one stage to another and a prom. And you still haven't given evidence that nursery schools were running proms.

BlueBelle

Well a bit more than party buses which sounds very tame Georgesgran
These go on for weeks and cost thousands

It’s a perfectly safe BBC link argymargy I wouldn’t post anything dodgy

I know, BlueBelle and I trust you! Just don’t like clicking any links really.

Grandmabatty

I have never heard of nursery schools running proms. Do you have evidence for this?

I wasnt invited to take photos, it did happen, several happened after junior school.

Any excuse for a party.

I have never heard of nursery schools running proms. Do you have evidence for this?

60 yrs ago we had a party at the end of term before the end of term and we went our separate ways, we were 16 so just food and music.

Proms there days but it gets a bit bonkers when they do a prom for leaving nursery school.

On the other hand it can be sensible to have a party bus with a sober driver as it actively discourages anyone from drink driving. The Norwegian drink driving limit is 0.2 and you can go to prison for less than the UK drink driving limit.

Also US prom culture has been alive and well in Britain for many, many years - I remember about 20 years ago my kids being gobsmacked when we were visiting my brother's home in the UK a pink stretch limo pulled up at a neighbour's house to collect a group of girls for the school prom ..... they were 11 and it was the year 6 prom!

Caleo

What is wrong with party buses? They would bore me stiff, but others enjoy parties. What exactly is the problem?

I clicked the link but it did not interest me. I'd have appreciated a brief resume and more informative title.

Expensive (putting students into debt), exclusionary (due to the expense), unsafe (sideways facing seats/standing whilst moving). Negative impact on education (the "celebration/buses go on during examinations and beyond).

What is wrong with party buses? They would bore me stiff, but others enjoy parties. What exactly is the problem?

I clicked the link but it did not interest me. I'd have appreciated a brief resume and more informative title.

Well, DGD is just doing A levels. As far as I can see, she too will be havinga party summer.

There is her Prom, then, having turned 18 a week ago, there is her first holiday broad without family - to Greece - with school friends. Paid for from the earnings of her part time job. Then there is a trip to France. Her friend's mother is French and they are going down to the mediterranean to stay at the family home.

Her generation, and certainly her group, seem to drink far less than their parent's generation.

I cannot remember any celebrations after finishing my A levels. I was at boarding school, term ended, my trunk with all my effects had been sent on by rail ahead of me. So when the exams were over. I went back to my room, packed my overnight bag and walked out of school forever. Caught the trains home, my parents met me at the home station and that was it.

Australia has schoolies week which is when people who have just finished school in Year 12 all meet together at a beach suburb and party. It involves boozing and having a good time. Most by that time are 18 so it is not illegal. Some beach areas have banned it for obvious reasons. The danger is the creepy infiltrators who are older and just looking for a young drunk female for sex. Several of my grandchildren have participated in these weeks and they have all loved it, letting your hair down after exams.

Oreo

Norway has high salaries tho doesn’t it? There’s a big drinking culture there and Sweden from what I’ve read.

High school students don't really have high salaries and a bottle of beer is about £10 in a bar.

I think there is possibly a bit of a binge drinking culture in Sweden - holidays and sporting events etc. However I would say that Brits probably consume more overall - but the drink driving laws may influence this as the Swedish drink driving limit is just a quarter of the British.

I found the claim that Norwegian teens are making money by selling toilet rolls, interesting.

Norway has high salaries tho doesn’t it? There’s a big drinking culture there and Sweden from what I’ve read.

Oreo

I don’t think British students would like ‘organised’ fun😁 they like to do their own thing.
I watched a good Scandi mystery programme ( fiction) on a pair of missing students who went off on a party bus after exams.

These events - apart from a few - are not organised by the school/local authority - they are organised by the students themselves. I remember my daughter's class had a lot of stress to organise their lorry for the exam day parade as noneone in the class had any haulage or farming contacts ....

The group in the article must be very wealthy - have you seen the cost of booze in Norway? Norwegians often travel to Sweden to buy booze.

I think this article is hugely exaggerated!

Partying every night for a month is not something I believe.

I have seen the scores of young people in their red dungarees, it’s very much a right of passage, the real party is on Constitution Day.

Even Norwegians find alcohol very expensive, it is taxed highly.

Alcohol over 4.75% can only be purchased in the state run off licence Vinmonopolet, the stores have very tight restrictions and will not sell to anyone they think is inebriated.

The legal limit in Norway is 18 for beverages of under 22%, it then goes up to age 20.

The culture there is so different than UK.

I don’t think British students would like ‘organised’ fun😁 they like to do their own thing.
I watched a good Scandi mystery programme ( fiction) on a pair of missing students who went off on a party bus after exams.

It is common for there to be a long party and event season after A level "studenten" exams in Sweden but the busses are a thing I hadn't heard of. My kids did A levels in Sweden where there was about a month of activities but it wasn't all alcohol fuelled so I wonder if this is a particular thing in a wealthy suburb. My kids did BBQs, minigolf, a formal ball, kayaking, swimming in the lake, a club night, parties, dinners etc - not to mention the hat ceremony.

Exams are done by mid May but there are 3-4 weeks of term left as you get your results on the final day so there are a load of daytime/nightime events. The final week was a bit crazy and the final exam result day the craziest of all;
- champagne breakfast
- in to school for for an early lunch to get your exam results
- the official class "run out" where the students run out of school in their student hats to waiting families who hold huge placards with baby photos and balloons and hang flowers/toys around their neck ...
- onto the backs of lorries for the parade around town
- into the town square and then the official student march around town
- meet up with families for a family reception or dinner

Makes the currant bun and cup of tea I got in the UK seem really tame

But DH has reminded me that in Denmark it was the tradition when he was at school to be on the back of lorries and then go to everyone in the class's home for a drink!

I don't think it is really a lot worse than the stuff that 19 year old British University students get up to after exams.

Ah the journalist’s mantra
“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story” 🤣