Teenagers And Raves

June 4, 2011

Teenagers And Raves
“Raves are the focus of a youth-oriented subculture that blends music, art, and social ideals” (e.g., peace, love, unity, respect, tolerance, happiness). Last year there were several raves that attracted over 200,000 teenagers, such as the Electric Daisy Carnival (Maddaus, 2011) that was held in Los Angeles, California. Even though a rave is a place for a teenager to socialize among their age group while listing to the latest techno music, a rave is an unsafe place to attend for a teenager, because of the lack of security and the amount of drugs that are highly prevalent.
Raves are a place for teenagers to socialize among their age group while listing to the latest techno music. According to a recent article in Rave Digest, it states “The meaning of raving and the essence of the rave scene have been speculated about to no end, the typical age of a raver is from 15 to 25 years old” (Maddaus, 2011). A rave is a culture of escape, an escape from the real world where teenagers can go and experience a temporary feeling of innocence and forgetting about the problems in the real world. A teenager can listen to a popular D.J spinning the latest new techno music and enjoy it with other teenagers that share similar interest. People agree that a rave is a safe place for many reasons as stated above, also agree that it is a controlled environment that keeps teenagers off the streets and enjoying themselves with other teenagers while experience the best music and D.J’s around. In a recent article in Faze Magazine, it states “The good side of the Rave scene seems to be missing in most of the press surrounding these late night parties. What they leave out is the music, which is the main reason for being there in the first place.” (Thomas, 1-3)
Even though a rave is a place for a teenager to socialize among their age group while listing to the latest techno music, a rave is an unsafe place to attend for a teenager because of lack of security. Some Raves draw crowds over 200,000 people and the amount of security is not enough. In a recent article Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Patrick Gannon mentions “Most large raves are understaffed in security and the promoter is unwillingly to hire off duty police officers to maintain the safety of the partygoers, which results in numerous arrest that could have been prevented” (Kayian, 2010). With large overcrowding it is always an issue with safety of the attendees? Raves always attract large crowds, whether if they are held in a backyard or at a held major venue.
Most news about a rave is bad. Most articles seem to point on issues with the problems at the event do to overcrowding or security issues, but also talk about how the city and the promoters are making tons of money of these type of an event and are cutting corners. A recent California measure would ban a rave at a public facility only if certain requirements are met. In a recent article in the Daily Bee Newspaper states “It would also prohibit raves on private property unless organized by someone licensed to operate a bar, entertainment venue or similar business and has the city approval of all security issues addressed” (Siders, J)
The most important reason a rave is an unsafe place to attend for a teenager is because it is a place where drugs are prevalent. According to recent statistics, “Ten percent of teens report that they have attended a rave, ecstasy and other drugs were available at more than two-thirds of these raves” (ADASK). Another example that shows that raves are unsafe place to attend for a teenager is that most raves do not check I.D, even if there is an age requirement and drugs are smuggled in without any checking or scanning by security equipment. Most teenagers know that they can bring in almost anything they want without being checked.
In a recent rave in Los Angeles, California a teenager died of a drug overdose causes by the drug Ecstasy, friends said she never tried drugs before and believes she consumed a bottle water that someone laced with the drug. Because of this action a temporary ban was put in place until safety measure such as have a nurse and a doctor at the venue to handle these types of problems. According to KABC 7 News ‘Safety measures include but are not limited to: giving wristbands to anyone 21 or older, instituting "cool-off" breaks during shows, closing raves down by 2 a.m. and requiring that doctors be on site in case of an emergency” (Raves Can Continue At L.A. Coliseum") Although a rave is a place for a teenager to socialize among their age group while listing to the latest techno music, a rave is an unsafe place to attend for a teenager for two main reasons. First, raves are unsafe to attend because the lack of security, But most importantly, a rave is unsafe because it is a place where drugs are prevalent. A rave is the focus of a youth-oriented subculture that blends music, art, and social ideals, if they were controlled more and additional safety measures put in place so that a teenager can still go to an event and enjoy it without the repercussions that exist today at a rave. Local cities along with promoters need to plan a rave with the most important issues, such as security, crowds, and safety measures first before they think of how much money they are going to make.

References Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Statistics, Trends, and Costs. 2004. 30 May 2005 http://www.ni-cor.com/statisticandtrends.html
Kayian, S. (2010, July 01). L.A. Coliseum raves halted after Electric Daisy Carnival death. SoundSpike, 23(3), 24-25.
Maddaus, G. (2011, February 02). Electric Daisy Carnival Cut To 75,000 Ravers. Retrieved from http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/02/rave_commission_edc.ph
"Raves Can Continue At Coliseum." KABC, Los Angeles, 12 01 2010. Television. 23 Jun 2011. <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=2W61135257681&site=pov-live>.
Siders, David. "California Measure Would Ban Raves At Public Facilities." Sacramento Bee 23/12/2010, Print
Thomas, J. "Raves and Dance Parties." Raze Magazine 10 June 2011: 1-3. Web. 23 Jun 2011. <http://www.fazeteen.com/issue01/raves.html>.