originally posted on 17-11-2014 9:51 PM

well done tonight guys. Thanks for jumping online !!!

 Here is the summary for tonight... remember party hard but be safe !

What do you guys consider ‘’partying’? What does your typical night out look like?

• chilled night
• A few drinks
• Dancing
• Greasy food, chips and mcflurrys
• Lots of laughs
• Dress up/ theme
• Music
• Changes over the year depending on friendship groups and uni or work

What are the best parts of partying or going out? If you don’t go out what are you looking forward to?

• Unwinding and temporarily forgetting responsibilities
• Beautiful discussions in the bathroom
• Making new friends
• Food
• Dancing
• Music
• Taking photos
• Wearing nice clothes and dressing up
• Learning about your friends whether drunk or not
• Having ridiculous stories to tell

What are the alternatives to going out or partying, especially if you’re a non-drinker?

• Really fun sleepovers
• Movies
• Picnics
• Dinner parties
• Music nights
• Coffee
• Gaming nights
• Gigs
• Singstar
• Prank calls and truth or dare

Have you ever felt pressured into drinking? If so how did you get out of the situation?

• Lots of people felt pressured
• Had regret over it
• Wasn’t worth it
• Good tip: take breaks from drinking and go dancing

What kind of things can make a great night out turn sour? How can you avoid these situations?

• Throwing up
• Other people throwing up
• Rain
• When someone needs medical help
• Someone loses something
• An ex turning up
• Troublemakers
• Not enough cabs

What kind of safe guards or rules do you and your mates put in place to make sure any night out goes smoothly? How can you avoid nights going sour?

• Call parents
• Making sure my friends are okay, giving them lots of water, making sure they aren't accepting drinks from anyone and not putting their drinks down.
• Not letting people who have been drinking fall asleep on their back. I've put a LOT of sleeping drunk people in the recovery position
• Surround yourself with safe and positive people
• For house parties: some of my mates had parents monitor how many drinks we've had and if we had too many would make us drink some water and wait it out before our next drink (sounds a bit lame but definitely worked no drunk dramas)
• Making sure everyone has enough food

Have you ever had to help friends out at a party or on a night out? How did you help them?

• Lots of toast with vegemite and cheese
• Lots of water
• Showers
• Straight to bed on their side
• Taken people home
• Comforted them
• Lots of talking
• Holding hair back
• Called ambulances

If you could tell your ‘hung over or tired self’ one trick or tip to avoid being hung over what is it?

• Drink lots of water
• You don’t need one more drink
• Take your heels off before you go inside
• Eat carbs
• Mcdonalds/ drive thru

Are any of you planning on throwing a party for end of year? If so what do you need to consider in the planning process to make sure everyone is safe?

• Make sure there is food
• Lots of non-alcoholic drinks
• Monitoring how much people drink
• Give them the option to stay over
• Nothing breakable around
• EPIC games
• Something for people to do

What have you learnt tonight about partying?

• Everyone has had similar experiences
• Gigs are awesome
• Plenty of ways to enjoy yourself without drinking
• Have a safety plan
• Drink poweraid
• Party can be fun but turn sour quickly
• Safety first no matter what

Heaps of info, stories and facts about alcohol and party drugs you can browse here:

http://au.reachout.com/tough-times/alcohol-and-other-drugs/alcohol

http://au.reachout.com/tough-times/alcohol-and-other-drugs/party-drugs

Or focus in on drinking responsibly: http://au.reachout.com/tips-for-drinking-responsibly

And partying safe: http://au.reachout.com/safe-partying

If you want to challenge your relationship with alcohol, one Sunday at a time

Check out https://www.hellosundaymorning.org/