Discos and Movie Nights

For many people the phrase ‘Blue Light’ is still synonymous with the Blue Light Discos that were extremely popular during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Discos will forever be a part of Blue Light’s repertoire of activities on offer to young people. Though Blue Light has evolved to offer an in depth range of early intervention and primary prevention programs, we will never forget how it all started.

Blue Light Discos are Police supervised events that are free from drugs, alcohol and violence. They are a safe place for young people to socialise with their peers, and help to alleviate boredom in young people which can lead to anti-social behaviour and even crime. In many rural and remote areas they were (and sometimes still are) the only form of suitable entertainment for youth under the age of 18 years. Blue Light uses portable equipment to take Discos to any location, with or without any facilities or power! The advent of social media saw a decline in their popularity with older teens, however they remain popular with younger teens and primary aged youth to this day.

These pictures (right) were taken at a Blue Light Disco held on Warraber Island, located in the Torres Strait. Being 2,195kms north of Brisbane, and just 100km south of Papua New Guinea it is one of the most remote areas we service. Police travel there by boat, transporting all of their disco gear to shore by tender. With a total population of around 250 persons, you can see from the pics that almost every kid from Warraber was at the disco. These events are a fantastic way for Police to interact with young people and be seen as positive role models.

Movie Nights were introduced to add some variety to the entertainment style activities on offer. They use the same basic principles as the Discos: Police supervised, drug and alcohol free events affordable for the whole community. Instead of dancing to the latest music, young people gather to watch the latest movies with their friends. As portable screens and projection equipment becomes more affordable, more and more Blue Light Branches are adding Movie Nights to their calendar of events.