School’s Out, Chaos Isn’t In

When schools close, structure disappears. For too many youths, this vacuum isn’t filled with enrichment, but mischief, delinquency, and in some cases, outright predation. We shouldn’t be surprised. Remove routine, supervision, and consequence from impulsive minds and what do you expect? Virtue?

The holiday period becomes, predictably, a spike in juvenile theft, property damage, loitering, and crowd disorder. Not because of poverty. Not because of "social exclusion." But because there are no barriers between impulse and action. Chaos is not the result of disadvantage, like so many social justice warriors love to promote, it is the result of indulgence without deterrence.

If city councils and shopping precincts won’t acknowledge this, they invite liability. They can feign shock when 14-year-olds ransack food courts or carjack tourists, or they can plan intelligently.

The solution isn’t surveillance state overreach or turning public spaces into prisons. It’s basic risk management with proven principles, deter, detect, disrupt.

For instance, start with pop-up supervision hubs. Not feel-good youth programs, but visible authority. A mobile unit staffed with trained observers and first-response staff, equipped to de-escalate or detain, sends a message: “Someone’s watching.”

Deploy mobile CCTV. Temporary, high-visibility units at identified hotspots, bus interchanges, skateparks, shopping centre entrances, offer deterrence through unpredictability. Offenders know fixed cameras. They adapt. Move the lens, and you restore uncertainty.

Plan around events. Youth don’t need open spaces, they need structured ones. Use pop-up stages, market stalls, even mobile sports arenas not to entertain, but to occupy. Where the lawful gather, the lawless disperse.

And importantly patrol smart. Not with aimless foot patrols that reassure no one. Use heat-mapping data, previous holiday crime patterns, footfall analytics, reported incidents. Then move visible patrols accordingly. Presence isn't just about being seen, it's about being seen where it matters.

These aren’t abstract policies. They’re operational interventions grounded in common sense. Structure is not oppression. Supervision is not surveillance. And proactive deterrence is not moral panic, it’s moral clarity.

What’s missing from most public policy is consequence. A society unwilling to inconvenience vandals will soon find law-abiding citizens inconvenienced, or worse, endangered. Public space must be reclaimed with purpose, not platitudes.

Those who cry “over-policing” during holiday peaks have clearly never had to close shop early due to mob looting. They don’t pay for the broken windows or threatened staff. They just pontificate. Meanwhile, those tasked with actual safety must endure the consequences of non-intervention.

It’s time councils stop reacting to outrage and start preparing for reality. The evidence is there. The strategies are tested. All that’s missing is the will.

Because when school’s out, chaos isn’t inevitable, but order is never accidental. From the author.

The opinions and statements are those of Sam Wilks and do not necessarily represent whom Sam Consults or contracts to. Sam Wilks is a skilled and experienced Security and Risk Consultant with 3 decades of expertise in the fields of Real estate, Security, and the hospitality/gaming industry. Sam has trained over 1,000 entry level security personnel, taught defensive tactics, weapons training and handcuffs to policing personnel and the public. His knowledge and practical experience have made him a valuable asset to many organisations looking to enhance their s