Of course the guy's an idiot, but why the detailed critique of what he's doing? A party went wrong, the police stuffed up, and the media beat it up. Reading more into it is laughable.
Every teenager avoids responsibility, so in the end, you've started sounding like a man-hating feminist...

No no no no. The goose (let's not dignify the perpetrator/victim with a name) is smart and has taken complete responsibility for his actions. He invited people to the party through a completely unmoderated medium and those people decided to trash the world, requiring police intervention to calm the neighbours.

He's a teenager,up himself and selfish - of course he won't take responsibility for his actions. But there is a larger problem evident here. It's all about the newsworthiness of moral outrage.

This would not have ever been as big as it is if the goose hadn't stage managed it all well and the shock jocks, New Idea readers and the media fed brainless hadn't turned it into the newsiest story around. Why? Because the issue presses all the right buttons.

The superiour can snoot about the sluts and studs, parents can promise peril to the progeny who perpetrate, the religious can rant about moral reticence. The rest of us can just be amazed at what fun it might have been if you were a hormone fuelled 16 year old full of booze and chemicals.

The child porn charges were a cack-handed attempt to salvage the remaining shreds of dignity the Victorian police force might have had after media magnet Christine Nixon had to jump in for her say. It will be interesting to see if they stick - when you want to destroy someone's credibility just wave the paedophilia wand - even though he was 16 and probably took happy snaps of other 16 year olds having trouble keeping their clothes on.

Just let the goose get cooked in his own juices. This isn't the first or last time this is going to happen.

Finally a feminist with some honesty has come out with it, and used the words “all men”

“a belief that all men, Worthington included, have grown up with and - to a large extent - been socialised to agree with.”

All men are bad, and I’m a man, and I must be bad, and I must take no responsibility for my actions.

But who built Corey Worthington’s neighbourhood. Who built all the houses. Why did those houses have to be built to engineering specifications, and also pass a building inspector's approval. Who supplied all the water and electricity to the neighbourhood, and is it safe to use that water and electricity.

It could not have been men who built the neighbourhood, because men take no responsibility for their actions.

It must have been feminists who built the neighbourhood, because they take responsibility for their actions.

Maybe the author should have a think about it next time they open the front door, turn on the electric light switch, or get a drink of water from a tap.

How they are a Phd candidate in a university is beyond all comprehension (or perhaps not).

I'm rather bemused by the reactions to Corey Worthington/Delaney.

He held a party. It got out of hand. Hundreds of teenagers showed up.

So what?

To clarify, there was not $20,000 worth of damages, and nobody has said that. A few broken letterboxes and damaged police cars don't add up to that much.

Most of the cost is for all the police who showed up, and the chopper.

Out of control parties are hardly a new phenomenon. They occur most weekends, somewhere in Australia.

Clearly, Corey is a bit of a buffoon - that's not hard to tell, judging by the sunglasses. Buffoon he may be, but he's hardly the scourge on society that the pitchfork-wielding-indignant-mob types (you know the kind, they generally shake their fists at television programs like Today Tonight) would have you believe.

In the foolish teen's defence - it wasn't him breaking the letterboxes or damaging police cars. Also in his defence, he was kept in the house by the police, and not allowed to attempt to persuade the teenagers outside to leave.

Corey's crimes are thus:

1) Open invitations on myspace.
2) Lacking contrition after the event.

These are minor things. He's 16. SIXTEEN! Everybody is howling for his blood as if he's a hardened criminal.

Sure, he oughta know better, but plenty of teenagers don't. This is hardly a revelation.

As for his response to the event, I was mostly bemused. The journalist questioning him on A Current Affair went well beyond the bounds of what balanced journalists should do when she started haranguing him about making an apology or taking off his sunglasses.

And HRS... read into it what you will. It's what you've clearly been socialised to do. I guess unless everybody inserts the appropriate disclaimers being warm and glowy about men, they're evil feminists.

Fortunately, part of my definition of the male gender includes the ability to shrug off vague generalisations about the gender, but I guess I prefer to avoid automatically viewing groups of people as victims.

Maybe it's simpler. Maybe some men just can't hack it and some can.

"I would instead suggest that Worthington is voicing that old and still pervasive belief that men are never at fault. Guys just “wanna have fun”, and if things go awry - don’t blame them! This belief has underpinned justifications for men’s violence against women and members of other oppressed social groups (gays and lesbians, the elderly, the disabled). This belief has also underpinned justifications or excuses for “anti-social” acts such as vandalism and trespassing."

I have read some utter tripe on this site but this piece might take the biscuit. 95% of Australians recognise this fool Corey for the jumped-up little publicity whore that he is, the other 5% are vacuous degenerates who wish they were the ones hosting the party, or maybe that they can get into the next Big Brother. There IS no underlying belief that what he did was OK, everyone hates him!

The author's attempt to link this in to feminist theory demonstrates one thing - material for that PhD of his is a little thin on the ground...

Why should he or his parents have to pay a dime? They SHOULD NOT!

One cannot be responsible for the behavior of invited or uninvited persons in public space or neighboring enclosed lands.

The bar industry does not have to pay for any of the public damage and anti-social behavior caused by intoxicated and unruly patrons. The tobacco industry and other businesses are not having to pay for the dangerous consequences of their goods.

So why should he or his family pay. They bloody well should be left alone.

Thing is, Corey and his family, unlike bars, purveyors of liquor, gambling houses, tobacco companies and others whose commerce pollutes, damages or affects our communities, don't have mates in high places whereas all those businesses command phenomenal leverage right up to the highest offices in the land.

If a kid is behaving irresponsibly - (like the sixteen year old that he is). Adults should behave as adults - and deal with the situation in an adult manner. What's wrong with the media, the parents, the police, and the judicial system?

Why is a child being allowed to dictate to everyone?

"I am what I am,
And I do what I do.
And,If you don't like,
Then to hell, with you!"

TurnRightThenLeft

I'm with you. A SIXTEEN year old boy is a very rough "work in progress" ... The media jumped on the bandwagon and provided all the publicity. Also, I wonder at the wisdom of the parents, who must have known what he was like - hardly, a serious youth content with reading a book and playing chess with a friend - leaving him on his own. One shouldn't make judgements based on appearances, but just seeing him and his general demeanor, would have led to a fair prediction as to the likely outcome of leaving him alone with the house to himself. At least he had the sense to tell people not to bring weapons ...

Baxter Sin

I also agree with you. Kiddy porn? A SIXTEEN year old boy taking photographs of SIXTEEN year old girls joyfully throwing their clothes off with wild abandon does not seem to fall into the category, and seriousness, of child pornography.

I sympathise with the neighbours and the police, however, given the ages, numbers who turned up - indeed all things considered - this party, which was obviously a wild success from both the point of view of the "host" and those attending - could have ended up a lot worse.

We don't agree with what has occurred, but we have to see this situation exactly for what it is. As parents we remove undesirable situations from our children; when they reach the teens they don't automatically became sane, sensible and responsible adults - maturity develops at different rates. However mature my children were at sixteen, I wouldn't have left them on their own for any extended period. If I had, I would have expected to return to at least one disaster ...

The boy is a product of the McMansion syndrome, of building houses in isolated areas with no social infrastructure.

Great for the newly weds and those who want a "posh" house, for their family, but kids grow up, and they are growing up more savvy than their parents.

They have access to information technology, that has advanced so fast in the past ten years, only the kids can keep up with it.

As to the parents, why did they not take their sixteen year old son on holiday with them. When a child reaches sixteen they are entitled to make their own choices, though are they really capable of that and where was the extended family!

The kid's just a lair. Leave him alone.

He's just getting square with his parents for naming him Corey ... just like every other Corey I know.

As for the Vic police ... don't they know how to handle a bunch of kids? They showed their lack of discretion with their attack on spectators at the tennis.

Victorians shouldn't have kid's, hold parties or tennis tournaments until they've got their police properly trained in ways appropriate to deal with Aussie larrikins. That should include lessons in how not to be overbearing, aggressive, needing sky spies or media mob support.

I'm surprised that none of the commentators here - especially the author of the original article, who presumably understands the need for thoroughly researching your topic when publicly pontificating - have taken the trouble to mention that Corey did say "sorry" to his parents in what seems to have been his last radio interview before being taken away for interrogation.

For a teenager with Corey's ego (& presumably, anger and resentment of authority issues) this apology would have taken quite an effort, and his effort should be acknowledged.

Dan Fitzpatrick

You are correct. After the first burst of "front page" media frenzy , I didn't follow the saga.

It shoud be recognized that Corey did apologise, and apologise publicly to his parents. This would have taken enormous effort.

Even adults, especially politicians, try to avoid public apologies for patent stuff-ups.
If they do apologise, it is generally hedged and "qualified' ...

Inner-Sydney based transsexual ...

"The bar industry does not have to pay for any of the public damage and anti-social behavior caused by intoxicated and unruly patrons."

I think the bar industry, as do entertainment venues, have to carry massive insurance policies. Undoubtedly, in the bar industry, the costs are passed onto the customer. The consequences of this required insurance for small theatre companies, has caused many to go to the wall.

What happened to RESPECT for himself, and his parent's property PRIOR to deciding to invite the "world" to his party.

This guy is obviously arrogant, has shown no remorse for his actions, to his parents or neighbours in the street whose property was damaged, only interested in getting another media/television/radio deal in light of his new-found "status".

The full force of Victorian Law should be shown to this hoon, he should be made to pay for the Victorian Police time in attending to this hoons party, whereby the police could have been attending other matters in order to prevent crime.

Do we excuse a sixteen year old for going off his head because he was drunk and decided he was going to be the "man" for a night - no we shouldn't.

All children/youth know right from wrong....Cory is no different. I do not believe Cory got to the age of sixteen and doesn't know right from wrong - Unless he lived under a rock his entire life.

His behaviour was totally unacceptable to most human beings and parents on this planet.

Newspaper reports stated it took him several days to apologize to his parents. He should have shown balls and called his parents the next day and not wait for media etc to get in contact with the parents.

Maybe there is another underlying story here - being the parents.

We are all a product of our upbringing, our parents teach us responsibility, respect for humanity and our fellow human beings, it teaches bonding, life values and consequences of actions.

I guess I am old-fashioned as some of the above values seem to be missing in Cory's life or he wouldn't have invited the world to his party and not have been aware of the consequences.

I have had the opportunity to speak to many youths since this issue was raised - without exception - they have stated, the guy's a loser and should be taught a lesson he won't forget in a hurry - their words not mine.

SAINTS

I would question the parent's RESPECT of their sixteen year old, by leaving him alone whilst they went on holiday.

Did the boy foresee the outcome of his actions? Hindsight is a great teacher.

As adults, we all know that the outcome could have been horribly worse.

Some youngsters may at sixteen, be as mature as adults. But, I would suggest they are the exception rather than the norm.

The media - pandering to a brainless readership - gave Corey "hero" status and publicity, indeed encouraged him. What of media RESPECT for the reading public (and indeed for this boy), by responsible reporting, instead of exploitation, and opportunistic riding on the coat-tails of this sixteen year old's ego and misadventures.

Yes, there was a lack of RESPECT. But I think that Corey's undoubtedly irresponsible and probably impetuous act, was, in the scheme of things, less serious than others ...

There are worse than Corey in the world. Soem of them were probably at the party! (and $20000 doesnt go far these days)

But the old adage... what if Everyoone was like him?

The word "teenager" was coined by Madison Avenue advertising executives when they figured out that teen aged children in the USA possessed collective "pocket money" that was far in excess of the national budgets of most of the countries in the world.

Advertisers use psychologists to understand the needs and wants of every targetted consumer group, and their psychologists went to work figuring out which sales pitch would appeal to teenagers. They knew that teenagers were at that point in their lives when they were both adult and child, and that they were desperately trying to forge a positive adult identity. The smarter teenagers could manage that themselves, but there were a lot of dumb kids from dysfunctional families who were unsure how to go about it.

So, pitching sales to anti family, anti parent, and anti authority themes was the way to go. The fact that Corey is now being actively recruited by media representatives as a symbol to other teenegars of these values, validates this premise.

Parents, teachers, religious leaders, and community leaders do their best to teach children to obey the Law, and be responsible and respectful to others. Then along comes the media which teaches ever younger children the joys of doing the exact opposite. By doing this, they are usurping the rights of the community to set the boundaries of acceptable behaviour to our youngest generation, and kids like Corey, who are unable to grasp what is right or wrong behaviour, are the result.

Redneck said: "Then along comes the media which teaches ever younger children the joys of doing the exact opposite."

Ahh yes, it is all the mee-ja's fault. Poor little Corey didn't do anything wrong, he has been taken advantage of by the malevolent forces in the mee-ja. Maybe we should just do away with this free press concept and let a group of people with the 'correct' values decide what is shown on tele and written about in the press.

Media outlets cover what they hope will sell papers and bring in viewers/listeners - nothing more, nothing less. Everyone knows it and it isn't hard to filter what you see and hear with that basic premise in mind. And anyway, the media weren't extolling the virtues of what Corey got up to - they have (rightly) portrayed him as an irresponsible, arrogant little worm and held him up for public ridicule. The fact that some of the little darlings in the audience now see him as some sort of role model speaks volumes about them and their lack of upbringing, and nothing about the media whatsoever.

Cory is an example par excellence of what is wrong with the West - no one is allowed to say No. Not the Police, not the neighbours, not the teachers and, least of all, not the parants.

Cory is the result of the consumer binge which has been going on for some three decades - the cargo cult mentality - all you need is the goods and the good times will flow. Well, guess what - it don't come that easy - there is no such thing a free lunch.

Self-discipline does not come easy - it costs. It costs time and effort. The easy answers provided by intellectuals who claim that social mores, ethics, traditions just sort of rub off through a process of osmosis are kidding themselves and confining generations to a life in hell.

We have thrown out the rule book. When have students learnt from memory? Oh, sorry - this is somehow deemed an invasion of privacy. When was the last time the local school stood before the flag and sang our National Athem? Yep - that old histrory. When do we honour those quite achievers rather than the over paid Bollywood starlets that strut the sports pages? When will politicians practice honesty? I'm not holding my breath on that one. Where do we honour virtue, honesty, mercy, integrity? Never.

Who can blame Cory and his mates - they never had a chance.

The Media must have been having a very dull day. All who are responsible for creating trouble for others should be forced to pay for damages and be made to be responsible for cleaning up any mess that they have been responsible for making..
For the Media to make a hero out of a fool is not new, any stupidity will sell but a better lesson will be learned by the young and the old is that if they create a mess, they clean it up preferably in public.
And that goes for graffiti scrawlers too.

Actually quite a few schools sing our national anthem on special occasions such as during awards ceremonies. However, it is typically sung with hesitation, self consciousness and obvious signs of unease. I would estimate that about 80% know 80% of the words for the first verse.

On one hand society wants to legally allow a 16 years old to engage in consensual sex and then on the other hand wishes to deem a 16 year old intrinsically lacking in responsibility. Interesting logic. This irresponsibility is then to be used as a justification in arguing that the adolescent is not at fault when they make poor decisions.

My father in law joined the army at 16 and fought the Japanese in New Guinea when he was 17. I had a full drivers license at 15 -- able to drive V8s, passengers etc.

Just finished reading a novel which was set in Afghanistan a few decades ago. Where children were regarded as adults at age 8. In my opinion the view that a 16 year old is so irresponsible they can not be held accountable is socially destructive, just as is regarding an 8 year old as an adult.

Subsequent comments by Corey's parents demonstrate that they support the laissez faire child rearing philosophy. I can attest that it is a very popular method for Western Sydney Families and have seen hundreds of Coreys over the years. Corey clone's greatest ambition is to be a celebrity, often at a near subconscious level, while knowing at a conscious level, that it will never happen so they give up making an effort. Corey will be perceived as a success by a significant number of his peers, make no mistake.

While Corey and his parents have a democratically imposed time out (Corey goes to his room and the parents to theirs) their lives can self align with the earths magnetic flux lines and all will be well in our growing nanny state. God forbid he be grounded for six months and be made to perform a myriad of household duties while remaining Internet free.

Hopefully, society can take a moment to wonder how much longer we are prepared to elongate childhood. What will the age be when the modern Aussie can be held responsible -- will it be 18, 20, 22 hell just to be caring and sharing modern enlightened beings lets make it 30. Why don't we create a new category a Juniors Card. Which will entitle the bearer the financial equivalent of the pension + all the Foxtel, DVDs and Celebrity magazines one wishes until the age of 30. They will then be legally required to grow up and contribute to society on their 30th birthday.

But wait, what about those poor souls who have not been able to grow up due to their environment and in the rigid time frame imposed by an authoritarian white culture. Surely they will have to be catered for. Perhaps a publicly funded family meeting could be held with a community counselor -- oops the parents have now died of old age!

Am I totally alone in being bemused that this is event has somehow been tenuously linked to being a feminist issue?

It's the longest bow I've ever seen.

Talk about trying to turn ANYTHING into an anti-men campaign!

'men have a long history of avoiding responsibility for their actions'.

Surely both men and women have a long history of 'avoiding responsibility for their actions'?

I still cant believe this article. Surely the point of this whole episode is really about the cult of celebrity and tabloid sensationlist journalism?

Am I going mad? I just cant for the life of me understand how anyone, (without trying to manufacture it), can relate this to 'that old and still pervasive belief that men are never at fault'. Just where on earth does that come from anyway?

Or is HRS posting these articles under an alias to add credence to his theories on feminism?

I propose a new challenge to the author to create a link from the recent SCG cricket test saga to some kind of feminist doctrine. It would be no more ludicrous than this article.

Whitty - no of course you aren't alone, read my first post, the 5th one on this topic... it is rather a long bow isn't it?

Hi Mr Stickman.

There is no such thing as total freedom of expression. Libel, child pornography, “snuff” movies, instructions on how to commit criminal acts, the glorification of suicide, and racial vilification, are all banned from the airwaves by acts of Parliament. Even movie classifications, that give parents some degree of information on whether a particular movie is suitable for children, is a form of censorship. Since censorship already exists, then using “freedom of Expression (or speech) as an argument, is obviously invalid. It is simply a matter of at what point our censors should draw the line to protect our community.

For you to argue that the media has no impact on behaviour, would have advertising executives laughing their heads off. They make billions of dollars telling manufactures and salespeople the exact opposite.

Today’s media can no longer be considered as just a means of entertainment, or as just a medium for transmitting messages. It has become so powerful, that it is now displacing the traditional means of creating and disseminating cultural values to our young. Television was once hailed as “the greatest teaching tool ever invented”. It is, but we as a society had better be careful about what values it is teaching to our children.

If you were to come home from work, and found a man in your house with a stripper, who was teaching your children to be violent, to be irresponsible, and also the joys of illegal drug abuse, you would grab the SOB by the scruff of the neck and throw him and his stripper right out of your house. But TV, radio and movie studios can beam exactly the same material, right into your house, and there is nothing you can do about it. Well heeled artists, writers, promoters, pop stars, and marketing managers, are no longer pushing the boundaries of accepted taste, they are busily digging away at our family values, which is the foundation upon which our civilisation is built.

yeah, but Redneck,'the media' is everybody's favourite whipping boy.

Sure, it's every Arts undergraduate's choice of villain, but c'mon, blaming the media is so broad it's nothing more than empty rhetoric.

Plus, I think it's just evading responsibility for our actions.
You said it yourself - it's about the advertisers, and yes, they're pandering to whatever will sell their product.

The solution isn't to clamp down on them, though I take your point about things like child porn and so on - but that's an extreme example, and the implications of censorship are far worse.

So sure, it's easy to say the media are at fault, but it's much harder to accept responsibility for the collective lowest common denominator. That's where the problem is.

As for Corey, he's no more than a dopey teenager who may or may not wise up someday. He's not worth all this fuss and he's hardly a criminal mastermind. Honestly, I'm more embarrassed for the lynch mob that's out to crucify him, than I am for his stupidity.

He has an excuse. He's a dumb sixteen year old. What has the indignant posse got to say for itself?

Redneck - TRTL has kindly covered most of the important points.

The fact is that my child is going to be exposed to plenty of influences in his life, that I would prefer not be the case. It is my job as a parent to bring him up well enough to be able to make up his own mind when he is placed in such a situation.

As TRTL rightly pointed out, you raised the extreme case, which of course no one thinks should be shown on television. What that has to do with coverage of a newsworthy story about an urban disturbance (defined as one that people will tune in to), I will never know.

I have witnessed some dreadful scenes on the internet in the last decade, without doubt the worst of which were beheadings from Iraq. I wanted to see just how inhuman some of these monsters who kill in the name of "god" can be. Who are you to say I should not have that right?
The memory will stay with me forever and I will do whatever I can to ensure that religious extremism never has the power in this country that it does there.

Blaming "the media" is a weak copout. Teaching your children to be discerning consumers of it is the ONLY answer because if someone wants to find something on the net, they will.

"A brief aside: I reject the suggestion that living in a particular suburb or geographical location “corrupts” an individual and/or deprives them of morals." – it does not corrupt, it ESTAVLISHES particular stereotypes, of which fulfilling a "have fun" motto with drinking and gratifying the sexual urges very much constituting even native-speaking underage females' behaviour, is the most.

What is wrong with Corey? Nothing. None saw him personally damaging neighbours property.

No blame for his “spermatostress” if mature media professionals are ready, willing and capable to energetically spread grass-urinating info of young adult night out as hot news worldwide.

In a place of inherited opportunities Corey Worthington did well due a white unprivileged young male possibilities.