Posted July 28, 2017 16:20:25

Photo: Nights spent at Blue Light discos in South Australia might be numbered. (774 ABC Melbourne: Simon Leo Brown, file)

They helped fuel the teenage dreams for thousands of members of generations X and Y.

But the humble Blue Light Disco may well soon go the way of DVDs and CD players — with South Australian budget figures revealing a dramatic drop-off in attendances.

The police-run disco events began in South Australia in 1982 with the aim of building better relations between police and youths.

The events are supervised by specially trained police officers, civilian police staff and volunteers.

They aim to provide young people with entertainment and activities in an environment free from drugs, alcohol, violence and bullying.

Police budget figures show just 19,750 South Australian youths attended a Blue Light function during the 2016-17 financial year, less than half the 40,209 attendance recorded the year before.

A decade ago, Blue Light attendances were closer to 50,000.

At a parliamentary budget estimates hearing, the Opposition's police spokesman Stephan Knoll asked Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and Police Minister Peter Malinauskas to account for the decline.

"Is that a policy decision, or have kids found something else to do?" Mr Knoll asked.

"Kids are Netflixing and chilling?"

"I certainly hope it is not my kids," Commissioner Stevens replied.

"There is a change in the nature of what children are doing and what they find interesting," he told the committee.

"Blue Light is continuously reviewing the sorts of activities and opportunities they are providing for children to become engaged, and it is a matter for each Blue Light sub-branch to determine whether or not they are going to run these sort events," he told the committee.

"I would suggest that the decision as to whether they schedule further events would be based on the level of patronage they get from past events."

The answer appeared to satisfy Mr Knoll — who asked the question out of "personal interest" — adding "I think I went to one once".

Topics: police, children, community-and-society, events, arts-and-entertainment, music, dance-music, adelaide-5000, sa