DOING DRUGS WITH
PAUL DILLON

The Australian Government has made it clear it wants us to stay home. If we want to 'flatten the curve' and prevent more people dying we must all play our part by 'social distancing'. According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning, if 80% of people stay at home for the next three months - for most of the time - Australia "has a chance to get the upper hand" on COVID-19. It goes on to say that currently we've managed to cut our social contact by about 50%. So, put really simply, if we want to get back to some kind of normalcy we need to do more ... I'm sure many had a similar response to me when I read 'three months'! I had to read the article a couple of times to make sure I got it right and wasn't spreading so-called 'fake news'. Three months is a long time to isolate yourself from others and stay inside your home if you're single or a couple, it's going to be an eternity if you have children, partic...

It's 4.30am on a Saturday morning and I'm looking at four emails in my Inbox all from parents who are desperately looking for some kind of assistance in dealing with their teens who have 'gone off the rails'. It's the same story every week. It may be a different drug that they're struggling to deal with now but when I eventually make contact with them the problems all started with alcohol. Too often I hear a statement from a parent like "My 14-year-old daughter may be drinking alcohol but at least she's not using ice!" While some may believe that it's 'only' alcohol, the reality is that this is a drug that many adults experience problems with and when you look at the potential impact it has on young people there are so many reasons why parents should try to 'delay, delay, delay'. Some of these include: alcohol-related car crashes are a major cause of death among young people. Alcohol use also is linked with teen deaths by d...

Things have certainly changed since I was at high school in terms of the importance of an 18th birthday. As I often say to Year 12s, the 18th was not a particularly important celebration in my day as our entry into adulthood was the 21st. Having a great big party in your final year of high school, right in the middle of your ATAR is not the greatest of ideas but I'm not here to challenge that - as I said, things have changed and now parents have to work out how best to deal with this event should their teen want to celebrate it. As I wrote a couple of years ago, it certainly makes sense in many ways - they are now officially 'adults', they can vote, drink alcohol legally and no longer be regarded as 'underage' … Unfortunately, any parent who decides to agree to an 18th birthday has to navigate through the incredibly complex 'alcohol issue' and work out how best to deal with a group of young people, some of whom are now legally able to drink alcohol (includ...

The school year has only just begun across most of the country and I am already being contacted by parents who are having issues with alcohol and parties. Almost all of those who have got in touch with me are doing their best to maintain the rules and boundaries they have set up to keep their teen as safe as possible but now find themselves really struggling, mainly due to other parents who are either providing alcohol at parties or simply choosing to 'turn a blind eye' to the issue. One particular phrase that I've now heard a couple of times is that these parents claim that when they provide alcohol to their teen in this way they are 'teaching their child to drink responsibly'. One mum recently contacted me to tell me about a conversation she had with her daughter's best friend's mother over the Christmas break. This was someone she had known since their children were in kindergarten together, a woman she believed had very similar values to her. Their d...

If you're a parent of a child just about to begin Year 9 it's incredibly important to prepare yourself for the upcoming 12 months when it comes to sleepovers, parties and gatherings. Getting things right now can prevent lots of problems in the year (and years) ahead. The party culture begins to build in Year 9, sometimes very quickly. Although most young people at this age will choose not to drink, alcohol starts to become a part of their socializing experience, usually at pre-parties, with a small but influential group regularly drinking, some to excess. In addition, for those of you with daughters, the more mature Year 9 girls begin to get asked out by young men a couple of years older than them and, as a result, these very young women subsequently find themselves invited to Year 10, 11 and even Year 12 events where alcohol is far more likely to be available. When I visit schools I so often hear something along the lines of "We've got some real issues with our Ye...

Each year I am contacted by a number of parents about this issue. In almost all cases they have recently found out that another parent (usually one hosting a party or gathering) has provided alcohol to their child and now that they have this information they have absolutely no idea how to respond. Some of them certainly confront the other parent, however, most of them are too worried that if they do respond in any way at all it could result in a backlash against their son or daughter in some way (e.g., they'll be socially excluded in some way by their peers). As a result, they end up feeling totally frustrated and powerless, furious that another parent would do this sort of thing but too worried to do anything about it. I have written about this issue before but have decided to raise it again because I have just got off the phone from a Mum and a Dad who are really struggling with what to do next. They have asked me not to use their case in this piece but what I am able to say ...

Even if they don't necessarily agree with the research, most Australian parents are now aware that when it comes to alcohol and young people the message is 'delay, delay, delay'. Put simply, when it comes to brain development the later your child has their first drink, the better. As I've written many times before, drinking alcohol during adolescence doesn't cause 'brain damage' per se, it reduces their potential. If you want your child to be the best they can be, you should try your best to ensure their first drink happens as late as possible. But when we say 'first drink', what do we actually mean by that? Are we talking about a full glass or a sip? Is it the first drink that causes the potential problems or regular drinking over a period of time? The issue is complicated and I've tried to assist parents to make their own decisions in this area by highlighting up-to-date research findings around the parental provision of alcohol. One issue I ...