DOING DRUGS WITH
PAUL DILLON

You would had to have been living in a cupboard to miss the latest Australian 'sportsman behaving badly' story that, once again, involved a sportsman getting drunk and proceeding to take part in a number of 'lewd acts'. The shortened version of the video has now almost had 200K views on YouTube and I can't imagine how many times it's been watched via various media organisations' websites who have provided both edited and full versions (which apparently some of them paid for!) for their readership. Not surprisingly, the story continues to have legs two days after the video surfaced (I was interviewed on The Today Show this morning about the wider issue of the Australian alcohol culture but the lead-in was this particular case). Last night all news services covered the player's obligatory apology and his 'deep remorse' for his actions and there are the usual calls that he needs help and, not surprisingly, he has now been apparently sent oversea...

As I've said time and time again, I really don't know how parents do it ... I am just finishing putting together my presentations for 2016 and looking at the available evidence around parenting and alcohol and other drug use. It's no surprise that parents are confused when there are so many theories out there about what is best practice. Before you even start considering the alcohol and other drug issue - let's just look at what we know about effective parenting. There are websites, courses and books on 'positive parenting', 'attachment parenting', 'natural parenting' and 'slow parenting', programs like 'Taking Children Seriously' and then all types of warnings about 'overparenting' and the different type of parent you can become if you're not careful. There's been lots of discussion about 'helicopter parenting' for some time now but did you know there is now such a thing as 'lawnmower parenting' ...