Parents

For many parents’ young peoples drug/alcohol use can be very worrying.

It may not be possible to prevent all young people from using drugs/alcohol. Lots of young people try drugs/alcohol, but not all of them. The vast majority of young people do not go on to develop serious drug/alcohol problems.

What is important is how you can protect, support and talk to your child. To help you talk to your child what you can do is find out about the following:

• What do drugs look like.
  
• What are the signs and symptoms of drug/alcohol use.
  
• What are the effects, risks and consequences of drug/alcohol use.
  
• Where you can get help locally.

The following points are things that you can do to arm yourself so that you can respond positively to your child if drug/alcohol issues arise.

• Reflect on your own childhood experiences. How easy was it to talk to your parents if you got into trouble or if you did something wrong? If you did not talk to them, what `stopped you’?
  
• Focus your thinking on your own perceptions of substance use. Consider your own drug taking behaviour.
  
• Inform yourself about substance use/misuse.
  
• Talk to your children about drugs and alcohol and listen to what they have to say about the subject.
  
• Helping your children to be better educated about the risks with using drug and alcohol.
  

Find out where you can get help and support.If you do have concerns about your child and you think they are using substances – don’t panic – help is available.

If your child does not what to talk to you ask them to talk to an adult they can relate to. This might be your partner, a member of your family or a friend. On the other hand it might be a young peoples practitioner such as a youth or Connexions worker or a your family doctor.