For parents and carers

Your child, drugs and alcohol

Parents and carers play a vital role in keeping children safe from drugs and alcohol, and shouldn’t underestimate their influence, nor how long it lasts. Your attitudes and behaviour help shape your child’s views on drink and drugs.

Tips for talking about drugs and alcohol

• Start discussion early, and keep talking so it doesn’t suddenly come up as a big thing
• Remind your child that, despite media stories, taking drugs is not the norm and most young people don’t think it is
• Avoid scare tactics – the evidence is that they don’t work
• Find time to talk about all the big issues – try to have family meals regularly.  This is a crucial chance for parents and young people to talk. And that may include a discussion about drinking and drugs.
• What is school doing about alcohol and drug education? Can you help reinforce knowledge, skills and attitudes?

It’s important that young people don’t feel accused. Some suggestions for introducing the topic in a non-confrontational way are:

• Using adverts, news or soap stories to spark the topic
• Try not to start with questions about behaviour, or what they have been up to when you’re not around
• Ask what they’ve learned about alcohol and drugs at school or college

Emphasise that most young people don’t take drugs and don’t think it’s OK to – help your child resist pressure to try drugs ‘to fit in’

Make sure your own messages and actions are consistent. If you regularly drink too much, it is harder to convince your child to take a responsible attitude to alcohol.

Does your child have easy access to alcohol at home? One in 10 15-year olds say they stole alcohol from home in the last month. Most teenagers get alcohol from their home or the homes of friends.

We found the short film (right) produced by Parent Channel TV which describes various types of parenting very helpful.

If you are worried your child may be taking drugs

• Pick your time to talk; not when they’re rushing off to school or, if they are using, when they’re high.
• Know their friends. Peer pressure is the single most powerful factor on your child to take drugs, or to avoid them.
• Encourage them to talk honestly, not just to tell you what you what they think you want to hear.
• Don’t panic. If your child has tried drugs, be calm when discussing it with them. Show love and concern rather than anger.

The facts about young people, drugs and alcohol

Most young people don’t use drugs.

Most young people aged 11-15 say they have never taken drugs. Only 3% say they’ve taken them more than 10 times.  Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug. In 2009, the number of young users had dropped from previous years to 9%. Use of Class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine is very uncommon.

Increasingly, young people are choosing not to drink alcohol or are waiting until they are older. But those who do drink are drinking a lot more than 10 years ago. For them, ‘drinking alcohol’ may equal ‘getting drunk’. Where do they get alcohol? Usually from home or friends’ homes.

For a detailed analysis on young people’s smoking, drinking and drug use, see www.drugeducationforum.com/drug-use

Online learning for Parents and Carers

Colleagues at Mentor International have put together an online programme Prevention Smart Parents with important facts and practical tips based on the latest research and practice in protecting children from alcohol and drug harms. We know that parents and carers have the most powerful influence on their children’s decisions so we’ve created interactive learning chapters to explore at your own pace.

Each chapter provides important facts about preventing alcohol and drug misuse, and suggests how to use this information in everyday family life.

Kinship Carers’ Guide

Mentor’s definitive guide for carers living in Scotland provides  a clear outline of the role and responsibilities of a full time carer of a close relative’s or friend’s child. This unique guide which has been written with kinship carers to fill a massive information vacuum, helps new and established kinship carers every step of the way.

For more details on Mentor’s Kinship Carers Project, visit

this page.  A resource pack for professionals is available here.

Useful links

FRANK section for parents and carers, and details on getting in touch with local services in England.

DrugScope has an encyclopaedia of drugs, their effects and the law.

Adfam for families affected by drug misuse.

The National Treatment Agency on different types of treatment.

Drug Education Forum for general information and advice.