Young people and drugs: the current context

The world today

Young people today inhabit a world in which their exposure to drugs and alcohol is widespread, access to substances is easier than ever due to the internet and social media, and messaging about levels of use through the media are misleading at best and normalizing (of something that isn’t normal) at worst. It is unlikely for someone to get through their schooling without being offered illegal drugs at least once – and at university, it is almost a certainty – and in many social environments drug taking has lost the stigma it once had to the point that is can almost feel normal, and even more dangerously, expected. It is a very different world to that in which their parents or caregivers grew up. 

The role of parents and caregivers

The majority of young people of any age don’t use drugs or drink to excess, but it is important they understand effects and risks and develop the life skills they need to make informed, confident and independent decisions that hopefully keep them and their friends safe. Parents and caregivers remain the most important influence in the lives of their children –government data consistently put them top of the places 11-15 year olds say they would go for helpful information about drugs and alcohol, well above friends, online and social media – so they need information and understanding too. They also need to know some practical strategies to put in place, and how to approach conversations that can feel difficult but achieve the most if they are ongoing and open.

What can parents and carers do?

This doesn’t of course mean that your child will try something, or get more seriously involved in substance misuse or come to any harm – the majority of young people of any age don’t use drugs or drink to excess.  However young people need to have all the information and understanding they can get about the risks and effects, and the life skills they need to make confident, independent and informed choices, so that they can keep themselves safe from harm.  And their parents need that information and understanding too, some practical strategies to put in place, and most importantly, they need to have conversations that are ongoing and open.

We hope to offer some advice and support about all of these below.

So, what can you do?

 For more information on different substances and associated topics such as those outlined above, click here. 

• To gain insight into how your teenagers’ brains work, click here 
• To better understand risk and harm reduction strategies, click here 
• To pick up some tips on having conversations about drugs, click here 
• To find out some practical strategies you can pass on, click here  
• If you have concerns that your child may be using drugs, please click here