Presentation to parents about drug and alcohol prevention and parenting. More information and tips for parents on our website http://www.mentoruk.org.uk/for-parents-and-carers/

1. Who’d be a parent?
Drink, drugs and what
we can do about them
Photo by Flickr user Bart

2. • Things you should know about alcohol and
drugs
• Things you should know about the
influence you have as a parent
• Let’s think about practical things we can
do?

4. Chief Medical Officer’s Advice on
Alcohol
• an alcohol-free childhood
is the healthiest and best
option - if children drink
alcohol, it shouldn't be
before they reach 15
years old
• the importance of
parental influences on
children's alcohol use
should be communicated
to parents, carers and
professionals.

5. Source: Tapert & Schweinsburg, 2005
Brain Development

6. Boys who drank 8 or more
units in the last week at the
age of 16 were between 10
and 25% less likely to get a
degree.
Staff,J.et.al.(2008),TeenageAlcoholUseandEducationalAttainment,
JournalofStudiesonAlcoholandDrugs
Photo by Flickr user Caro Wallis
Mean consumption by 11 to 15
year old pupils in London who had
drunk in the last week 9.2 units.

7. Drinking once or twice a
week is associated with
scores around 20 points
lower (three grades) at
GCSE.
Green,R.andRoss,A.(2010),Youngpeople’salcoholconsumption
anditsrelationshiptootheroutcomesandbehaviour.NationalCentre
forSocialResearch
Photo by Flickr user Kewima
1 in 5 drinking at least
once a week by the
age of 15 years.

8. Drunkenness
before the age of
is highly correlated with other risky
behaviours including
• Smoking
• Cannabis use
• Low academic performance
Photo by Flickr user fanz
Kuntsche,E.,et.al.(2013),NotEarlyDrinkingbutEarlyDrunkennessIsaRisk
FactorforProblemBehaviorsAmongAdolescentsfrom38EuropeanandNorth
AmericanCountries.Alcoholism:ClinicalandExperimentalResearch
1 in 7 13 year olds say
they have been drunk at
least twice.

9. Drank in
past
week -
28%
Used drugs
in past
month - 12%
Smoked in
last week -
16%
All 15 year olds
No recent
substance
use - 64%
Smoking, drinking and drug use overlap in
15 year olds
Fuller, E. (2012) Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in
2011. Health and Social Care Information Centre

10. THINGS PARENTS
SHOULD KNOW
ABOUT THEIR
INFLUENCE
Photo by Flickr user JD Hancock

11. • Most (7 in 10) teenagers see parents as
sources of useful information about drugs
& alcohol.
• This doesn’t diminish over time. US
studies parents can effect drinking
behaviour right into adulthood.
• Your positive effect also effects your kids
friends (the halo effect).

12. But...
Photo by Flickr user StarAlex1

13. 75%
of parents say they’ve
had a conversation
about drugs with their
children
36%
of their children say
they’ve had a
conversation about
drugs with their parents
Lifecourse Tracker, Department of Health 2012

14. Don’t worry
about starting
young

15. Eat together
as a family

16. Encourage
them to
think for
themselves

17. Useopportunitiestotalk
Photo by Flickr user nWoSyxx

18. Talk about
the important
things going
on in your
children’s
lives

19. Make sure
you know
where they
are when
they’re not
with you