Drugs & Alcohol

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Is it July already? I suspect you’re making plans for the summer holidays (we’re almost booked up for our summer club in the glorious South Downs National Park, but there is a waiting list if your young person is interested). If you’re in Hastings and aged between 16 and 24, we’re running a 2-day Catalyst workshop exploring identity with the brilliant photographic artist, Lindsey Smith. You can see some examples of the amazing work so far from participants on The Catalyst project in our Catalyst Gallery. (The above image is from our recent graffiti workshop in Bexhill with Priority 1-54.)

Is vaping on the increase?

Whilst smoking seems to be less popular among today’s young people, anecdotal evidence says that vaping is on the increase. Some estimates say up to 15% of young people are vaping. 

If your teen wants help to quit vaping, we have some useful resources on our Help pages aimed at young people.

We’re behind calls for a ban on disposable vapes – never mind that their designs seem to appeal to children, but they’re almost impossible to recycle and are more likely to end up in the general waste (where they’re a hazard). In the UK, 1.3 million vapes are thrown away every week. 

School absence figures are stubbornly high

Increasing absences from school have hit the headlines with parents reporting feeling isolated. It’s estimated that 1 in 10 GCSE pupils in England are absent from school each day. It’s perhaps understandable that post-pandemic, children are still anxious about school and that parents working from home feel less pressure to encourage a sickly child to go in to school.

We’ve pulled together the best of the advice out there for our Help page on the topic. 

I read this heartfelt letter from a parent and the brilliant response from psychotherapist Philippa Perry in The Guardian. She says, “what seems to be happening in the UK educational system is that the individual pupil is seen as the whole problem rather than acknowledging that the school environment and unhelpful government policies around targets are a part of this, too”.

Raising Teens

Lastly, we’re about to embark on a brand-new series of our BBC radio show, Raising Teens – which will be our fifth series! We’ll be looking at issues around how young people access mental health and wellbeing services, what help is available for children with complex needs, eating disorders, and the journey to getting a diagnosis for ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

We’re looking for young people, parents, and professionals to talk to, so if you’re interested, please get in touch.  

You can listen to past episodes via this link. They cover everything from the teenage brain and anxiety to county lines, stress and resilience. They’re full of practical tips from some brilliant professionals, parents and teens.

Keep in touch!

That’s all for this issue. If you have any suggestions or news you think we should include in next month’s round up, please comment below or get in touch. 

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We have a brand new four-part series of Raising Teens for you this February. You can catch it on BBC Radio Sussex, BBC Radio Surrey at 9pm every Monday in February. And on catch up on BBC Sounds. This series looks at some difficult but important subjects including teen safety, drugs, and the pressures young people feel that might induce them to run away from home. We look at the issues involved and our expert guests offer practical advice and tips for parents and teens looking for support.

In episode one, we discuss teen safety. We hear from young people with candid stories about their experiences of harassment, street crime, and how friends help each other to keep safe.

Our guests are Sergeant Joe Davis from Sussex Police; Sean Older, Senior Youth Worker for Trust for Developing Communities, and part of the Brighton Streets Project; and parent Suzanne Harrington. You can read a blog post about one aspect of this episode, of how young non-binary people are affected by street harassment.

Episode two looks at county lines. The Children’s Society describes county lines as “a form of criminal exploitation in which criminals groom and manipulate children into drug dealing. The ‘lines’ refer to the mobile phones that are used to control a young person who is delivering drugs often to homes outside their own county”. This topic was a real eye-opener for us. We hear from a young man who was drawn into drug dealing and has since taken the decision to help other young people to understand the issues and avoid the same fate that he experienced.

Our expert guests will look at the effects of county lines on families and communities, and discuss how parents can spot the warning signs of their child being groomed by a gang, and the support that is available. Guests are Lee Tully, Youth Worker; PC Keith Beckley from Sussex Police; and James Houghton, Director of Future Voices, a Training, Development and Consultancy organisation for those working with children who suffer exploitation/extra familial harm. 

Episode three is all about cannabis. We hear from young people who told us that they think cannabis has become “normalised” and a rising problem in Sussex. We discuss how cannabis affects the teenage brain, how young people can get help if they feel that cannabis is negatively affecting their life, whether cannabis should be legalised, and what support is available.

Guests are Carl Scott, qualified drug & alcohol support worker and founder of Project Youth; Luci Hammond, Adolescent Health Worker from RU-OK? a young people’s substance misuse & sexual health service for Brighton & Hove; and Sergeant Scott Gosling from Sussex Police.

Our final episode looks at the pressures young people might be under and what happens when that tips over into them running away from home. We speak to young people about their experiences – and they tell us candidly why they might think about not going home, and to the parent of a teenager who repeatedly ran away. She tells us how it affected her and her family and what steps she took to support her child.

Our guests are Paul Joseph, Head of Helplines at Missing People; Eli Adie, West Sussex Youth Hub Development Manager from YMCA Downslink Group; and Sergeant Scott Gosling from Sussex Police.

Raising Teens is hosted by presenter Guy Lloyd and includes teens’ own stories from Make (Good) Trouble’s young reporter Lola Ray, with additional reporting from Xenith Pocknell and Hamzah Ali. We hope you’ll join us at 9pm every Monday in February 2022 on BBC Radio Sussex, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC Sounds. 

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Welcome to the last in our series on families & alcohol. We were joined by NACOA ambassador, Josh Connolly, for a frank and supportive discussion about how we can open up discussions about alcohol and how to avoid conflict. Importantly, Josh gave us a real insight into how children are affected by a parent who drinks. He shared his story, of having a father who was an alcoholic, and then his own struggle with drink and becoming a father himself. And I think the most astonishing thing Josh told us in his interview was that “one in five children are living with a parent that drinks hazardously, so enough to harm the people around them”.

“If you’ve got a four-year-old and their parent can’t show up to them because they’re drinking every night, then that four-year-old has two options: Admit to themselves that their parents are never going to be able to turn up for them, or try and change themselves and hope that it’s their fault. And they’re going to do the second thing. And the reason is because at least it gives them some control. Maybe if I can do good enough at school, maybe if I can be funny, maybe if I can be naughty, then – whatever it may be – maybe if I can do this, then my parent’s going to stop drinking.

“So, in that case, then I think you have to find a way to start talking to them about it. I don’t think you have a choice. Otherwise you’re leaving them on their own with it.”

You can watch the full interview (30 mins) here:

⭐️ You can see all the discussions from our series and find where to get help and support here: Raising Teens Live: Families and Alcohol

Help & advice

If you need support or information, take a look at our Help page on Alcohol and Drugs.

NACOA, National Association for Children of Alcoholics, offers advice and information, including a helpline 0800 358 3456, message boards and online chat.

BeSober is a non-profit community organisation helping individuals to manage and control their alcohol intake and to transform their mindset, health and wellbeing around alcohol.

Find out more about Josh Connolly on his website: joshconnolly.co.uk
Follow Josh on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

To help with managing conflict at home:
for parents whether together, separated or considering separation, who want to find ways to improve their relationship and get on better: Parent relationships (brighton-hove.gov.uk) 
Ideas on how to reduce tension and arguments at nine: Getting On Better cards (brighton-hove.gov.uk)

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“If you are experiencing this, I would say reach out to somebody” Suzanne Harrington

“They feel really upset talking about the parent that’s drinking because they love their parents and they feel it’s a sense of betrayal, talking to me about something that their mum or dad is doing. So it’s really about, in the beginning, just building up that relationship with the young person so they start to know that there’s no judgement.” Sue Kleinman, Back on Track

In the third in our series of live discussions about parenting and alcohol, Daisy talked to Sue Kleinman, Family Worker from Back on Track, and mother and daughter Suzanne Harrington and Lola about their experiences. Suzanne is a recovering alcoholic and, like many others, lapsed during the pandemic. She described her drinking years as like being on “an endless hamster wheel” and that those feeling the same should reach out for help.

Lola talked about her open discussions with her mum about her past drinking, “It’s not some secret thing, which I think is so important”.

Read the transcript: When does a parent’s drinking affect children?

⭐️ You can see all the discussions from our series and find where to get help and support here: Raising Teens Live: Families and Alcohol

Help and support

Back on Track, brighton-hove.gov.uk/back-track-brighton-hove, support for families in Brighton & Hove when a parent is drinking too much.

Oasis Project is on Twitter @Oasis_Project_, on Facebook facebook.com/OasisPrjctand Instagram @oasis_project_. Their website is at: oasisproject.org.uk
Also Young Oasis provides a place of safety and support for children and young people who have been affected by a family member’s drug or alcohol misuse.
Oasis Project also links with One Stop, Brighton’s specialist midwifery team for pregnant women/people where alcohol or other substances are a concern. They offer care and support by a multi-disciplinary team.

RU-OK? offers free confidential advice, guidance, support and information on drugs, alcohol and sexual health for under 18s in Brighton & Hove, their parents / carers or concerned others.

NACOA, National Association for Children of Alcoholics, offers advice and information, including a helpline 0800 358 3456, message boards and online chat.

Al-Anon and Al-Ateen offer help for adults and teens affected by someone else’s drinking.

Young Carers offer one to one support in Brighton & Hove including group and respite activities and advocacy and support with services. The referral form can be found here: carershub.co.uk as well as further information about the project. If anyone would like to discuss a young carer or a young person themselves would like to talk to somebody, their number is 01273 746222 and there is someone in the office almost every day from 9-5. They have no waiting list for support.

The Children’s Society suport for Young Carers – they “help them find balance, give them space to enjoy being young and support them into adulthood so they can pursue their dreams outside of caring.”