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.