‘Life is not sunshine and rainbows and thank you for teaching me that life is unfair — people disappoint you and there’s sometimes nothing you can do about that. A lesson well learnt from the both of you. Thank you for not being there to wave goodbye as I jetted off to Uganda on a trip of a lifetime, thanks for not being there when I got my first set of exam results to say well done, thanks for not being there when I got the position of head girl (a personal dream), thanks for not being there for me as I stood in front hundreds of people to speak at the Caird Hall for my school prizegiving, thank you for not being there for me when I needed you…
You’ve given me the greatest lesson of how to be independent. You have both allowed me to be a more patient and tolerant person than I could have imagined.
Parents, both of you, thank you for teaching me that taking drugs ruin lives, breaks families apart and gives no one a quality of life worth living. I'll be eternally grateful for this lesson you have taught me which has a message which has stuck by me until this day and always will, I have never and will never have a desire to take harmful substances through your example…
Andrew Fisher 23/3/17 Cowra Guardian NSW Police Commissioner Scipione
“I remember when I was a kid it was cool to smoke, no one wore seat belts and everyone thought it was okay to have a drink and drive, but we had to educate people about the dangers of those things.”
“Supply and demand is supreme in this business.
“(Ice) can destroy families, you can tear the fabric of family so that it is almost not recoverable.
“You can destroy generations of harmony in a family in the blink of an eye. It’s a terrible, insidious drug,” he said.
He went on to point out ice can turn normal healthy people into a person with serious mental health issues.
“It can take normal healthy people and turn them into psychotic, paranoid, crazy people. Police officers get injured trying to control superhuman strength, it takes its toll on everyone,” he said.
Bringing down the dealers is always only going to be part of the solution, not the entire solution
“It might not be tomorrow, might not be in a year, but it will get you and when it does it could destroy you,” he said.
“How much do you care about your kids? Do you care enough to confront them? I think that’s the discussion you need to have around that table,” he said. You owe it to your kids, have that discussion now.
We believe it was J. Edgar Hoover who once rued... "the answer to our crime problem isn't the electric chair, it's the high chair."
The evidence remains both convincing and overwhelming, that good parenting in the formative years up to 8 years of age is of the greatest importance. Children don't only need great values, they need balanced and loving authoritative nurture. Yet these loving, proactive, values embracing relationships need to be informed by and secured to, significant anchor points. Our BOUNCE BACK parenting seminars give a window into some of the vital components needed to develop a sustainable resiliency in your children - resiliency that will help your child not merely 'survive' the alcohol and other drug arena, but potentially be an effective agent for positive choice in their peer setting.
Parenting is a life long committment and there are no 'silver bullets' or 'magic pills', but getting some of the basics right early on can make all the difference.
Preventing adolescent substance use may need to start in early childhood
UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Research from the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions suggests the approach to preventing alcohol and drug use by some adolescents should begin in early childhood.
"The children of parents with alcohol problems are at much greater risk for underage drinking and developing a substance use disorder," says the study's author, Rina Das Eiden, PhD, senior research scientist at RIA. "It's important to understand when and under what circumstances such problems develop, so we can craft interventions to steer this high-risk population away from substance use and its attendant problems."
Eiden examined different pathways to adolescent substance use, starting in infancy, for children of parents with alcohol use disorder (AUD), and found that maternal warmth and sensitivity in early childhood played a significant role.
"When mothers can be warm and sensitive during interactions with their toddlers, even under the stresses associated with their partners' alcohol problems, there is a lower likelihood of adolescent substance use," Eiden says.
Parents with AUD demonstrated lower rates of maternal sensitivity toward their toddlers, continuing into kindergarten age, Eiden found. As the children entered middle school (6th grade), their mothers were less likely to monitor peer groups and activities, leading to higher engagement with substance-using and delinquent peers and drinking in early adolescence (8th grade).
Most of our 'Bounce' seminars are conducted through the schools, however if you want more information, please don't hesitate to call us on 1300 975 002
Good Parenting start from the womb
Studies linking alcohol to health benefits based on flawed science: research
The notion that moderate drinking can help you live a longer and healthier life is being challenged by new research released today.
Key points:
Researchers found studies linking moderate drinking to improved health were based on flawed science
They found many of the studies were comparing moderate drinkers to abstainers
The group of abstainers could include people who had given up alcohol due to poor health
A team of international researchers found that a number of studies linking one or two drinks per day with a range of health benefits were based on flawed science. Curtin University's Tanya Chikritzhs, the principal investigator for the project, said her team analysed 87 studies and found most of them used questionable methodology. Professor Chikritzhs said the main problem was how the studies compared drinkers with non-drinkers to gauge which group was healthier. Moderate drinkers were more often than not being compared to abstainers, she said.
Professor Chikritzhs said the problem with that approach was that the group of abstainers included former drinkers, who had given up alcohol because of poor health.
"What these studies tend to do when they're trying to identify an abstainer group is to mix up in there a whole bunch of people who haven't drunk in the last 12 months with a whole bunch of people who used to drink 10 years ago, five years ago and so on," Professor Chikritzhs told the ABC.
"So essentially they set up a situation where an abstainer group looks as if they're in worse health than the drinker group.
"What we identified is when you account for this bias built into the methodologies of these studies, you actually don't find a protective effect of alcohol at all."
Professor Chikritzhs said there were other ways to look more accurately at the health impacts of drinking.
"What we found in our study is the best comparison group is not non-drinkers at all, but occasional drinkers, so these are people who drink in such small amounts that biologically alcohol could have no effect on their body in terms of protection," she said.
"What we actually found in terms of these occasional drinkers in terms of the longevity stakes — who lives longer — it's the occasional drinker who live the longest, so they outdo the people who are drinking at moderate levels."
Alcohol and drugs are indicated in the majority of risky behaviours, injury and deaths for young people. (Risk taking by young people, Australian Social Trends, 2008, Australian Bureau of Statistics)Aussie kids face enormous pressures and must make critical choices in their teen years – especially in regards to alcohol and drug use. Are you and your child ready?
Research shows early preparation is critical! You can take action to protect your kids in the convenience of your own home.
The How to Drug Proof Your Kids Parent Pack covers
vital information and tools to prepare you and your children for the teenage years
strategies to grow wise, resilient and successful kids
the reality of alcohol and drug use in Australia
latest research on alcohol and adolescent brain development
Each session includes input from Australian experts, and activities designed to empower your family. Invest in your child’s future today!
Also great for use in school parent groups, church ministry groups and community groups.
The Dalgarno Institute, in partnership with Drug Proofing Your Kids, are able to offer the DPYK Parent Pack, free of charge (Retail value of $29.95) to schools or community groups who conduct a BOUNCE Parent Night or Fence Building Forums. Contact us today to discuss your needs.
Aussie kids face enormous pressures and must make critical choices in their teen years – especially in regards to alcohol and drug use. Are you and your child ready?
