Does greater freedom have to mean greater risk?
A friend has just started encouraging her 9 year old to have a bit more independence. He’s now allowed to go to the nearby garden centre and buy milk. He’s a hardy perennial so he’s taken to the new found freedom with great gusto. Mum’s now worried that it’s all happening a bit too quickly for her liking and that’s half the battle….wanting them to have independence but then worrying that they might not have the common sense to always do the ‘right thing’.
And teaching them to cope with risk and choices in the safest and most informed way was the focus of this week’s conversation.
Fiona Spargo-Mabbs has made it her life goal to help young people and their families navigate their way through the teenage years. Fiona tragically lost her son Daniel after he took ecstasy at a party. You can find out more about her work, which includes two really wonderful books via the DSM Foundation.
Talking the tough stuff with teens
In honour of Fiona’s latest book title, that’s what we called this week’s session.
Fiona talked about risk and young people, and the conversation flowed into questions about vaping.
A recent article in The Times reported that the number of female teenagers who are vaping has more than tripled. Clearly it’s a concern for many of us, especially as teens are more likely to be using illegal vapes that don’t adhere to UK regulations. You can read the report in the Times HERE.
So how can we, as parents, deter them from taking up risky habits?
Well, as we can’t stop them, we can only advise. Fiona has a number of tips, including giving them the right health information, when it comes to trying to tackle potentially risky behaviours.
“Tell them that whatever they do and whatever they bring to you, you are on their side and that you are always their biggest cheerleader” Fiona Spargo-Mabbs
Fiona has such a lot of strong and sensible advice, that it’s worth catching up with what she had to say and you can watch the session again HERE.
Next week – Teen Eating Issues
We are back next week for a conversation about ‘Teen Eating Issues’ with Dr Bryony Bamford, and her lead adolescent dietitian, Cliona Brennan.
And it’s a timely discussion. Just a month ago, the Children’s Commissioner published an article with her response to recent NHS figures. They show an increase in the number of hospital admissions for young people with an eating disorder. Dame Rachel de Souza is calling for, amongst other things, greater protection against harmful eating disorder related content online. You can read more here and we’ll be exploring how to identify the issues and how to help and support next week.
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