Two recent articles caught my eye and resonated with my own experience; I hope parents might have a chat with their sons about them.
A recent study which got a lot of attention was conducted (every three years) by the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare and surveyed more than 23,000 young people over 14 years of age. It found more young Australians are experimenting with vaping, even if they've never smoked cigarettes, but they are turning away from alcohol and illicit drugs. The survey found cannabis was the most commonly used illicit drug. Encouragingly, it found young people today are less likely than previous generations to drink, smoke tobacco or take illicit drugs. The study found that in 2016, just over 2.5 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 were vaping. In 2019, that figure jumped to more than five per cent, with the majority saying they tried it out of curiosity.
At about the same time, a front page Sydney Morning Herald article proclaimed “principals sound alarm as students take up vaping, become black market dealers”. It outlined that principals across Sydney had recently written to parents warning them of a significant increase in vaping among teenagers, with teachers catching students as young as Year 7 using vapes at school or even becoming dealers. It reports that not only were young students vaping, they were buying extra vapes and selling them on to classmates.
For those new to this phenomena, vaping refers to the use of battery-operated devices that heat a liquid to be inhaled. Australian adults can buy vaping devices and non-nicotine ‘juices’ with flavours such as fruit and chocolate. Many vapers order refills from retailers in New Zealand or China. Some vapes are designed to look like pens or USB thumb drives.
At one end of the spectrum, this is like a previous generation experimenting with cigarettes, but at the other end of the spectrum, these devices encourage (due to the ease) of the ‘smoking’ of synthetic and dangerous drugs.
One of the best, and most informative presenters and researchers I have seen is Paul Dillon. He has a great knowledge and ‘feel’ for the trends amongst young people in this area. Mr Dillon, the Director of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, presents at about 200 schools around Australia every year. Previously he focussed on alcohol in Year 10, included cannabis in Year 11 and widened out to other drugs in Year 12, but every school was now asking him to cover vaping for all age groups. Because of a dramatic shift in the last six to 12 months, Paul has added vaping to every single one of over 200 presentations a year. Paul outlines that flavoured non-nicotine vaping was most popular among teens, but nicotine was close behind, followed by THC (the active ingredient in cannabis).
These research studies and concerns of school principals mirror what I have found. I encourage parents to have open conversations with their sons. I include some advice below about how to cover these topics.
At the College we have been educating boys for almost 130 years – we think we know boys. They can exhibit risk-taking behaviours as part of growing up. We also know, that due to different things that can be happening in boys’ lives, they can make behaviour mistakes. We are compassionate and considered when responding to the mistakes boys make. At the same time, I state clearly the College position – if a student brings substances or items to the College which place themselves, others or the College at risk, the response will be significant and may place the boys’ position at the College in jeopardy. Let’s all try to avoid that for the sake of everyone’s wellbeing.
Alcohol and Drug Research and Training Australia: Parenting Style and its Impact on Alcohol and Other Drug Use
Although parents sometimes doubt their importance, particularly during the teenage years, research indicates that parents play an important part in the development of their adolescent children. As such, parents can play a significant role in preventing, or at the very least, delaying adolescent alcohol and other drug use. Research indicates that parents can protect against adolescent substance abuse where parenting skills, parent-adolescent communication and levels of warmth and affection are high. Attachment to the family and low parental conflict are also considered to be protective factors that may contribute to teens choosing not to use drugs. There are two main protective factors, however, that are supported by research evidence and they are as follows:
- Parenting style
- Parental monitoring
Four types of parenting styles have been identified, each defined along two axes – strictness ‘parental control) and warmth (parental support):
- Authoritarian (strictness but not warmth)
- Authoritative (strictness and warmth)
- Indulgent (warmth but not strictness)
- Neglectful (neither warmth nor strictness)
Authoritative parenting is the style recommended, with parents encouraged to set simple and clear rules for their children about what is expected of them and what will not be tolerated from an early age. Parents should know where their children are and who they are with and if rules are broken there are consequences that will be applied. This approach, provided in an environment where the children feel loved and cared about can have a protective effect on adolescent alcohol and other drug use.
When parents are aware of a range of aspects of their child’s life – what they are doing, who they are with, and where they are – we say they are monitoring their child. As well as knowing what their teens are doing, parental monitoring includes:
- The expectations parents have regarding their teen’s behaviour – what rules are being made?
- The actions parents take to keep track of their teen – how are the rules being enforced, how do you know that the rules are not being broken?
- The ways parents respond when their teen breaks the rules – what are the consequences and are they being enforced?
Adolescents whose parents use effective monitoring practices are less likely to make decisions that can negatively impact a wide range of health behaviours, such as having sex at an early age, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, being physically aggressive or skipping school. The effect of this supervision has been found to persist as the young people age and has been found to be effective in both single and two-parent households. Research suggests that the protective effect of such monitoring is more noticeable in girls than in boys. Studies have also found that parental monitoring not only can prevent drug use, but can also reduce drug use in some cases. Put simply, the greater the perceived parental control, the lower the adolescent’s substance use.
Unfortunately, as children develop into teenagers, parents often view them as more independent and less in need of monitoring. At the same time, adolescents may not be willing to share as much information as they once did and there is often increasing conflict as the relationship between parent and child changes. But consistent monitoring throughout the teen years is critical as teens’ desire for independence increases the likelihood of risky behaviour. Studies confirm that parents and the family remain important through this time, although their role often changes to a less directive way of parental monitoring. Parental monitoring not only directly decreases the likelihood of substance use, it can also affect a child’s friendship choices. Research has shown that teens who perceive that their parents provide substantial support are less likely to have with friends who use drugs, and those who do have friends who use drugs are less likely to start using drugs themselves.
A crucial element of monitoring is ‘parental knowledge’. Parental knowledge represents what the parent actually knows versus what information parents are trying to get. Monitoring represents the seeking of information, while knowledge deals with the possession of the information. That is, asking a child where they are going and who they will be with may not actually result in accurate information and, as such, parents are encouraged to do more than simply access information from their child. Monitoring needs to be age-appropriate and change over the course of the child’s life to match their stage of development. Appropriate levels of behavioural control need to be applied in an environment that supports trusting and non-intrusive parent-child communication. This encourages disclosure by the child, thus ensuring that parents are able to access accurate monitoring information.
Let’s all work together to keep our boys safe.
School photos
Yesterday it was great to see all the boys in the Grandstand for their various photos and in Ryan Hall for their individual photos. A reminder that photos can be ordered from www.silverrose.com.au. Please use code XSJNC20 to place your order. For other group photos such as the Captains, Prefects, sons/grandsons of Old Boys, etc., please click on the co-curricular tab on the website where these options are listed.
If your son was not able to attend the photo day, we will be having a back-up photo day on Tuesday 4 August straight after Assembly. You can still order your photo packs now, but orders placed after Tuesday 4 August may incur a late fee.
Semi Formal
We are pleased to confirm the Semi Formal will be going ahead on Wednesday 12 August. Invitation emails have been sent. The venue this year is RNA Showgrounds’ Exhibition Building and arrival time is 6.30pm. Please see the invitation for further details.
Mr Peter Todd
Dean of Students
