A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
In a recent post, Paul Dillon discussed the provision of alcohol to minors. A young reader named Kate responded to the article with a very well considered and thought provoking question: I am a 17 year-old girl going on 18 and I have been to parties where alcohol has been served and there have been [...]
You are sending a very strong message to your child when you agree to provide alcohol to minors. Most importantly, you are telling them to ignore the law - alcohol is an illegal drug for those under the age of eighteen. The laws are different across the country with New South Wales having the strictest [...]
Last night I was watching TV and saw a news advertisement about young people and drug use. Over the top of an image or a group of young people was superimposed the words One third of all young people have used an illegal drug. That statistic sounds pretty scary for parents, and it is – [...]
It is important to tell your children that if they are in doubt, they should not hesitate to call for medical assistance. It’s hard to be too specific here as it’s not always easy to say what constitutes a ‘medical emergency’. Young people need to know that they won’t get in trouble for calling an [...]
We are currently in the process of planning the 2010 Generation Next series. Thanks to your feedback we have learned a lot of lessons about how best to run the events and use the limited financial and other resources available to us. Importantly, in 2010 we would like to explore the possibility of running the [...]
In many cases, drinking too much alcohol will make you sick and you will stop drinking. There are many old wives’ tales about why someone vomits after drinking, but the real reason is quite simple- you’ve been poisoned. Your brain actually has specialised poison-control cells that detect when you have had too much alcohol and [...]
We can’t forget that not all young people are the same, and this is particularly true when it comes to attitudes and values of around drugs. Even when it comes to alcohol use, young people are not one homogenous group. When I talk to groups of teenagers I usually divide them into three key categories, [...]
Over the years I have attended a number of Schoolies Week celebrations and although there have always been incidents, usually linked to excessive alcohol consumption, for the most part I have found the young people to be very well behaved and reasonably sensible. The most concerning aspect of the event is the social pressure on [...]
Generation Next is coming to Perth! Featuring speakers such as Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Julie Gale, Paul Dillon and Susan McLean, the seminar will provide solutions to the challenges facing generations Y and Z. The seminar will cover a range of topics including cybersafety (including cyberbullying and sexting), the sexualisation of our children in the media, [...]
Here are the top ten “outs” that I have collected from teenagers over the years. Not all of them are great, but they cover a range of different ways of saying ‘no’, including excuses (often using information they have picked up in drug education lessons at school) and delaying or putting off the situation. ‘I’m [...]
