Drugs Top List Of Parenting Fears
As parents, we see our children growing up so fast, before you know it they are fully grown teens and all they are interested in is hanging out with friends. But we do what parents do best and constantly worry about what they are getting up too and who they associate as being their friends. With constant reports on the news about teenagers taking drugs and being invovled in crime it's easy to see why this would be a burden in our lives.
HuntorDye.co.uk, in collaboration with Babies.co.uk, carried out a survey of over 600 UK parents and found that 46% cited drugs as their number one parenting fear compared to alcohol with just 4%.
Another concern that parents have is sex and relationships with 18% worried about unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and inappropriate choice of partner. 7% fear that their child will come home with a big, bright, bold tattoo along with bright hair dyes and piercings.
Not all of the parents surveyed have worries about their children with 22% of parents saying that they trust their child to make their own decisions.
According to James Macfarlane, Managing Director of Babies.co.uk, “Our users are far less concerned about alcohol than they are about drugs. They are aware that drugs are increasingly prevalent in youth culture – and, more worryingly, that it is often easy for young people to get hold of them.”
Macfarlane added that “parents should not get complacent about alcohol, even if their fears about drinking are eclipsed by drugs”. According to government statistics, 2,600 under-16 year olds were admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol last year, compared to 101 as a result of illegal drugs.
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