How honest are you with your teens about your raving days?

[RobertSmithdoesmyhair]

I spent most of the 90s raving and taking all kinds of drugs. The best days of my life! My teens, now 18 and 17, ask me what I was like (I think they suspect from photos ) and I have told them that all I did was smoke an occasional spliff and nothing else! I don't think they believe me! Do your teens know what a tearaway you were, or does what happened in the 90s stay in the 90s?!

Jamie I couldn't have given two tiny shites whether it made me look cool or glamorous or not, it was the best fun ever and I still look back on those days with great nostalgia.

I went to a recent exhibition at the Saatchi gallery about rave in the 90's and found pictures of us, it was a totally surreal experience I have to say seeing what we were doing 25 years ago up there in Chelsea of all places. It was a way of life then and I don't regret it one single jot.

I said I'd be honest and I think honesty is the best way to have an open dialogue with teens/tweens, but it has to come with reflection and addendum relating to how the world has changed and how drugs have changed. How many drugs are now untested psychoactive compounds coming from China that were originally formulated to circumvent laws banning specific compounds (of course all are illegal now, but there was a grey-period in the early 2000's where drugs like m-cat and various spice and 'bath-salt' concoctions were 'legal' and available), at which point traditional party drugs started to become more adulterated with ever-changing active molecule tweaks that tried to keep ahead of legislation.

I think most MDMA you get now is fairly pure, but methods of synthesis have changed to give a much stronger product.

PLUS, we didn't have social media recording our every mis-step.

So it's easy, as it ever was for our children to think we know 'fuck all', it really is up to you as a parent to stay educated and keep an open dialogue that's not judgemental or patronising. There are no guarantees though, I think we all do our best and hope for the best.