dealing with the big things - sex, drugs, money, drinking etc....

[eyebrowsraised]

Have been having several conversations with people this last week about this and to me, it there seems to be 4 very set ways to dealing with it.

1. deny these things even exist in a bid to protect the child from them.

2. scare the living daylights out of the child so they wont dare do anything

3)deal with them/problems as and when they happen ie- teen comes back drunk - tell off and ground

4. educate at a young age about these things but have to deal with lots of judging and eyebrow raising as this goes agaist the norm.

People seem to feel very strongly about these, and im not saying which one i go with. But just wondering general thoughts/ideas. I do however feel that at the momment the uk is very much in the ' keep them covered in cotton wool and away from all dangers' type phase

Well I've also gone by number 4 and never had any problems with my children from it. In fact I've found that being open and honest with them has meant that they talk to me about anything and everything, even if they know they will be in trouble or if they think that I may not agree with them we are able to discuss and talk over everything.

My father was a user and although he tried to hide things from me I noticed things, but this meant I was well educated and when my friends took drugs I knew how dangerous they could be and never felt even slightly inclined to.

For this reason I agree with Emjxxx I am not saying scare them too death or show them the results like I was but teenagers can accurately diagnose danger if they have the information so I will be open with my children and try to educate them as and when they ask questions.