AOD PARENTAL RESOURCE DELIVERED TO LIMESTONE COAST SCHOOLS

Limestone Coast primary schools will distribute 1,500 vital alcohol education booklets to parents this week, funded by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) program.

The booklet, which has been designed by the LDAT team, has information and resources to guide parents through the school transition period from Year 6 to high school, targeting an age group stepping into a new and complex social setting.

The booklet will be delivered to thirty-six primary schools and home-schooled families across the Limestone Coast region to coincide with the start of Term 4.

SMLC Project Manager Sophie Bourchier said the booklet was designed to be a lasting and informative resource for parents of Year 6 children.

“The booklet’s main objective is to build parent’s awareness regarding the harms associated with the early initiation of alcohol by young people, particularly adolescent brain development and also covering vaping, screentime, managing teenage parties and the importance of sleep,” Ms Bourchier said.

“Our most recent Planet Youth survey, undertaken in 2023, shows that up to 55 per cent of Year 10s have been drunk in their lifetime and up to 16 per cent have been drunk at the age of 13 years or younger,” Ms Bourchier said.

“Additionally, the survey shows that 34 per cent had been drunk in the last 30 days and that 44 per cent drink alcohol at home. The data also shows that 19 per cent of Year 10s vape daily.

“This data shows a pervasive parental permissive culture exists that allows alcohol use by young people in the Limestone Coast.”

Each school will receive a stakeholder information pack including statistics from Planet Youth surveys, and social media content for use on school channels.

The LDAT project team includes representatives from the District Council of Grant, City of Mount Gambier and Naracoorte community member Gerry Mathieson.

LDAT team member and parent Marika Hart said it was important for schools, a trusted source of information for parents and caregivers, to play their part in reinforcing consistent AOD messaging.

“During the transition from primary to high school, there is a lot of academic-related information to parents and care givers, but nothing to prepare for the social and wellbeing impacts,” Mrs Hart said.

“It’s an impressionable age and 12-year-olds feel that pressure to want to fit in with older teenagers and their conversations and behaviours.

“Our responsibility is to keep our kids safe and educated, so they can make informed decisions at any age, and have confidence in those decisions.

“We need to be having these hard conversations and preparing our kids for the world, including the good and the bad, and the consequences of those actions.”