Binge culture targeted

CONVINCING Tasmania's youth that getting "smashed" on alcohol is not cool is the biggest problem facing parents.

Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia director Paul Dillon said yesterday the state's youth was entrenched in a new culture that valued binge drinking.

Mr Dillon, who recently published the sellout book Teenagers, Alcohol and Drugs, is visiting the state this week and will speak with students, teachers and parents at several schools.

Mr Dillon said taking an up-front approach to the issue was the best way to deal with it.

"I travel around the country speaking to tens of thousands of young people and the vast majority of them are amazing kids who are just trying to figure out how to be an adolescent," he said.

"Of course they make mistakes but parents need to do the best they can to make sure it's not a life-taking mistake.

"Parents need to sit down and speak with their kids, set boundaries and challenge their beliefs."

Mr Dillon said parents needed to outline their own boundaries for their children as well as consequences should the boundaries be broken.

"You see too many parents who just want to be friends with their kids but they actually have to love them and protect them by setting and enforcing boundaries," he said.

Mr Dillon said monitoring the amount of money young people had access to and what they spent it on was another way to monitor possible alcohol and drug use.

Parents were also encouraged to challenge statements made by their children.

"If a young person says all the other kids' parents buy them alcohol, challenge it," Mr Dillon said.

"Ask them to write down four parents and their phone numbers and you can guarantee they can't."

He said parents also should lead by example and not be hypocritical.

"If parents are having a bottle of wine with dinner each night and taking a couple of bottles to social engagements with their friends each time, then how can they expect to lecture their children on alcohol," Mr Dillon said.