Parents in rural communities have ‘limited awareness’ of drug dangers

RURAL parents have limited knowledge of drug-related issues and do not know how to access services if their children are affected, research has found.

Marie-Claire Van Hout, who lectures in youth at risk and therapeutic recreation at Waterford Institute of Technology, said the research provided an anecdotal “snapshot” of parental perceptions of youth substance use in rural Ireland.

The study, Irish Parents’ Perceptions of Rural Youth Alcohol and Drug Use, found rural parents are particularly vulnerable when it comes to drug and alcohol use awareness, and how to access key services for the emerging problem.

“Parents felt substances such as hash or cannabis were more socially acceptable, that young people have more disposable income and that drug prices were lowering and no longer exclusive,” the report found.

Parents with adolescent children aged 12-18 years were interviewed for the report and said they were aware that adolescents may use their pocket money for drinking and drug use, and commented on the difficulty of monitoring their teens.

“It’s very hard, they are given an early introduction to drinking – as if it’smacho to get drunk. The girls are the worst, much easier for them to get served …and what can you do… if they’re all going out .. how can you say ‘no’.”

Her research found that parents were concerned about increasing levels of alcohol drinking among young people.

“Parents are also worried about increased levels of hostile and aggressive behaviours among youths at night,” said Ms Van Hout.

“They observed a pattern of frequent and heavy youth drinking within the rural communities and feel this is due to the pervasiveness of alcohol use and excessive drinking within Irish culture.”

More than half of the parents interviewed were aware of drug activity in their rural community, and commented on individuals using and dealing on the street, and also within the proximity of urban suburbs.

However, other parents were not aware of drugs being available or being used by individuals in the community and commented on their ignorance of this social problem among their youth.

Comments ranged from “I wouldn’t know how to recognise any sort of drug related activity, to be honest” and “Sure we never used drugs; I wouldn’t even know what it looks like.”

Most rural parents had children attending urban schools and felt that this was where the introduction and context for early substance use occurred.

One parent said: “These kids can go drinking in the fields and no one would ever know – it’s impossible to know where they are every minute of the day.”

The parents were concerned as to the influence of the urban setting in terms of providing the opportunity to experiment, coupled with a lack of positive leisure time activities in their rural areas, often leading to increased levels of deviant behaviours.

The parents interviewed “didn’t know” if “the majority of young people had used or tried drugs” or if “sending dealers to prison was the best way to deal with rural drug use”.

Both urban and rural parents said the most common reasons for substance experimentation were “boredom, lack of supervision, because they are all doing it, and for stress relief.”