Drugs and alcohol and how they influence our choices about sex

Talking about drugs and alcohol and how they influence our choices about sex

At this age we can keep chatting about keeping safe, delaying sex, and learning about important things like consent. We can also help our teenage children to think about the risks of drug and alcohol use, thinking especially about how these things impact on decisions and experiences when it comes to sexual activity. As our children become more independent, as they are more likely to be out and about with friends, it can be a real worry – how do we help them understand risk and make the best decisions? One further thought, it might be helpful to chat about friends too – perhaps a friend is putting themselves at risk – how can your child help without putting themselves at risk?

The facts of the matter

We can see our children ‘turn off’ when they feel they are being lectured, they can feel invulnerable. But it is worth making every effort to help them make the connection between alcohol and bad experiences of sex or risks of sexual exploitation or violence.

We need to acknowledge the battle we face. Did you know – and this might be worth sharing – that the alcohol industry spends over £800 million each year to market and promote alcohol in the UK – and a lot of it targets young adults. With that in mind you can use some of these facts (as statements or turn them in to questions – did you know that…?) when you have the opportunity.

Drinking and taking drugs as a teenager increases your chance of having unprotected sex, so it increases the risk of STIs and unintended pregnancy.

If someone – a friend or an older person – is being really pushy about trying to get you to drink alcohol or take drugs be very careful – why would they push so hard? How would you get out of that situation?

Being drunk or high makes you vulnerable to someone hurting or assaulting you.

If someone is drinking or taking drugs, they are more likely to have sex with someone they wouldn’t normally fancy. And drinking to get drunk or taking drugs can mean not even remembering whether you have had sex – or what sort of sex it was.

Regretting having sex means that you wish you hadn’t done it. Regret means feeling sad or disappointed in yourself. Young people who regret having sex say that alcohol is often a factor.

You can both find information about drugs here: https://knowthescore.info and here https://www.talktofrank.com