When Susan Sohn’s teenagers go out she warns them: “If I even suspect you’re not doing the right thing I will show up – and I don’t care about your reputation.”

The Canadian mother believes firm boundaries and open lines of communication are the reasons she has never had serious issues with Sophia or Gabriel drinking or taking drugs. Mrs Sohn and her Korean-born husband try to model responsible consumption of alcohol to all three of their kids, and they talk about the impact of drugs on the brain.

“With our kids they know the boundaries,” Mrs Sohn says. “I’m not naïve enough to think my kids aren’t sneaky [but] they’ve never gone out and gotten drunk. I say: ‘if you want to, talk to me about it. Let’s talk about the why behind the what’.”
Yet since moving to Australia from Canada, the Sohns have observed much more of a “party scene” among teenagers here. Mrs Sohn believes overseas parents are more engaged – as opposed to involved – with their kids than Australians.

The relaxed style of many Australian parents is now being linked to the fact that their children are much more likely to drink under age and take drugs than those from migrant families

 

Source: Aussie Teens More Likely To Drink And Take Drugs Than Migrants

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