Children and young people are under increased pressures to become involved in risky and harmful activities such as smoking, drinking, drug taking as well as new internet-related problems such as sexting, pornography or online bullying. Parents are right to be concerned and they have a key role in keeping their children and teenagers safe and teaching them how to make responsible choices in the face of risk.

This six-part series of articles, were originally published as series called ‘Pressure Points’ in the Irish Times Health+ in Autumn 2017. They describe evidence-based and practical parenting principles on how to positively influence your children and help them grow up into responsible adults.

Read the series here:
Part 1: Being protective V being permissive 
Part 2: Connecting with your children
Part 3: Talking to your children about dangers
Part 4: Making rules and building responsibility
Part 5: How to your child avoid ‘falling in with the wrong crowd’
Part 6: Building your child’s resilience

John Sharry writes in The Irish Times every second Tuesday. His website is www.solutiontalk.ie