Professor Bobby Smyth

I suppose it's time of year, Clare, when kids are increasingly off school or about to get off school.

That gives them a little bit more unstructured time.

We as parents are often still working.

So there's a bit of a mismatch there between our ability to supervise and the amount of freedom they have.

So it's definitely a time to think again about how they're going to best use that time.

And you're going to do your best to try and keep track of them, I suppose.

Yeah.

And there's definitely value to be had in some of that unstructured time out and about with your friends and going and exploring new places.

Yeah.

But I suppose as parents, maybe our task is to try and be kept in the loop in terms of what the plans are, where people are going.

There might be some plans you might decide, actually, I don't quite think that's something you're ready for quite yet.

So you might have to say no to some things.

But yeah, I suppose ideally, you know, kids learn by doing.

I suppose the key focus of school

The work that related to work I do and the message today is about, I suppose, alcohol and drugs.

And I suppose a substance that we had largely forgotten about is nicotine.

And that's sort of reappeared now in the form of vaping.

It's not one to ignore.

So there are substances that young people may well encounter when they're out and about.

People tend to be introduced to those substances by their friends, people that they like and trust.