Dame Susan Devoy: Parents need strong laws

Sadly last weekend another teenager died in tragic circumstances.
He was a student of King's College and the son of a well-known businessman.
Now (even though it is difficult not to) is not the time to speculate on the events that led to this tragedy.
We will all have to refrain from guesswork until such time that the facts are presented by the coroner.
However, it still won't change the outcome and, as history has shown, it won't stop it happening again. Despite King's College having been in the news before with other tragedies, these issues are not exclusive to that school and I am sure every principal and parent woke up on Sunday morning and thought ... there for the grace of God it could have been us.
Just down the road in Kawerau, the community has been rocked by the deaths of 14 young men in the last 18 months.
There comes a time as a parent when you finally realise that no law is going to protect your child from harm. Laws are like rules, readily broken and the consequences of falling foul of the law are fairly inconsequential. How many under-age drinkers are ever prosecuted?
I have no idea about the circumstances leading to any of these tragedies but I would be fairly confident that in many of the cases alcohol and drugs will be involved at some level.
And while the debate has raged again about our drinking culture, we need to understand that drugs are as much a factor and, combined, they are even more lethal. Young people are drinking at a younger age than ever before, the well-organised party at the racecourse last weekend was testament to that.
Even though it was alcohol-free, you didn't have to be a mind reader to imagine that with more than 400 kids around 15 and 16 that some would turn up fuelled on alcohol and it would turn to custard.
It has now become a prerequisite for many teenagers to drink, seemingly it is now a rite of passage to enjoying any social occasion.
This is not just a result of lowering the age but a combination of the easy access to alcohol, the proliferation of outlets and, most importantly, our drinking culture.
So why did the Government lower the drinking age in the first place?
Heavens knows, it's absurd that at 18 you can not only buy alcohol but also the synthetic drug Kronic.
So when you are buying your $2 bag of lollies why not throw in a legal high? All reports indicate that this produces similar effects to marijuana.
It is legal because it does not contain banned substances. However strong restrictions may be imposed if Parliament passes the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill, which is due for its second reading.
The owner of Kronic was quoted as saying "that when someone dies I will look at another industry". Australia is already moving to ban all this crap.
I don't have the answers but I know that there are so many dangers facing our teenagers. How many of us lie awake at night until we hear the car in the driveway? We just live with the hope that mistakes will not have catastrophic consequences.
It is sadly too late for these young men.
It's evident that we can't rely on law changes to change these behaviours and neither should we point the blame at schools or others. It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children values and morals, to put boundaries in place and to protect and guide them. Our own behaviours are a good start but it would be helpful to have legislation that supports our efforts.
I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, which makes this so difficult to write. The potpourri of emotions is hard to contain when you know it could happen to any of us.
John Key is a father with a son at King's College. Surely he must admit that we have a serious social issue on our hands. As Prime Minister, he is also the father of our country and I would hope that his Government acknowledges the significant drug and alcohol problems facing our country and take action. Bold leadership is needed.