David McBeath and his 14 year old daughters, Jacquie
David McBeath and his daughter, 14 year old Jacquie, are one of the real families who have supported the Know the Score Parents campaign.
David has always been open and honest about issues surrounding drugs with his children and so he has shared his first hand experiences with Jacquie too.
David explained: "My dad told me 'don't drink, don't smoke and drugs are bad for you', as he sat with a fag and drink in his hand, and I didn't want to follow his example. My father died with cirrhosis of the liver and I quit smoking two years ago.
"I went off the rails at 19 and tried various drugs before ending up unwell and in pain with serious dehydration."
He continued: "When I was younger I tried drugs like Ecstasy, speed and cannabis. One Saturday night clubbing I took half an Ecstasy tablet and didn't drink anything other than alcohol. The next morning my kidney area was in a lot of pain and, although I wanted to drink, it kept making me sick. I went to the doctor and had to admit what I'd taken and I have never been near anything like that again."
Now a gym instructor leading a healthy lifestyle, the 37-year-old thought he knew everything he needed to about drugs until Jacquie started asking questions.
On a trip to the local shopping centre Jacquie, then aged 11, told her dad that she could smell hash. "It set off alarm bells for me," said David. "I thought 'oh no, how does she know that?'."
He continued: "Jackie said she knew someone who'd smoked hash and she'd heard of heroin and speed, then she started asking me questions I couldn't answer. When I was her age I'd never heard of heroin.
"When you have kids you know certain things are going to come up, like smoking, drinking, sex and anything that's out there which might affect them.I wanted to tell her why drugs are bad and instead of scaring her to death I wanted to scare her into living properly."
David knew he had to be honest with his daughter. As a former youth worker David knows drugs can destroy young lives and realises he was lucky.
David said: "I've had friends who were deeply involved in drugs like speed, heroin and hash and I'm proud to say I helped them get clean and supported their rehabilitation, but I also have a friend who died from a heroin overdose."
When David saw a poster in the street offering guidance for parents to talk to their children about issues surrounding drugs he looked up the Know the Score website for information and called the freephone helpline to get more guidance from an advisor.
"Know the Score was able to give me the information I needed to be able to talk about drugs in a more informed way with Jacquie. I believe that knowledge is power, for both the parent and child. If children are told 'just say no' then they will wonder why. If they are told the consequences then it makes it less appealing.
"I am confident that now, when Jacquie is placed in a situation where she is confronted with drugs, she will make the right decision."
Second year pupil Jacquie is confident she'll never try drugs. She said: "I’ve been in someone's house and seen them burning hash and rolling it into a joint, and at a party last month someone was smoking cannabis. They ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning.
"Even if I didn't have such a strong relationship with my dad I think I'd still bring the subject of drugs up and I'm just glad he went to the effort to find out the answers."