{"id":5301,"date":"2009-11-11T22:36:58","date_gmt":"2009-11-11T21:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=5301"},"modified":"2009-11-13T13:00:40","modified_gmt":"2009-11-13T12:00:40","slug":"stopping-drug-use-%e2%80%93-primer-for-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2009\/11\/stopping-drug-use-%e2%80%93-primer-for-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"Stopping Drug Use \u2013 Primer for Parents-"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nIt’s summer, when kids should be able to run free. “Should be able” is the operative phrase here, unfortunately. – No parent would ever wish drug abuse on their child; the thought that their beloved newborn could turn out to be a drug user, terrifies every responsible, loving parent!
\nToday, marijuana pervades our teens world; your children are the targets of those who promote drugs. There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of websites promoting marijuana; these websites ridicule the scientific studies; they ridicule the war on drugs, convincing many that nothing can be done to stop drug use.
\nPrimarily, what parents need to know is: Prevention works.
\nParents and grandparents can normally prevent the tragedy that comes from drug use, but they must not only educate themselves, they need to become actively and aggressively part of the anti-drug community, for drug use has now reached a pandemic stage among youth.
\nThe average age of first use of any drug in America is 12. The first drugs of use are tobacco, alcohol and marijuana, all \u201cgateway drugs,\u201d and are accepted as an accurate predictor of potential future drug use.
\nWhat Can Be Done?
\nUse the tragedies around us to teach our children!<\/p>\n

1. First, make sure your children know that use of any drugs is unacceptable \u2013 that participating in drug use will close any number of doors which would normally be open to them throughout their lives \u2013 that it can limit their choices, having a permanent impact on their lives.
\n2. In front of your children, talk about the parents whose children have become users and the pain and grieving their parents are going through! If the chance occurs, let them experience it first hand, by being with you when you visit with those parents; let them experience the pain.
\n3. Set rules and consequences and be consistent about enforcing them. Explain to them how the world works \u2013 regarding how education and schooling, is preparing them to support and provide for their future families.
\n4. Role play with them, giving them effective ways to say \u201cno\u201d! Peer pressure will be on them much earlier than you expect.
\n5. Instill leadership qualities; some children naturally tend to be followers; teach them not to.
\n6. Understand the pressures: the alcohol, tobacco industries and marijuana promoters know that if one is drug free at 21, it\u2019s unlikely they will ever use drugs \u2013 children are targets and peer pressure is real.
\n7. Become involved with your children\u2019s environment:
\n a) Schools; make sure their policies clearly promote drug-free youth.
\n b) Internet: monitor their use; there are many good tracking programs.
\n c) Music: listen to it, not only theirs, but their friends; and if you suspect lyrics, search them out online \u2013 you\u2019ll be amazed!Music for example is one of the underpinnings of promoting drug use (as well as of other anti-social behaviors).
\n d) Reading: visit your library or buy and read a couple issues of \u201cHigh Times\u201d to see how pot is being presented to youth! Actively speak out against, and challenge all things which promote the acceptance of drugs \u2013 paraphernalia and hemp products.
\n e) Closely monitor their well-supervised and age-appropriate whereabouts; contract with them that you will be there and never complain if they ever encounter a situation where they\u2019re in the presence of drug use \u2013 that you\u2019ll pick them up immediately. Learn to say \u201cno\u201d to their requests.
\nBasically, engage life; support the safe environment in your community.
\nNow comes the hard part \u2013 if in case we loose a battle, and an older child begins to use, statistically, that child will very likely pass the drug on to younger children!
\nWhen a child begins to use and there are younger children in the home, that child needs to be put into a program to get them off and keep them off all drugs \u2013 for the sake of the younger children in the home, yet this is useless without regular testing! If they relapse, for the safety of the other children, they need to leave the home \u2013 that relates back to the #1 item above \u2013 they\u2019ve been warned that if they\u2019ve made a choice to violate rules, they\u2019re old enough to not live at home.
\nSource: www.examiner.com 28th June 2009<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s summer, when kids should be able to run free. “Should be able” is the operative phrase here, unfortunately. – No parent would ever wish drug abuse on their child; the thought that their beloved newborn could turn out to be a drug user, terrifies every responsible, loving parent! Today, marijuana pervades our teens world; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}