TIPS FOR RAISING DRUG-FREE CHILDREN

IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

1. Listen to Your Children. Pay attention while your child is speaking. Don’t interrupt. Reserve judgment until your child has finished talking and has asked you for a response. Be aware of your child’s facial expression and body language. Acknowledge what your child is saying. Make sure you understand what your child means. If your child tells you something you don’t want to hear, don’t ignore the statement; talk about it. Choose your response thoughtfully. Let your child tell you what he or she knows about drugs, what his or her own experiences have been, what fears or concerns already exist.

2. Encourage Healthy, Creative Activities. Emphasize the importance of good health by talking about things people do to stay healthy, such as brushing teeth after each meal, washing hands, eating good foods, and getting plenty of rest and sleep. You can use this discussion to contrast the harmful things that people do, such as taking drugs, smoking or drinking to excess. Hobbies, after-school activities, sports, and other activities may prevent children from experimenting with alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs out of boredom. Limit television viewing and help your children to choose appropriate shows. Discuss an illness with which your child is familiar and for which prescription drug are often necessary. Many children have had a strep throat, ear infections, influenza, and colds. Discussing such illnesses can help your child understand the difference between medicine and illicit drugs.

3. Help Your Child Feel Good About Himself or Herself. Relate the fact that you place high value on your child’s good, special qualities, qualities that drugs can and will diminish or destroy.

4. Help Your Child Develop Strong Values. Talk About why values such as honesty, self-reliance and responsibility are important.

5. Educate Yourself and Talk With Your Child About Alcohol and Other Drugs and Ways To Say No. Know the facts about how drugs harm people, especially young people. Effects include physical harm (slowed or impaired growth, impaired coordination, etc.); social harm (mental disconnection, loss of friendships, loss of interest); educational harm (poorer grades, more difficulty studying, etc.) Communication won’t be effective if the subject is brought up in one massive lecture. Anti-drug use messages should be mentioned regularly in talking with your child. Take advantage of “teachable moments.” In contrast to a formal sit-down lecture, use a variety of situations – TV news or dramas, books, newspapers, local situations – to discuss drug issues. Ask the child how he or she would have reacted, what else might have been done, or what else might have happened. Practice with your child ways to say “no.” Describe situations that may make your child feel uncomfortable – for example, being invited to ride a bike where you do not allow your child to go, or being offered medicine or other unfamiliar substances by another child, teen, or adult.

6. Set a Good Example. Parents’ drinking habits and attitudes may strongly influence their children’s perceptions of alcohol. If you choose to drink or smoke, do so responsibly and moderately and keep the distinction clear about what is legal for adults but not for children. Never mix drinking with driving or any other activity that requires skill and coordination. NEVER use illegal drugs. Do not let your child be involved in your drinking by having him/her bring you a beer, mix you a cocktail, or take sips of your drink.

7. Make and Discuss Family Policies that Help Your Child. Children need to understand the family’s rules. You can explain the need for rules by talking about traffic safety rules with which your child is already familiar. Stress the fact that you do not find drug use acceptable. Many children say their parents never stated this simple principle. Develop a “helpers” file of people your child can rely on. Put together a phone list of relatives, family, friends, neighbors, teachers, religious leaders, and the police and fire departments. Talk with your child about the kind of help each person on the list could provide in case of various unexpected situations, such as being approached by strangers or losing a house key.

8. Help Your Child Deal With Peer Pressure. Help your child to know that friends can be wrong. You and your child might act out various situations in which someone tries to force some one else to take a drug or smoke. Figure out two or three ways to handle each situation and talk about which is best.

9. Know What To Do if You Suspect a Problem. Identify possible signs and symptoms of drug use. Seek advice from a trusted professional, talk with a member of the clergy, or call a local prevention center to discuss treatment options.

10. Help Your Child To Be Thoughtful About Media Messages. Discuss how advertisers use friendly, likable images (e.g., cartoon characters) to persuade children to buy their products, including cereals, candy bars, and toys. Help them distinguish fact from emotional appeal. Develop “critical thinking” in relation to all aspects of advertising and the media. There are resources available through prevention centers.

11. Team Up With Other Parents in Support Groups to Accomplish #1 THROUGH #10. You can form or join a parent group – a group that provides members with information of child-rearing, facts on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and support for one another in coping with their children’s problems.

This information has been adapted from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information’s 10 Steps to Help Your Preteen Say “NO” and the U. S. Department of Education’s Schools Without Drugs: The Challenge, Vol. 4, No. 4.