Community Corner
Mom's Talk - How To Talk To Kids About Drugs
A touchy subject getting more difficult every day
There are a lot of issues that parents in 2011 have to face that parents in 1911 didn't. One of those is drug use, which has been in the news recently, although it is never really too far from the headlines. How will you/have you spoken to your kids about drugs? Do you speak generally and talk about making good decisions or do you talk about specific things they should not do?
Lori Weinraub (Mom):
I took this question directly to my 12-year-old. She said she learned in school that drugs were bad and they could do things to you that make you get in a car accident and die. I thought that was a good take-away message for now, although as she gets older I know that won't suffice. I know my daughter won't be tempted now to smoke pot or shoot heroin but I am not naive enough to think that couldn't change in a few short years. So I will do my best to explain exactly why drugs are bad, what they can do to your body, how much it costs to buy them, those kinds of things. Those are the arguments that will work best with my child. I also will pray that she thinks enough of herself, her body, and her future to never try drugs.
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Rachel Sandler (Teenager):
At the peak at teen-dom, no amount of scolding, yelling, or lecturing is going to prevent a teen from doing drugs and other “bad stuff.” All you can really do is try to help your teen reach the conclusion themselves that drugs are a not so good decision. A teen thinking about or currently doing drugs is like them driving a Lamborghini at 100 mph off a cliff. In this situation, there are only two ways to stop the teen from going splat. 1. Convince the driver to hit the breaks or 2. Put something in front of the car that would forcibly stop it. The problem with the latter is that the nice, expensive Lamborghini would inevitably go KABOOM, damaging the car and leaving behind a really classy pile of scrap metal. So, if your teen isn’t completely convinced on the idea that drugs are dangerous, convince him/her to hit the brakes so he/she avoids driving off a cliff. Trying to stop the car head on only ends up wrecking the car. In the end, only the teen and the teen alone can put a foot down on that brake pedal.
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