Five Ways to Prevent Drug Abuse Among Kids

This is a guest post from Daphne Holmes. She is a writer from arrestrecords.com and you can reach her at [email protected].

One of disadvantages parents face when striving to keep their households drug-free, is that the playing field has changed drastically, compared to the drug culture parents were exposed to in their younger years. Much of the guidance parents are able to provide to their kids comes from their personal experiences with similar circumstances. Sharing lessons they learned grappling with the same issues their kids are facing today helps parents guide their children through trying times. But combatting drug abuse requires parents to tackle issues they have little experience with, placing them in unfamiliar territory.

For starters, there are new drugs on the street today that were not available a generation ago. Methamphetamine and Ecstasy, for example, plague communities nationwide - and these are not the only go-to drugs tempting young people. Heroin is making a strong comeback, partially resulting from a spike in recreational use of prescription drugs like Oxycodone. As anti-abuse countermeasures have made it harder to acquire prescription versions, Heroin has stepped in as an inexpensive way to fill the void, leading to abuse and tragic deaths among users.

Hyper-connectivity also works against parents fighting drug abuse. Communication is at the heart of access, so the drug supply-chain is thriving, bringing hard drugs to even the most remote communities. And for many parents, the evolution of the drug scene continues outside their frames of reference, so accepting that their own kids might be at risk is a stretch.

Despite its changing face, confronting drug abuse head-on remains the best approach, relying on several proven strategies for combating the epidemic.

Educate Kids and Parents - Glossing over drug use issues with superficial lip-service does not go far enough to recognize the nuances of experimentation and abuse among kids. In order to further positive outcomes among their children, parents must become authorities on drug use and abuse. Not only is their credibility at stake with the kids they are trying to influence, but in order to fight abuse parents must have a solid grasp of the risks, contributing factors, and dangers of using particular drugs.

Once parents understand what they are facing, they are better prepared to control the anti-drug message with authority, in ways kids cannot refute. Local law enforcement and civic agencies conduct informative meet-ups with parents, to help them understand drug issues facing the community. Whether adults-only, or events shared with school-aged children, parents are well-served by these educational opportunities.

Communication goes both Ways - Laying down the rules and turning a blind eye to the drug issues children and teens face is not an effective strategy for reducing abuse among kids. Instead, parents must keep a two-way line of communication active, so kids remain comfortable discussing drug issues at home. Questions will undoubtedly arise, so rather than seeking answers from peers or experimentation, children should feel at-ease discussing sensitive drug issues with parents.

In many cases, kids start using drugs to cope with other pressures they are facing, like anxiety, depression, and anger. Helping them reconcile these and other social issues stems from open communication, which gives kids the best chance of staying drug-free.

Set the Right Example - Parents furnish role models for their own children and also provide general examples of conduct for young people outside their families to emulate. Nothing supports your anti-drug message more clearly than personal behavior illustrating your commitment to a drug-free home.

Monitor Kids and Access - Parents’ supervisory roles extend over behavior leading to drug use, but they also share responsibility for monitoring access to drugs; especially prescription medication kept in the home.

Drug use sometimes starts as a child’s effort to fit-in with a particular social group at school. Parents committed to curbing drug use are active members of their children’s social spheres. Getting to know their friends and supervising activities are the only ways for parents to keep kids on the right paths, so actively monitoring relationships helps prevent drug abuse. And since prescription abuse among young people is a growing concern, unused medication needs to be stored under lock and key, to prevent unauthorized access of prescriptions, leading to illicit use.

Encourage Positive Outcomes - Boredom is often cited as a precipitating factor in drug use among kids. Instead of allowing kids to fall into drug use for the sake of “something to do” parents are better served by approaches that reinforce and encourage positive activities. Hobbies, sports and other childhood distractions are rewarding on their own, but they also distract kids away from peer pressure, and the drug use that sometimes follows. Replacing negative opportunities with positive outcomes is a sure-fire strategy for reducing drug abuse among kids.