Parents and Teen Drug Help

I think a lot of parents probably drive themselves crazy trying to figure out what is going on in their teenager's life. As teenagers, most of us aren't exactly thrilled to share our every move with out parents and the constant questioning can be really annoying. Nevertheless, knowing where your teen is, who their friends are, and what they're doing is a really key step in keeping your teens away from drugs.

On TV the other day, I was watching a show about a family, and the dad was looking at this pamphlet about detecting drug use in teens. So he's reading the pamphlet and is freaking out because the symptoms include things like "moodiness, unwillingness to communicate" and the like, which are really just basic teenage behaviors, and not necessarily indicative of drug use. Anyway, this got me thinking about some tools that can help parents to keep their kids away from drugs, and tools that will enable parents to help a teen with a drug problem.

There are a few things that parents can do to help keep their kids away from drugs. One of the most basic things that you can do is talk to your teens about drug use. This seems pretty simply, but by talking to your teen, you establish a relationship of communication and in the case that they are using drugs, they will be more likely to come to you for help. Also, it's important to keep track of the people that your teen is hanging out with. It also helps to talk with the parents of those friends so that you can keep tabs on your teen. Really, don't be afraid to be annoying. Your teen might resent you for being in their business, but you should be more interested in their health and safety than in being their friend. They might not appreciate you now, but they will appreciate you later when they are leading healthy and successful lives.

The bottom line here is that in trying to keep your teen away from drugs, you need to be observant and vigilant. Make sure that you know where your kids are. Make sure that you know their friends. And if they come to you asking for help, don't punish them or make them feel bad. If you teen needs help with their substance abuse, it is important to get help for your teen and to provide a really supportive atmosphere that will help them to be successful in their recovery.

Labels: teen-addiction, teen-alcohol-abuse, teen-drug-abuse, teen-drug-help, teen-rehab, teen-substance-abuse

posted by beth @ 4:11 PM