How are you shattering the myths about drugs with your kids

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of National Institute on Drug Abuse. All opinions are 100% mine.

Raising kids in today’s world is so hard. We cannot take anything for granted and I constantly feel like I have to remind myself not to be naive.

Here is the deal. As a parent who has never struggled with drugs in my life, I am guilty of minimizing the fact that our family could ever been in danger of a child having a drug or alcohol problem.

We hardly ever have wine or any sort of alcohol in our house. If I do, it’s because I am using it for cooking.

I did not try drugs as a teen. I never once thought in high school or during my teen years that drugs would fix my problems or allow me to escape from something. As a child and teenager, I watched many people in my family, and around me, allow drugs and substances to control their life. I knew drugs were never something I wanted anything to do with. I have never hidden this from the kids and have always been open about the dysfunction this created in our family when I was growing up.  I thank God that I never went down that path. 

Yet, I still find myself minimizing the need to harp on it with our older kids.

We don’t smoke cigarettes, but some people in our extended family do. My kids see it and are very vocal about it being bad for everyone’s health.

We are not a family who frequents the doctor or takes medicine on a regular basis.

We homeschool and our kids are not around influences that make drinking or drugs sound fun or cool.

I guess what I am saying is I just don’t feel like my family is at risk.

And then one of our kids, out of nowhere, asks a question about drugs that makes me realize this is a topic we HAVE to talk about. No matter how we live our lives, children are going to have questions.

This infographic really puts a lot into perspective for me. After interviewing almost 44k teens I am a bit shocked that almost 6% of 12th graders are using marijuana daily. I am also surprised that 71% of high schools do not find regular marijuana use as harmful.

National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week® (also known as NDAFW), is an annual event that launched in 2010. It is a week-long observation that unites teens and science experts to debunk the myths about addiction and drugs.

This year the observance will be held from January 22nd through the 28th. It is sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Since 2010 they have held community based events called SHATTER THE MYTHS® in all 50 states and even some international sites. 

The good news is, there are things we can do as parents that can derail your child from even initiating an interest in drugs. Here is a quick family checklist you will want to read. The tips are very informative and hopefully things you are already doing things such as: Are you able to remain calm when talking to your teen about relationship issues? Are you able to calmly set limits or discipline when your teen is disrespectful?

Here are some great drug and alcohol facts you might find helpful.

 

There is a National Drug & Alcohol IQ Challenge that you can take and use as a discussion tool with your teen. I encourage you to take the test yourself. My husband and I did, and then after about the third question, we pulled our teen in because some of the terms and questions are just not things we are informed on at all. Some of the things he knew about. There are a couple of questions on the quiz about Ecstasy. I had no idea it was such a popular and used drug. I had heard of it about ten years ago. I was shocked it was a drug teens were still using. Our sixteen year old confirmed that people talk about it on Instagram and Snapchat pretty often.

Here are our results from the test. We scored a 33%. I mean, who knew that Ecstasy is now called Molly? Here is a Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know fact sheet you might find helpful. Sadly, I feel like marijuana use is very downplayed by some parents.

What are you doing, as a parent, to talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol? Is a National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week® event one you would attend as a family? You can download the Drugs: Shatter the Myths booklet here.  Do you know what to do if your teen has a problem with drugs?

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13 Comments

  1. This is great. I’m glad medical / drug field is finding more ways to help parents navigate these difficult conversations with kids. I was a rare kid who had a pretty open mom, but most of my friends struggled to go to their parents about these topics because they weren’t open and viewed them a negative to even be mentioned.

  2. This is really horrifying. Having two daughters go through the public school system and be faced with these issues, has been hard. Thankfully, our girls have stayed away from it, but I feel like we could have educated them more. Reading this makes me release how little I knew.

  3. Great post! I think many parents really need to take the time to speak with their kids. I was so happy when my daughter came to me and asked us questions about drugs. By me being a retired nurse I stress to her and other kids how important it is to stay away from drugs and cigarettes. Education is always the key!

  4. What a great initiative! I am not a parent, but I remember learning about the dangers of drugs in school at a young age. It gave me valuable information that may have saved me as a teen.

  5. I am so thankful that addiction does not run in your family! Yet sadly yes we do need to discuss these things because they will be tempted to try it many times in their lives. Homeschooling is a good thing to keep them guarded against it but as a former homeschooler myself my kids did a lot of socializing from 4H to sports and it’s “out there” as well. I am so glad you are getting a jumpstart on this conversation with your kids.

  6. Nothing in your article or the infographic surprises me. For the most part, most of the kids in NYC are smoking or vaping. And it doesnt matter what socio economic group they fall in or if kids are failing or going to magnet schools , they pretty much all do it or have tried. I discuss this topic with my daughter a lot but I am going to check out all the links because I am sure I can learn something.

  7. Those stats really are staggering! How do teens even find this much drugs?? How is it so easily available? One thing my mom did which was brilliant was make us smoke when we were children. We were so disgusted by the first puff, that we were never ever tempted to smoke again nor have any illegal drugs. It just blocked the concept from our mind.

  8. Congratulations on the infographic. The information is a very important process in the fight against drugs.

  9. I am pretty lucky in some ways our medical misfortune has helped us as my daughter understands from our own families experiences that there are drugs meant to save your life and then there are drugs that people abuse. She also understands that those things sometimes collide and just like with any other bad habit, it is easier to not have a problem if you never start.

  10. This is such a great post. I have and always will be open and honest with all my kids where drugs are concerned. I think it’s extremely important and not to hide facts and deal with the myths head on. No need to sugar coat when it will eventually be something they may be faced with. I want them armed.

  11. I have a very close friend who drinks a lot and easy to get angry after drinking. Have persuaded him to not drink too much but useless. I do research on alcohol and drug addiction. The way to help them is to let them know the effect of alcohol and drug addiction then they want to have a change on themselves. Thus have a good chance to recover. For teens, it’s better to have them notice of this like you shared in the article to attend an event before they take alcohol and drugs.

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