Survey: Fewer Parents Talking to Children About Drugs

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America has released the results of a study that looks at how often parents talk to their teenage children about drugs. The study found that the number of talks is on the decrease.

This is the nineteenth year that they have taken this survey, called The Partnership's 19th Annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS). This is the only survey of its kind in the country and it explores the attitudes and thoughts of the parents and what they think of the changes in today's drug culture. The organization that takes the survey for the Partnership is GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media

The survey just released contains information for the year 2006 and it shows that 12% fewer parents are talking to their teens frequently, which in the survey means four or more times a year, than were in 2005. The figure from 2005 is 55% and today it is down to 49%.

When they asked parents about what drugs they talked to the teens about, 54% said they throughly talked about heroin, cocaine and crack. When it came to discussing prescription drugs, the figure dropped to 36% and just 33% discussed the dangers of over the counter drugs like cold medications.

The survey also revealed the fact that parents do not know that over the counter drugs, when used improperly, are just as dangerous and prescription drugs are when they are abused.

When they asked the children what drugs they used, they reported that they had used prescription drugs such as Adderall and/or Ritalin, which are stimulants , Vicodin, OxyContin, and/or Tylox , which are pain killers. They said that they were able to obtain the drugs without a prescription. They also admitted that they used over the counter medications to get high.

Most of the parents know about the new drug threats, the use of prescription and over the counter drugs that teens are facing, but they do not take the time to enlighten the teens to the medical risks they are taking. As matter of fact, they are about 33% less likely to discuss the dangers of prescription and over the counter drugs than they are to discuss the use of heroin, cocaine, and crack.

Almost 33% of the parents say they need more information about drugs so they can give the teens the right information, 30% say they need help is learning how to just approach the subject, and 37% want information on how they can tell if the teen is actually using anything.

Children who learn about drugs at home are 50% less likely to use drugs, and yet only 31% say they have had any talks with their parents. The main reason that the children give for not using drugs is that they do no want to disappoint their parents.

source: Partnership for a Drug-Free America http://www.drugfree.org