Talking to Teenagers About Drugs

If you are a parent of teenagers, you are probably aware of the pressures they face each day. Many of the pressures are relatively harmless, to excel at sports, to wear trendy clothes, etc. But some of them are not so harmless; they involve drugs, alcohol and sex.

The best way to prevent problems in these areas is to establish a good communicative relationship with your teenagers. Difficult as it may seem, being able to talk with your children is a vital step in preventing drug abuse.

It can be difficult for many parents to start a conversation about drug use. They simply don't know where to start. Most people feel that these sorts of "talks" require a serious sit-down and discussion in detail, but the opposite is true. Teenagers seldom pay much attention to these formal sit-down talks, they respond far better to informal chats.

So, the best time to talk to teenagers about drugs is while you are preparing dinner, driving to soccer practice, or working on a puzzle together. It doesn't have to be formal and you can use every day situations to bring the topic up.

Here are some common scenarios and how to turn them into a discussion about peer pressure and drug use:

1. Situation: Mother and daughter are going shoe shopping and pass a homeless person who is obviously high.
Instead of ignoring this person, the mother could comment on his condition and mention that she hopes never to see her children so unhappy that they need to turn to drugs.

2. Situation: Father and daughter are watching a cheerleading movie where drugs are offered to the main character.
The father might ask his daughter casually if she has ever been offered the drug. This can provide a deep insight into how she feels about this sort of thing.

3. Situation: Mother is reading paper at the kitchen table, son is eating breakfast.
Mother might bring up the fact that a recent drug raid in a local high school turned up 15 students with drugs in their lockers. She might ask her son if he knows anyone who would have been caught in a raid like this.

As you can see, there are many ways to incorporate these chats into your daily life. The above are just a few examples.

Teenagers respond well to anecdotes, so sharing about the time you tried marijuana will go over far better than a simple lecture about the evils of the drug. You might explain that you didn't like how it made you groggy and how you noticed that your friends who were constant users changed drastically. Sharing personal experiences doesn't mean you will lose respect; rather you will gain it for speaking honestly.

By making a point of talking about drugs and drug use, your teenagers will be more likely to open up to you about the pressures they face at school and with friends every day. So, start chatting with your teenagers today.