Talking to Teens About Drugs When a Parent Has Tried Drugs in the Past

Communicating the negative effects of drugs and alcohol with your teen can be difficult and sensitive issue. Even though the thought of having this discussion is daunting, it is a discussion that cannot be ignored. The consequences of not speaking to your child about drugs could have detrimental affects on your child's life.

When speaking to your teen, it is important to set guidelines that your teen can follow to make good decisions. Discussing your beliefs and values about drug use will shape your child's views and influence their decisions. This conversation cannot be a one time discussion. As a parent, you will need to continue to discuss what is happening at school, what your teen sees on television or reads on the internet. Make the discussion of drugs a normal and regular topic in your household. It will help your child be more receptive to the information as well as make your child feel more comfortable asking questions.

Many times, when talking to a teen about drug use, the teen will ask if the parent ever used drugs.

It will be easy for parents who have never used drugs to say that they didn't and move on from there. However, if you have used drugs in the past, be honest with your teen. It is better to tell them the truth than risk them finding out and not listening or following your advice. Teens will appreciate that you are being honest and will listen better if you are able to make them feel like you know what they are feeling or going through. Just remember not to glamorize your drug use experience. Instead, when speaking to your teen about your drug use, it's important to emphasize the mistakes of the decision and that you don't want the teen to make the same mistakes.

"The reason I did drugs was because my friends were doing it. I wanted to be popular. However, back then we didn't know all the things we know now about drugs. If only I knew what we know now, I would not have done them. Now, I just want to make sure you don't make the same mistake that I did.

"Doing drugs was a stupid mistake and I regret making that mistake. I wanted to tell you that I used drugs because I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did. I want you to learn from me not by doing what I did but by seeing my mistakes and staying away from them yourself".

"I was a risk taker and I wanted something exciting to try. The problem was that my decision ended up costing me more than I could handle. The drugs started to control my life and rather than making my life easier to deal with it made it even harder."

"You have so many things going for you, school, sports and friends. You don't need to get into something that will ruin all of these great things in your life right now. If you start doing drugs you will have trouble studying, you will have mood swings and you won't be able to perform athletically. Soon everything you have worked for will be gone, like it did with me."

"There's no way to know what drugs will do to your body. You could only use drugs one time and become addicted. Once you are addicted, it will be difficult to stop; you will lose control over your life. If you don't become addicted, the drugs could also make you very sick. There is just no way to know and it's not worth the risk."