Prevent Drug Abuse
What Can Parents Do To Prevent Their Children From Using Drugs?
When it comes to talking about serious subjects like alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, an overwhelming 70 percent of teens are more at ease when talking with their moms.
Parents you should talk to your children every day. Share what happened to you and ask what happened to them during the day. Establish an ongoing conversation rather than giving a one time speech.
Discuss rules, expectations, and consequences in advance and be sure to enforce the consequences.
This year more than two percent of high school seniors in a national survey said they had used marijuana in a one month period.
Researchers say seniors using marijuana daily is at its highest level since the early 80's.
It's not just high school students, however. The report shows more eighth graders are also using pot and use among tenth graders is also rising.
Parents you may not want to hear this but you have to be a positive role model, children imitate adults.
There is a high likelihood that your teen will be exposed to drugs and alcohol and according to drug statistics from the National Institute on drug abuse there is a good chance that your teen will try drugs. Some 13 year old's have already tried drugs as powerful as cocaine.
Communicating your beliefs and values about drugs and alcohol gives your children a set of guidelines and limits to help them. Discussion about these issues should begin in early childhood. Parents who send a clear message of "no drug use" are setting expectations for the kids, and this will help their kids stay away from drugs. Most teens don't want to disappoint their families. Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug among youth today and is more potent than ever. Marijuana use can lead to a host of significant health, social, learning, and behavioral problems at a crucial time in a young person's development.
Getting high also impairs judgment, which can lead to risky decision making on issues like sex, criminal activity, or riding with someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Most parents are surprised to learn that they are the most powerful influence on their children when it comes to drugs. But, it's true, so this message needs to start with parents. Kids need to hear how risky marijuana use can be.
They need to know how damaging it can be to their lives. And they need to begin by listening to someone they trust. By staying involved, knowing what their kids are doing, and setting limits with clear rules and consequences, parents can keep their kids drug-free. Some parents who saw marijuana being widely used in their youth still wonder: Is marijuana really so bad for my child? The answer is an emphatic yes! Not convinced? Need more reasons? Kids who smoke marijuana engage in risky behavior, like having sex, including havning sex with multiple partners and having sex at a early age.
Recently, scientists in England produced further evidence linking marijuana use to respiratory problems in young people. A research team at the University of Birmingham found that regular use of marijuana, even for less than six years, causes a marked deterioration in lung function.
These findings, the study concludes, may have serious long term implications for what is currently regarded as a relatively ‘harmless’ recreational habit. Within a few minutes after inhaling marijuana smoke, an individual's heart begins beating more rapidly, the bronchial passages relax and become enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look red.
The heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even double. This effect can be greater if other drugs are taken with marijuana.
This year more than two percent of high school seniors in a national survey said they had used marijuana in a one month period.
Researchers say seniors using marijuana daily is at its highest level since the early 80's.
It's not just high school students, however. The report shows more eighth graders are also using pot and use among tenth graders is also rising.
Things To Say To Your Child:
Marijuana is illegal.
- Marijuana now exists in forms that are stronger with higher levels of THC, the psychoactive ingredient than in the 1960s.
- Studies show that someone who smokes five joints a week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.
- Hanging around users of marijuana often means being exposed not only to other illegal drugs, but also to a lifestyle that can include trouble in school, engaging in sexual activity while young, unintended pregnancy, difficulties with the law, and other problems.
- Marijuana use can slow down reaction time and distort perceptions. This can interfere with athletic performance, decrease a sense of danger, and increase risk of injury.
- Regular marijuana users can lose the ability to concentrate that is needed to master important academic skills, and they can experience short-term memory loss. Habitual marijuana users tend to do worse in school and are more likely to drop out altogether.
- Teens who rely on marijuana as a chemical crutch and refuse to face the challenges of growing up never learn the emotional, psychological, and social lessons of adolescence.
- Large amounts of marijuana for years, the drug takes its toll on mental functions. Heavy or daily use of marijuana affects the parts of the brain that control memory, attention, and learning.
- Long-term marijuana use leads to addiction in some people.
- Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, concentration, coordination, and reaction time. Marijuana use can make it difficult to judge distances and react to signals and sounds on the road.
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Source: The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign's Behavior Change Expert Panel
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