Substance-abuse-and-preventionJust say NO! We've all heard the ads and campaigns against drugs and illegal substances. Unfortunately we still live in a time where people fail to heed the warnings. The old-school ad with the egg and frying pan was as clear as it gets. "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" How could anyone miss or dismiss that message? Well, the substance abuse and prevention issue is still quite prominent today. Many of us are still fighting to keep drugs away from our children. I will say this, it all starts with communication. This means communication between you and your children.
I was a kid in the 80s, and spent my high school years in the 90s. Do you think issues of substance abuse and prevention were prevalent back them? Well DUH! If you thought they weren't, then you must be pretty young. These horrible substances have been around for a long time. This means there were plenty of unsavory individuals out there striving to sell them. I can happily say today that I never tried a single one. Not even a cigarette actually. This clean record assists me in talking to my children now. You know how kids always like to flip it on you. They love to ask you if you ever tried any drugs back in the day. They want to know if the preacher is clean or a hypocrite. I simply grin and tell them honestly that I never even drank when I was a teen. So far it has worked quite well. There's no rebuttal for them to jump on. I just ask them to follow my lead. Now, if you have dabbled in drugs at some point, you may want to choose your words wisely when speaking to your children. Although you shouldn't lie, you don't want to sound too criminal either. Kids love to use your past as an excuse for what they do. They know they can always pull it out of their pocket.
Expose your children to the world of substance abuse and prevention. Give them a reason not to get involved with drugs. Show them all the lives that have been ruined by such actions. Let them know that nothing good can come from drug use. The more your kids now about the reality of substance abuse and prevention, the better off they'll be.
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