INFORMATION FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

Parenting Tips: Key to Prevention                                   

Dear Parents/Guardians:                                                                            Fall, 2007

Parenting Tips for the Teen Years

Keep the following tips in mind as you guide your kids through the teen years:

Make sure your teen knows your rules – and that you’ll enforce the consequences if rules are broken. Teens can understand the reason for rules and appreciate having limits in place. This applies to no use rules about tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs – as well as curfews and homework. Research shows that kids are less likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs if their parents have established a pattern of setting clear rules and consequences for breaking those rules.

Let your teen in on all the things you find wonderful about him/her. He/she needs to hear a lot of positive comments about his/her life and who he/she is as an individual – not just when he/she makes the basketball team.

Show interest – and discuss – your child’s daily ups and downs. You’ll earn the child’s trust, know how to talk to each other, and won’t take your child by surprise when you voice a strong point of view about drugs.

Tell your teen about the negative effect alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs have on physical appearance. Teens are extremely concerned with their physical appearance. If they believe drug use will impair their looks and health, they are unlikely to be tempted by these practices. Tell them about a time you saw a friend or acquaintance get sick from alcohol – reinforce how completely disgusting it was.

Don’t just leave your child’s anti-drug education up to his/her school.  Ask your teens what they’ve learned about drugs in school and then continue with that topic or introduce new topics. A few to consider: the long-term effects that tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs have on the human body; how and why chemical dependence occurs – including the unpredictable nature of dependency and how it varies from person to person; the impact of drug use on society – societal costs of impaired health and loss of productivity; maintaining a healthy lifestyle; positive approaches to stress reduction; or setting realistic short-and long-term goals.*

Tips to Keep a Closer Eye on Your Teenager

Feel like you’re losing touch with your teen? Here are six tips on how to keep a closer eye on your son or daughter.

1. Try to be home when he/she comes home in the evening. Make your child have a conversation with you before he/she goes to his room so you can look and smell for signs of alcohol or drug use.

2. If you’re suspicious about your teens’ activities, check with their friends’ parents to find out what they know.

3. Let her know that you’ll be spot-checking him/her for signs of drinking or marijuana use.

4. Be on the lookout for empty beer cans or bottles of alcohol that turn up in your trash. And if they do, make sure your question your teenager about them.

5. When your children tell you they’re going to a party, find out where it is and make sure it’s supervised. If it’s not, don’t allow them to go.

6. When they’re at a party, have them phone in and talk to your briefly. This isn’t fool proof, but it makes them think twice about getting drunk because they wonder if you can tell. They’ll balk at the idea of calling, but you can make it a condition for going.*

*Partnership for a Drug Free America