Friday, December 23, 2011

How parents can prevent teen drug use

Here is a roundup of parenting-related information that has been sitting in my Inbox . . .

Arguing with mom preps teens for peer pressure (TODAY!Moms)

New report shows that adolescents are far more likely to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs if they live with a parent that drives under the influence (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

Adult-supervised Alcohol Use and Harmful Consequences among American and Australian Teens (Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center)

From the CDC:
  • Positive Parenting Tips -- Young Teens (12 to 14 years)
  • Positive Parenting Tips -- Teenagers (15-17 years)
  • "Parents Are the Key" -- CDC offers parents tools and proven steps for reducing teen driving injuries and deaths.
I set the rules of the road. www.cdc.gov/parentsarethekey

4 comments:

Norma Norris said...

Here in PA and in 8 other states we are having success reaching parent/child together with a program on NREPP called 'Reality Tour'. It's like a mini-retreat for parent and child to connect while also paarticipating in a prevention training. Since it is volunteer-driven it is sustainable as well. www.RealityTour.org

Inga Manskopf said...

Thanks for sharing information about what is happening in other parts of the country, Norma. I think it's important to share information about what works.

Here in our community, we offer Strengthening Families to our middle school families, including children. Our coalition is also implementing a social marketing campaign for families that supports the parenting tips and tools that are learned in Strengthening Families.

On the NREPP website, I noticed that the target audience for Reality Tour is youth. In our community, our middle school teaches Life Skills Training to youth.

I think this is a good example of why community coalitions are so important. Each community can assess their community, look at what the risk factors are in their communities and then determine which prevention programs work best for them. For instance, NREPP states that Reality Tour has been effective in suburban communities. Our community coalition only looked at NREPP programs that were proven effective in urban communities since we are located in a large city.

For those of you reading this who are not familiar with NREPP, it is an online database of tested and effective prevention programs: http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov

glad said...

I agree that preventing our teens from drug use is better than treating them. But I think that not all parents can prevent their teens from abusing drugs that is why there are dug treatment facilities available to serve those who wants to get out of the addiction.

Inga Manskopf said...

You are right, glad. While parents are the primary influence on the choices teens make, there are many other things to consider that have an influence, as well. That's what I really like about coalition work -- we are addressing multiple things in our community that can affect whether teenagers make healthy choices or not.

Now, for youth and adults who need help with addiction . . . in Seattle and Washington State, the Alcohol & Drug Help Line is a great resource for finding help for addiction problems, including referrals to treatment: www.adhl.org