Teenager Issue

How do you create a drug-free environment for your children? Here are a few tips:

• Stay engaged with your teenager's life,
• Listen to your teenager,
• Keep track of what they are doing and when,
• Get to know your teen's friends and their parents,
• If a teenage party is planned, call the parents for details,
• Make sure your kids are rewarded for good behaviour,
• Encourage open and honest communication between parent and child.

When your teenage child is going out, ask them questions, such as the following:

• Who are they going to be with?
• What will they be doing?
• How long will they be out for?
• and, where are they going to be?

Talk to your kids about the importance of honest communication, and if they say they are going to be somewhere doing something, you expect them to be telling you the truth.

Remember being a teenager right after school when everyone would get together and socialize before going home? This critical time of the day, from 3 to 6 pm, is often when drug use happens. There are several things you can do to try and deal with this very influential period of the day:

• Make an effort to be with your teens at that time, if possible,
• Try to have a positive influence present (an adult or trusted friends) watching over them or being active with them,
• See that they're engaged in extra-curricular activities that interest them such as sports, jobs, clubs, after-school programs or groups that you know of and can trust.

Set Boundaries

Expectations

Setting expectations is a skill that requires practice as a parent. It's important on this issue to be consistent and clear that you will not allow any illicit drug use in your house at an early age, because when young people enter high school, their risk of drug use can be greater if expectations have not been clearly outlined.

Rules

Sure, your teenage children are spending less time with you as they grow older. This is even more reason to continue to set rules around drug use. Ensuring this message stays consistent will help your teenager resist pressures to use drugs as they move into their later teenage years. Rules are more likely to be effective if your teenager is involved in determining the rules with you as a parent, rather than just having the rules imposed on them.

Consequences