When you’re parenting a teen, it’s easy to see all the pressures he’s under in his daily life. Not only are there stresses from school, sometimes a part-time job, and extracurricular activities, but his friends are often a source of peer pressure. This shouldn’t always be a source of alarm — peer pressure can be positive, or it can be negative.
When your teen starts to experience negative peer pressure to use drugs, the danger he is in becomes more prevalent. While experts disagree on how much damage marijuana and alcohol can do (both to adults and to the developing brains and bodies of teens), heavier drugs unquestionably will harm your teen in many ways.
The drugs in your medicine cabinet can easily be gateway drugs — pain relievers and cough medicines can be used to get a high, for instance. At parties, your teen can be exposed to street, prescription, and over-the-counter drugs, and he has to be able to say “no”.
Open conversations about drugs should begin when your teenager is in middle school, but if you haven’t talked to him before, it’s not too late. The sooner, the better, as many teens are exposed to talk about drugs or even temptation to use them everyday at school or during social activities. Try to make it clear through “teachable moments” in TV or other forms of media that you don’t approve of the activity and feel strongly about it, because drug use can seriously harm people.
Teenagers’ drug use is often a social activity, so try to focus the conversation around that. You can try asking him whether teens use drugs recreationally in his social group. Whatever you do, avoid sounding like you’re preaching, as this will only make your teen tune you out. If possible, share stories about how you resisted drugs (or didn’t) when you were a teen, if marijuana and other drugs were used at your school or in your social groups. Realizing that you’ve been through the same temptations will make your teen more likely to ask you for advice or come to you for help.
See if you can talk to your teen about how to handle these situations without being judgmental or critical, as many teens have at least one or two friends who have tried drugs or use them on a regular basis. Make sure he has coping strategies that involve being able to say “no” to using it himself, without criticizing or passing judgment on those who do.
Make an effort to really listen to your teen’s concerns, curiosity, or problems about drug use (as well as other aspects of his life). Help him handle his concerns while being clear that you disapprove of drug use, and give him the tools to resist using drugs himself, in the form of problem-solving strategies. Don’t forget to include alcohol as a type of drug, as many teens don’t think of it that way, and it can become a “gateway drug”, particularly when teens with low willpower are impaired by alcohol and offered heavier drugs.
With the proper strategies, you can help your teen resist drug use without making him tune you out.
Related posts:
- Your Teen and the Internet
- Teen Sexuality: Your Little Kid All Grown Up?
- How to Tell if Your Teen is in Trouble
- How to Communicate With Your Teen
- Teen Depression and Suicide
Tags: Teen Drug Abuse Addiction, Teen Drug Abuse Warning Signs, Teen Drug Use, Teenage Drug Abuse