Friday, October 18, 2013

Talking to Your Kids About Drugs

You are the first line of defense for your kids against drug and alcohol abuse. The best thing that you can do for your children is to give them all of the advice that they need before they get into a situation that is risky or dangerous.

When your kids don’t feel like they are at ease talking to you, they are going to talk to someone else. That someone else may be someone who isn’t well versed on drugs, who would like to see them get into drugs, or who would help them to experiment with things that are not going to be good for them.

The best way to prevent your kids from testing drugs is to give them the preparation that they need and deserve from you well prior to the time that it might be a consideration.

Depending on the age of your child, use age appropriate materials that they can understand. Begin at age five or six which is not so young when you think about the fact that many young children are exposed to older kids on the bus. They need to know that taking candy or pills or other things from older children or from teens isn’t an activity that they should be doing.

Explaining in a way that they can understand what might happen and why you want them to be prepared is simply good sense. Arming your child to deal with the things that may come their way when you are not with them is far better than allowing them to be blind to the hazards that are out there.

A wide range of books are available today to help you if you have problems speaking to your kids about drugs and alcohol. Finding the right materials which are appropriate to their age group means looking for several different types of material for each child. Their needs and their understanding will be different at age five than at age eight, but both children need to be equally prepared to live a healthier and happier life.