Do you remember during A Christmas Story, that classic movie about Ralphie, the cute bespectacled little boy who wants an “official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!” If you haven’t seen it, you probably live on Mars or you turn your TV off the whole of November and December every year. During the tire changing scene, Ralphie drops all the lug nuts and they fall down the sewer hole, then he says…in the presence of his dad… a dirty word . They go home, he tells on his buddy by saying to his mom that the OTHER kid taught him the WORD. While Ralphie sits there thinking about the different flavors of soap, his shocked mother calls the other kid’s mom and says, “You’ll never guess what YOUR son taught MY little Ralphie to say.”
Isn’t that the way so many of us parents are?

Since we as parents feel that our children are extensions of ourselves, it is often hard to keep a realistic view of what they are doing or not doing, especially when it comes to alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. Continue reading →

This is an introduction to an eight-part series on teens and drug use.

Parents have one thing in common: we worry about our kids and want them to live happy, healthy lives. But national data captured in 2009 shows that, by the time teens reach their senior year, more than 43% are regularly drinking alcohol and more than 23% are using illicit drugs.* Although it may seem like an impossible task, parents and families can protect youth from substance abuse. Over the next couple of months we (this blog is being written by a team of substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals) will answer the questions below and provide you with tools that you can use to create the best possible outcomes for your kids.

• Why do kids use drugs?
• What makes some kids use drugs/alcohol and others not?
• What’s the difference between what youth think/do and what parents know about what they think/do?
• What influence do parents really have over their kids use?
• How can you talk to your kid about drugs?
• If your kid is already using, what can you do?
• What can a parent do to help prevent drug or alcohol use?
• Why didn’t the “war on drugs” really work?

Giselle Bango, MS, MFTA
Prevention Coordinator and Substance Abuse Counselor
ARP Addiction Recovery & Prevention