Raising Kids in the Know!: What you can do

Action 5
Know! how to discuss the consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use

The year that your child enters middle school or junior high is both an exciting and challenging time for children.

They're little fish in a big pond and desperately want to fit in. Because your children may now see older students using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and may think they are cool and selfassured, your children may be tempted to try drugs, too. Drug use goes up dramatically in the first year of middle school or junior high.

No matter where you live, your children will be exposed to all kinds of drugs from now on, so you need to be familiar with all the information about drugs that they may be receiving.

At this time when peer approval means everything, your children may make you feel unwelcome. But while your children are pulling away from you to establish their own identities or may seem to be embarrassed by you, they need you to be involved in their lives more than ever before.

To help your children make good choices during this critical phase, you should:

• Make sure they're well versed in the reasons to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other drugs;
• Get to know their friends by taking them to and from after-school activities, games, the library, and movies (while being sensitive to their need to feel independent);
• Volunteer for activities where you can observe your child at school;
• Get acquainted with the parents of your children's friends and learn about their children's interests and habits. If it seems that your child is attracted to those with bad habits, reiterate why drug use is unacceptable.

Drug Myth vs. Reality

While you are teaching the facts about drugs, your child is getting lots of misinformation and mythology from peers. Be aware and be ready to address the half-truths and misinformation that children hear and believe, such as:

Myth: Marijuana is not harmful because it is "all natural" and comes from a plant.
Truth: Marijuana smoke contains some of the same cancer-causing compounds as tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations.

Myth: It's okay to use marijuana as long as you're not a chronic user or "stoner."
bOccasional use can lead to frequent use.

Myth: Because sniffing powdered heroin doesn't require needles, it isn't very risky (40% of the high school seniors polled do not believe there is a great risk in trying heroin).
Truth: Heroin is dangerous no matter how it's ingested. Once addicted to heroin, users may eventually switch to injecting the drug because it's cheaper.

Myth: Drugs are not that dangerous and I can handle it.
Truth: Drug use is extremely unpredictable and affects people differently. Anyone can become addicted to drugs.

Myth: Everyone is doing it.
Truth: Research shows that more than four out of five eighth graders have not used drugs in the past month. Even among high school seniors (the group with the highest rate of marijuana use), only a quarter of those polled in a national study reported using the drug in the last month. In any given school, most students aren't doing drugs.

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