<p>I see drugs can become issue with some teens. Tell if you agree or disagree. I feel that the best way to basically steer your child in the right direction is by having them doing a sport.</p>
<p>I’ve seen drugs become an issue with students from all walk of life–athletes, high income families, low income, artsy, musically inclined, all races, religions, two parent families, one parent and children in foster care. The biggest factor I see in steering your child in the right direction is spending time with your child, talking to him/her, listening, and observing. Also, not being afraid to be the “bad guy” when necessary. Sports can take alot of that “free” time and help keep them focused and hopefully want to maintain a great physical condition—but other activities can also reap the same benefits. For my kids, sports were big and they served to allow us much additional one on one time with our kids. I think the individual interests of the child need to be looked at and then those interests encouraged and nurtured.</p>
<p>I agree with MKM. It isn’t doing a sport, in and of itself, that might help keep a child away from drugs, it’s keeping them busy and connected to a group of nonusing peers. Friends become everything to teens, so know your child’s friends well. Ask questions about who they are and where they’re going and if there’s a party planned, talk to the other parents to make sure someone will be home. Encourage your child to have their friends gather and hang out at your home rather than elsewhere.</p>
<p>Another key strategy is to help your kid have a goal, something that allows them to keep their “eyes on the prize” so that they can see that there’s a good reason for them to decline if they get tempted. Even as simple a goal as the desire to go away to college, to get out of the house, and away from parental control can be pretty effective.</p>
<p>I think it’s a crapshoot. You can do all the right things and they still turn to drugs. Parents should do all they can, including get their kids involved in sports and spending quality time with them. If they then turn to drugs it’s not a reflection on the parenting IMO but hopefully a bad moment in time that can be turned around with intervention and motivation on the teens part to want to change. Failing that, hopefully time and maturity will help.</p>
<p>The best thing for a kid to do is to never touch the stuff.</p>
<p>I just wish that more kids my age had this common sense.</p>
<p>Ive seen drugs do some crazy **** to kids…none of them positive.</p>
<p>“Ive seen drugs do some crazy **** to kids…none of them positive.”</p>
<p>Sometimes this is the biggest deterent of all. I remember one of the essays my son had to write for his college app. was something like “What make you angry?”. He wrote about how angry he was that drugs destroyed so many of his childhood friends–they were no longer the same people, had no goals or ambitions and he really missed the people they once were.</p>
<p>Doing sports is a good thing, but just because a kid does sports does not mean they are immune to drugs:</p>
<p>You have a number of jocks doing drugs- alcohol being a biggie
We also have many kids who do sports who smoke</p>
<p>There is also steroids in sports- apparently its pretty big in highschool sports to do roids…</p>
<p>A problem we have is that many drugs are good, many are bad, and we have to remember that alcohol and nicotine are drugs</p>
<p>Smoking among teens may be going back up, as it is no longer decreasing in use</p>
<p>Then we have kids having pharm parties with mom and dads meds</p>
<p>We tend to focus on meth, coke, pot, but there is a lot more out there, much of it “legal”, such as kids sharing adhd meds, or stealing alcohol</p>
<p>When my children were younger, we were foster parents. That was probably the biggest deterrent to my kids. We communicated openly and often about why the kids we cared for couldn’t live at home. My kids saw lives that were messed up by drugs and alcohol abuse, uncontrolled emotion, and all forms of selfishness and/or perversion. They lived with kids who smoked, rebelled, acted out, and were otherwise harmed by their actions or the actions of others. These were not kids my kids envied or idolized in any way, and I think they learned to associate these kids with these behaviors and had no desire to emulate them.</p>
<p>I have always thought that kids who get in the most trouble, be in drugs, alchohol, breaking the law, etc., are ones with too much free time.</p>
<p>I see these kids all the time, wandering around, hanging around, somewhat aimlessly. Often times, I see them hanging in big packs, but still not doing anything productive.</p>
<p>I would never purport to say that involved kids can’t fall into the abyss too (and some do, from stress from other arenas), but it is simply less likely, particularly if they are goal driven.</p>
<p>So many reasons a kid might turn to drugs. Pressure can be one of them; not being interested in what they are doing could be another. So I would not “steer” my kid into sports. I would follow the advice of mkm and others that the kid having goals, interests, activities and an appropriate amount of down time (not too much) is good. Therefore, I would watch to see what interests them - for my S it was music - symphonic band, jazz band and (his ultimate true love) rock band. While he did play several sports over the years (and in hs only one sport), it was not his area to shine and I wouldn’t have wanted to over-focus on it.</p>
<p>Drugs are not good for you! Kids might do them out of boredoom or peer pressure. I think those are the big two. So find them an activity they enjoy, and tell them not to fall into peer pressure.</p>
<p>I think the best things you can do are: Set a good example yourself, Raise your children with enormous quantities of love and caring, Make it clear in a positive way that you have high expectations, and Steer the kid into positive activities and organizations that are frequented by other good kids. It could be sports, it could be the band, it could be church groups, it could be anything that gives the kids a group to belong to where the influences are positive rather than negative.</p>
<p>And after having done all that, you still hope and pray…</p>
<p>I also think that teens turn to drugs to self medicate
depression- anxiety- add- these things aren’t always recognized by inattentive parents or even medical professionals.
OUr society is pretty stressful and while I would agree wholeheartedly with the positive effects of physical exercise, you need to be pretty motivated to start that & if drinking a few beers can make you as relaxed, some kids may find that option pretty attractive.</p>
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<p>i didnt know that.</p>
<p>And yet, I’ve read that many kids today casually take Ritalin, Adderall, and other “smart” drugs. Drugs should be reserved for those who have serious health conditions. What kind of message does it send when the powers-that-be expect EVERYONE to be on a certain drug?</p>
<p>Drugs are a problem if a student with prior emotional/maturity issues takes them, or if they start eating up the time/focus of any student or human being in general. I think it’s possible to use drugs recreationally and still be safe, responsible, and successful. But it’s a fine line. Doing drugs in high school really eats up valuable time. Time is much more available in college.</p>
<p>As a high-school student…I know several successful, happy, Ivy-league-headed students who are under control and are not ruled by drugs, but who use them occasionally. The key is really not parental control or statements like “DRUGS TURN GOOD TEENS BAAAAAAD.” The most important thing is ready access to love and reassurance, so a casual event does not turn into a controlling habit. If a student is happy and loved, he/she will not turn to the “Wrong crowd” and do drugs for the wrong reasons–unhappiness, desire to escape, addiction.</p>
<p>As a postscript: Adderall is widely used. Prescription drugs like Adderall and Xanax are readily available and cheap. I go to a relatively diverse prep school in the South, and Adderall is by far the most popular drug after alcohol and possibly marijuana.
Adderall is a “helpful” drug for students–it does aid concentration and elevate mood when taken in small doses. I have rarely seen it used “to get high.” After extensive google searching, I have not found much evidence to show that the occasional unprescribed Adderall pill causes bodily harm or dependence. The major harms, and those reported in the media, occur when students with heart problems use it without doing their research. (Adderall should not be used by those with heart problems.)</p>
<p>ADD is overdiagnosed anyway. Adderall isn’t evil. Parents should instead focus on the reasons WHY a student might turn to drugs, and go from there. Drug abuse is the problem, not the occasional pill. What parent doesn’t occasionally turn to a pill after a rough day at work? Aspirin IS a drug.</p>
<p>I second jimbob. I know many, MANY extremely bright, athletic, sucessfull kids who use drugs recreationally. Moderation becomes the keyword, although I know many potheads (smoke at least 4 times a day, usually more) who get into and attend Ivy League schools who also participate in sports.</p>
<p>To clarify my previous post; I wasn’t talking about pot, tobacco, or alcohol. I was referring to things like cocaine, heroid, speed, etc.</p>
<p>Hm. A good friend of mine lived in a semi-rural area of the state. He is brilliant and goes to Harvard. He did heroin in high school and now does coke. Just because he goes to Harvard, does that make his hard-drug use OK? No. But it does raise interesting questions about moderation and recreational use.</p>