Parental Awareness

Parents often say they want to know everything that is going on in their children's lives. But is that really true? Parents need to be aware that drug use generally begins months, or even years, before parents actually do become aware of their teens drug use. Certain topics, such as children's sexual behavior, underage drinking, and gang violence are subjects so uncomfortable parents often choose to ignore them, or perhaps only lightly approach them, often cloaked in denial, hoping these issues will not affect their family. Parents recognize consequences of these issues can be frightening. However, silently clinging to the denial and hope that these issues will not be part of their children's lives can create an equally devastating consequence. And no topic is any more frightening to a parent than teen substance abuse.

Parenting presents continuing challenges. Putting on blinders will never create resolutions. The subject of teenage drug abuse is very wide and multifaceted, involving many drugs and their variations. It will not be possible to cover all information regarding teenage drug abuse here, but rather it is our desire to broaden your information so that you may feel more confident about parenting decisions surrounding teenage drug use as it pertains to your children. For even when a parent does become aware of drug use, they often underestimate the extent of their child’s involvement.