A recent study found that more than half of teens will try illicit drugs at least once and almost all will try alcohol and tobacco.  So knowing this, parents are lookin for a refresher to keep their kids off drugs.  The sooner you talk about it, the better.  When they hear about the dangers of drug use, they start to understand.  By the age of ten, parents need to have a serious sit-down conversation with their kids about drug use, abuse, and the dangers therein.  Also, getting your teen involved in activities like martial arts will help deter drug use.  The warning signs are still the same: blood shot eyes, drop in grades at school, aggressive or laid back behavior, and a laid-back view on drug use. 

I think a lot of parents expose too much of their past when talking about drugs.  It should be irrelevant regarding what you did in the past because you know your own mistakes and because of that we should have learned from them.  I've used the excuse before that my mom tried drugs or she smoked pot before.  And even though it's kind of a low blow, I used it as an excuse.  Because I saw how she did drugs before and she's a very successful person.  So I think if you're going to talk to your kids about drugs, then it'd be smart to keep your past drug use in the past and not bring it up. 

I don't think there is an answer for this question. I think drugs are everywhere now and with good parenting and examples you set for your children is all you need to do so they know they don't need drugs in their lives. They will be tempted and peer pressured, but if you raise them up well then they should have no desire to try.

An addict will always have an excuse for using.  A friend of mine was raised by both parents, has never seen his parents argue and his family is very well off.  He describes his childhood as perfect.  But still, he remains addicted to marijuana, and even used cocaine in the past and has a DUI.  I think I had a worse childhood than he did, my parents are divorced, and my dad was an alcoholic.  But I don't do drugs/smoke/ or drink alcohol.  I think it just depends on how strong of a person you are to resist drugs.  A good childhood filled with trips to the beach and even a stay at home mom doesn't ensure your character and motivation.  It provides security, but you still need parenting and good role models.

I've met a lot of peers that have promised their parents that they won't try drugs.  To me this sounds like an affective way to keep your teen off drugs.  If they've promised their parents, then they obviously understand how dangerous they are and that their parents really want them to stay drug free.

My parents had countless sit down talks with me about how drugs are bad and all these things but I still did it. Talking does help but it wont stop kids.

Talking about drugs will make your kids wiser about the consequences of drugs and how bad they are for you. They will also make them realize how important being drug free is to a parent and how heart broken the parent would be if they did drugs. But I dont think it will stop kids from doing it. If they want to they will. And especially during their teen years, what their friends think of them is so much more important than what their parents think of them.

I wonder why there's been such a steep rise in teenage drug use.  I've been seeing a lot of news reports on this topic.  Do you think that a majority of parents are simply failing to talk to their kids?  Or the availability of drugs is more than before?  I think it could be a lot of different factors combined, but it's sad.  Another thing is the influence of drugs from the media and music.  Almost everyone I know that is my age, listens to rap. This type of music usually glorifies drug use, drinking, and party scenes.  If it seems like everyone else is using drugs and drinking, then teenagers won't feel weird doing drugs, they probably feel like they're fitting in more.

alessandra said: I wonder why there's been such a steep rise in teenage drug use.  I've been seeing a lot of news reports on this topic.  Do you think that a majority of parents are simply failing to talk to their kids?  Or the availability of drugs is more than before?  I think it could be a lot of different factors combined, but it's sad.  Another thing is the influence of drugs from the media and music.  Almost everyone I know that is my age, listens to rap. This type of music usually glorifies drug use, drinking, and party scenes.  If it seems like everyone else is using drugs and drinking, then teenagers won't feel weird doing drugs, they probably feel like they're fitting in more.

Alot of teens do drugs, which pressures a lot of other teens to do it. Not only pressures they make it seem like its an OK thing to do. Adults are old fashioned they dont understand that this thing is normal!! Thats how they start thinking so they do a little drug like marijuana which really doesn't do much harm but then since that was ok they want to try something stronger, they think they can handle it. And that something stronger leads to an addiction. Teen life right now makes drugs seem like such a normal thing and I think thats what provokes more teen drug abuse and its just an ongoing circle.

poodler said:
Alot of teens do drugs, which pressures a lot of other teens to do it. Not only pressures they make it seem like its an OK thing to do. Adults are old fashioned they dont understand that this thing is normal!! Thats how they start thinking so they do a little drug like marijuana which really doesn't do much harm but then since that was ok they want to try something stronger, they think they can handle it. And that something stronger leads to an addiction. Teen life right now makes drugs seem like such a normal thing and I think thats what provokes more teen drug abuse and its just an ongoing circle.

you make a good point, that seems to be what really goes on in teenage minds these days. Drugs are normal!! What really helped me out though in high school and got me the insight to drugs was when the school would have guests come and talk about drugs. One guy was a professional football player and he told us how his whole family was on drugs his friends everyone and he experimented with it a few times also, he gave us his life story and made me see what drugs do to you in the long run, not just right now in high school. They had a few more guest speakers throughout my four years, but I actually took the words they said to heart and listened to them more than I did my own parents and teachers and DARE officers.