Children require a lot of power to stand firm under peer demands and media control. The most helpful weapon when it comes to alcohol and drugs for your children is facts and knowledge, instead of shock strategy and pressure from their parents. Children’s trust in parents can go way up on the scale when they actually researched the topic of drugs with their parents. Many successful parents decide that one of the best ways to avoid their children being drawn into drugs, is to educate them, and learn together, rather than simply condemning the topic out of hand. Children usually believe things that they figure out for themselves, rather than things that they have head from their parents secondhand. Also, as most parents know, teenagers want to do the exact things that their parents say is “bad for them”. So, taking the time to research together with your children will encourage them to absorb what they are learning about, rather than simply giving out parental warnings and threats that they can shrug off.It’s not uncommon that the more those parents say “don’t do it”, then the more their kids want to. Many of the children who do use alcohol and drugs, in fact had very strict parents who would not even speak of such habits in the household. And thus these are the children seem to fall prey to a taboo effect. The psychology of taboo means that children often try something simply because they are not supposed to. Don’t add the mystique of just saying “no”. Research the effects of drugs, alcohol, and smoking with your son or daughter.
Awareness of Drugs and Alcohol among Children
If you do not want to create that taboo effect in your household, while you do not wish to condone alcohol and drugs, you should make sure that your kids know that they can talk to you about these issues at anytime they wish. Although many parents may disagree, but other say that if their kids are going to try alcohol then they might as well try it in safety at home. One advantage of this liberal approach is that in children’s minds, if it does not seem like things are “off limits” then they will not be attracted to doing it just because they are not supposed to. In short, talk honestly with your children about these issues. Do not make using alcohol and drugs outside of the home appealing by condemning the subject and banning all discussion of it. By these ways you may be really surprised about how well adjusted and mature, your children can be, when they are given the opportunity and how fine that they can help out to refuse to accept peer pressure.