Talking to your tween about substance abuse

Finally--a great article about when to address your child about drug use and it is written by Moms! Very very good advice--they have three tips in the article and discuss them thoroughly:
1. don't scare them
2. avoid lecturing
3. talk about peer pressure

Picture linked from Charlotteobserver.com

I suspect that one of these Charlotte Moms is in recovery--simply because this is a common sense article. I don't need to restate what they wrote--you can read it yourself. If you have a "tween" I think this is a must read!

Talking to your tween about substance abuse | MomsCharlotte.com: "Believe it or not, it is never too soon to speak with your children regarding alcohol or drug use.
You may have noticed that kids these days are more mature and less innocent than perhaps you were at their age. We can thank the Internet for this and the era of cell phone, text messages and Facebook"

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How to Become an Oldtimer: Don't Drink and Don't Die-Kindle Store

Day By Day's Latest book is out on Kindle.Written by an old-timer in sobriety--it is a look at the basic wisdom in recovery. Think about getting it for your "babies" or for your sponsor. They don't have a Kindle? No problem, download them a free reader from Amazon for their computer.

How to become an Old-Timer; Don't Drink and Don't Die!

: "A Politically incorrect look at recovery from an old hippie turned Old-timer

In the 12 Step programs we need newcomers to tell us where we came from and Old-timers to remind us of how it works as we trudge that road of happy destiny. It's called "carrying the message." If you've been around the program for even a few months you will already have been told many myths about meetings, sponsors, the opposite sex and our sole purpose. You have questions? This Old-timer has some answers. "

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10 Tips to Prevent Teen Drug/Substance Abuse | Helping Kids Succeed - Yahoo Shine

I was looking for something else and found this article about 10 tips to prevent drug abuse in your kid. Sigh. Most of the 'advice" is just common sense as if all you parents are dopes. "have a conversation not a confrontation..." kind of stuff. "communication is the key.." No its not. Kids aren't communicating with you, they are communicating with their friends and if their friends are doing drugs, you can talk til you are blue in the face and it won't make a wits worth of difference to a kid hanging out with druggies.

They also have you download and sign a contract with your child...we all know that contracts are made to be broken. Any contract is going to insure your child will do what you ask them not to. A family drug policy (as outlined in Sober Coaching Your Teen, Workbook: Managing a drug crisis with your out-of-control Teen)
is the only written agreement that has a chance of making a difference.

Go read the article yourself and ask yourself what might work or what is just fluff to make you thin you are doing something that works. The only "tip" I would say is a good one is number 4:

4. Don't be a parent in denial. There is no teenager that is immune to drug abuse. No matter how smart your teen is, or athletic they are, they are at risk if they start using. I firmly believe that keeping your teen constructively busy, whether it is with sports, music or other hobbies they have, you will be less at risk for them to want to experiment. However don't be in the dark thinking that your teen is pulling a 4.0 GPA and on the varsity football that they couldn't be dragged down by peer pressure. Go back to number one - talk, talk, talk - remind your teen how proud you are of them, and let them know that you are always available if they feel they are being pressured to do or try something they don't want to.

10 Tips to Prevent Teen Drug/Substance Abuse | Helping Kids Succeed - Yahoo Shine:

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Celebrate #GivingTuesday

After the insanity of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the upcoming Broke Wednesday--we need a break. The United Nations foundation started a great counter to this--called Giving Tuesday.

Although those in recovery are already known for being particularly giving, its nice to see a day set aside for this amid the holiday commercialism. Take a minute to read this and ask yourself what your "community giving" is this season. If you don't have money, then think about volunteering your time. Many kitchens for the less fortunate may need your help. Or become the bell ringer in front of the Big Box stores. Don't let this season go by without giving back to your community--

Whatever your family trouble now--serving others will always bring good back to you. Read about Giving Tuesday" here.

Celebrate #GivingTuesday | The White House: "#GivingTuesday builds on the American tradition of giving back but uses technology to give this greater impact. This commemoration does not seek to coordinate funds toward any particular nonprofit or to direct volunteers to support a specific cause. Instead, #GivingTuesday is intended to encourage Americans to reflect and give back. It’s a collective moment for individual and community action."

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Natural High Natural High – A Drug Prevention Program Inspiring and Helping Youth

This is a site I just discovered aimed at helping kids find their "natural high" as opposed to using and abusing drugs. Probably won't have much of an impact on the action brain chemistry disorder of addiction--but it can make a dent in simple abuse. I don't know though. I think of when I used in high school--I would not have gone to a site like this--I would have thought it lame.

I remember when AA came out with a comic book (sooo long ago) to help kids understand AA and help them into sobriety. All of us young people thought it such a joke--if given the comic book, a teenager in trouble with drugs was more likely to use it roll a joint then to read it. A teens job is to break away from adults and find their own independence, so trying to help them when their "job" is to break away from us is problematic.

I doubt this site would help teens, but I believe it would help pre teens because they want to be older. So material designed for older kids is gobbled up by younger ones. Weird how it works. So this site probably won't help who it was intended to do but it will help the younger ones.

Natural High Natural High – A Drug Prevention Program Inspiring and Helping Youth:

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Man dies after accidentally drinking £34,000 of crystal meth thinking it was a HEALTH DRINK | Mail Online

Here is a sad story about drugs gone wrong--I feel sorry for the daughter here. However, some people think she was murdering her father and the story is suspicious. Others think the media are dolts for blaming this on the series "Breaking Bad." To me, the most interesting part of the story are the comments after the story. Read the story below, but most important, read the comments--incredible!

Man dies after accidentally drinking £34,000 of crystal meth thinking it was a HEALTH DRINK | Mail Online: "A man has died after drinking a massive overdose of liquid crystal meth after mistaking it for a health drink.
Romano Dias, 55, had been given a bottle of what appeared to be a fruit-based drink by his daughter Katee, who had found it in a package delivered to her home.
After downing about half a glass of the liquid he immediately began to feel ill and died shortly afterwards.
Police say that finding the drug in the UK is very unusual, but crystal meth has been brought to the public's attention by the multi award-winning TV show Breaking Bad."

and here's a smattering of the comments--there are over 300! But gives one insight into how people think about drugs.

As for Breaking Bad bringing it to the UK's consciousness, you do know that Breaking Bad was on for 5 years don't you? Think something would have happened before this, that is for sure.

Cute. The police don't know what's obviously going on And the media does a comedy writeup on a TV show to help them cover up their ignorance.

Who in their right mind would drink something delivered to their home addressed to someone else???

Agatha Christie would have been proud.

 The tv program isn't glamourising this drug!! Infact it does exactly what it should be doing!! It shows meth addicts as dirty hollow faced druggies who would steal from their own kids to get a fix. Don't glamourise the "euphoric high" instead show pictures of addicts and what it really does to your body!! It eats your flesh away!!! Disgusting!!! Say no!!!!!!!

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5 myths about alcoholics - Per Wickstrom

This is a great article--and Mr Wickstrom does address the common myths about alcoholism. the Five myths he explains in detail are:
Myth #1: “Alcohol is not as addictive as cocaine, heroin, and other drugs.”
Myth #2: “Alcohol doesn’t kill like other drugs.”
Myth #3: “It’s relatively safe to drink while using prescription drugs.”
Myth #4: “The only rehabilitation that works for alcoholics is the Twelve Step (Alcoholics Anonymous) program.”
Myth #5: “You can always tell when someone is an alcoholic.”

If you still belive any of the above, please go to his sucess Site and read this article to find out why it is a myth.

For parents, there are a few more myths that need to be broken:

Myth # 6: If your child is a drug addict, you didn't raise them  in a healthy environment.
Myth # 7: Your addicted child should be treated in a teen center so he or she can relate.
Myth # 8: If your child is still an adolescent they are not really an addict--they are too young to really tell.
Myth # 9: AA is not a good place for you recovering child as their are sexual predators there.

Chew on those for a while-- if you believe any of them, go to Sober Coaching Your Teen and find out why they are myths...

5 myths about alcoholics - Per Wickstrom: "Alcoholism affects the young, the old, the skid row bum, the housewife, the burnt out salesman, the struggling artist, and the corporate CEO – no strata of life is exempt. As earlier stated, in order to address alcoholism, it is often necessary to design a program specifically tailored to each person. Treat people as individuals, and assist them in dealing with their individual problems connected with alcohol and drug abuse."

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