Drug-Testing Kits Provided to Parents to Start Dialogue with Kids

I have always supported the use of drug testing kits. Kids like to claim "Its an invasion of my privacy!"  But actually, someone using drugs in MY house is an invasion of my rights! I have a right to respect myself, my home, and my kids...and knowing what they are doing is part of the respect and central to protecting them.

Drug-Testing Kits Provided to Parents to Start Dialogue with Kids | Parenting: "The "Give Me a Reason" pilot program has developed a drug-testing kit that aims to educate moms and dads about why kids use drugs and alcohol, help them protect their children, give tips on how to communicate with their kids, and provide tricks to spotting and dealing with substance abuse. It's a partnership among the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, Mayor Steve Williams' Office of Drug Control Policy and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area."

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The Parent Blame Game | In Recovery Magazine- My Story

I ran across this article again. I wrote it last year for In Recovery Magazine. It's my story with my daughter and the basis for the book from my brother and myself, Sober Coaching Your Teen, as well as the rewrite of Young, Sober, & Free from Hazelden.. If you are a parent and have an addicted child or one experimenting--read my story. Don't let this happen to you.

The Parent Blame Game | In Recovery Magazine: "“Repeat that. He said the joke’s on me?” She nodded. Alcoholism and addiction runs in our family. In fact, it is very aggressive within the Marshall family. My mother, father, uncle, brothers and cousins all suffer from this destructive brain chemistry disorder. Today, most of us are clean and sober. The few who aren’t are in the process of destroying themselves or have already died from the disease."

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Teens teach teens about drug abuse

I like the concept of Drug Story Theater, and we know that peer talking to each other works pretty good--but in this case I would be cautious. Kids may be more likely to listen to other kids, but once they walk out of the theater, they are more likely to listen to the guy beside them--and not remember the story on stage. it's the way of things. Still, this is a lightly better approach than having kids lectured by adults...



You can read about it below.

Teens teach teens about drug abuse - News - The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA - Quincy, MA: "atos, 17, is reading the words from a script, but the story is familiar. Like all the vignettes featured in the Drug Story Theater production, it’s the staged version of what the actors themselves experienced.
The concept came to Dr. Joe Shrand years ago: Many schools have assemblies about drug use, but adults telling kids what not to do just doesn’t have the same impact as teens talking to other teens about real-life experiences."



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Ever get that Sinking Feeling when explaning Drugs verses Alcohol?

WalkSoftlyandCarryaBigBook.com

Students teach parents that their prescription pills can start kids down road of drug addiction

Hey, these kids are teaching their parents about prescription drugs! I love this. If you set kids on a mission (or anyone for that matter) to research something so they may teach it to another--who learns the most? Great approach and I applaud the teacher who created this "lesson". Remember Johnathon Livingston Seagull? "You teach best what you most need to learn."

In Hillsdale, students teach parents that their prescription pills can start kids down road of drug addiction - News - NorthJersey.com: "As part of a sophomore honors English course, the students spent most of the school year researching how teenagers use prescription drugs, how prevalent their use is and how parents can curb the dramatic rise in drug abuse. Their work culminated Monday night in a class presentation of the first of two forums for school-district parents as part of their “Lock It Up, Drop It Off” project. "

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A heroin victim's poetic warning for her sister – and the world |

A heroin victim's poetic warning for her sister – and the world |  "It was written by the young Harrisburg-area woman on Christmas Day 2005 – three months before she died of a heroin overdose at the age of 20 – to warn others about the dangers of abusing drugs. Natalie wrote the poem from Dauphin County Prison. She died 19 days after she was released."

Heroin

By Natalie Cribari

Through poison-tainted veins, I feel

A warmth that soothes, but is surreal

It's funny how we became acquainted

He made me quiver, I almost fainted.

He seemed so cool, so calm, and sweet

He swept me off my virgin feet.

We fell in love, or so I thought

My soul, Almighty love, is what he sought.

He hid his identity with a comforting mask,

read more

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Mentors help at-risk youth avoid addiction

Helping mentor kids is a great way to volunteer for drug addiction prevention. The Momin the story below is dealing with the overdose death of her son by reaching out to other young people and sharing her experience. This is one of the ways to deal with grief and really help others--one real person sharing an experience with another--its real and it comes from the gut.

Other ways to share are by providing workshops that young people can come to, MIXED WITH ADULTS--like the young man below at a photography workshop in Alaska for the community--there were many teenagers taking the workshop with parents, professionals, and seniors--mixing the ages in activities betters communications and gives young people
respect and closeness with elders. 

Reach out to young people--not as an expert--not as an authority figure, but as a colleague and friend, by sharing your experiences, including young people in mixed generational activities. Include them--don't push them to be with their peers all the time (so they bond against adults) --they need varied experiences with all ages. That is how we learn. This summer be a mentor for young people, by sharing with them in conversations, activities, and respect.

Mentors help at-risk youth avoid addiction - News - Times Reporter - New Philadelphia, OH: "Otte’s son, Joey, died of a heroin overdose in September 2013, leaving her and her surviving sons devastated. That’s why she agreed to act as a mentor to a student who recently had gotten into trouble for drug use.
“I don’t want his death to be in vain,” Otte said. Telling her son’s story to other young people gives her hope that they may have a different outcome."

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