Kids and drug use myths

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Kids and drug use myths

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Assuming that all kids are going to use drugs, and then hoping that we're going to be able to teach them how to do so safely is one of the most common misreads that we get as drug educators. We understand why the topic comes up so frequently. Parents are desperate to do anything that will keep their kids safe. And that's a noble goal. The problem is the question has a number of underlying flaws. The first is that all kids are going to use. That's just not true. It's just not supported by the fact. Unless of course their parent assumes that they're going to, thus almost guaranteeing that child will end up using. The second flaw is the idea that we can teach teenagers how to use safely. That's just not possible. A new study which came out very recently said parents who try to drink with their teenagers in an effort to teach them how to do so moderately and safely end up with teenagers who have higher abuse rates for alcohol, higher addiction rates for alcohol, and use alcohol more frequently. So it's really important to understand trying to teach kids how to drink safely is an impossibility. Also because of where their brains are in the developmental spectrum, they're very susceptible to developmental damage and injury even by moderate levels of alcohol and drug use. So if the goal is safety, what we have to do as parents is work towards solutions which eliminate the presence of drugs and alcohol in the kids' lives and not towards solutions which imagine we can teach kids how to use drugs and alcohol safely.

See Jonathan Scott's video on Kids and drug use myths...

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Jonathan Scott

Drug Prevention Speaker, Author & Dad

Miles to Go educators, Jonathan and Kelly are professional speakers, writers and parents who specialize in drug prevention education for students, teachers and parents. Working from their base in Southern California, they have spent the past 17 years lecturing in the private school community using humor, science and multi-sensory teaching techniques to simplify a complex subject. Their first book, Not All Kids Do Drugs came out in 2010 and their second The Mother’s Checklist of Drug Prevention in 2011. Their third book, Where’s The Party was published in 2012.

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