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Prevention Works

Parental involvement is the key
Here are tips for parents of youth as presented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on its website www.family.samhsa.gov (A Family Guide to Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy and Drug Free). This website also contains additional articles, communication tips, and activities related to these six categories.

Talk With Your Child
It’s important to establish and maintain good communication with your child. Get into the habit of talking with your child every day. Building a close relationship with them when they are young will make it easier for them to come to you when there is a problem and will help you become more sensitive to their mood changes. With a closer relationship to you, they will be less likely to develop mental health problems and less likely to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs.

Get Involved
It really can make a difference when you get involved in your child’s life. Young people are more likely to be responsible and succeed when they have positive activities to do and when caring adults are involved in their lives. Your involvement and encouragement tell your child that both they and their activities are worthwhile and this may help them identify and pursue positive goals as they get older. Additionally, you will be better able to see changes in your child that may indicate a problem.

Set and Enforce Rules
Make clear, sensible rules for your child and enforce them with consistency and appropriate consequences. When you do this, you help your child develop daily habits of self-discipline. Following these rules can help protect your child’s physical safety and mental well-being, which can lower the risk for substance abuse problems. Unless you are clear about your position, youth may be confused and thus be tempted to use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs. Be Specific. Be Consistent. Be Reasonable.

Be a Good Role Model
Set a good example for your child. Think about what you say and how you act in front of youth. Your child learns social skills and how to deal with stress by listening to and watching you. Do not take part in illegal, unhealthy, or dangerous practices related to alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs or they may believe that, no matter what you say, these practices are okay. Be a positive role model for your child.

Teach Kids to Choose Friends Wisely
Support your child’s social development. Teach your child how to form positive relationships. Research shows that the pressure to use alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs comes most often from wanting to be accepted, wanting to belong, and wanting to be noticed. Help your child learn what qualities to look for in a friend and advise them about what to say if offered harmful substances. Youth who have difficulty making friends need your support to avoid being isolated and bullied.

Monitor Your Child’s Activities
Do you know what your child listens to and reads and how they spend their time with their friends? Talking with your child about their interests opens up an opportunity for you to share your values. And research says that monitoring your child’s activities is an important way to lower their chances of getting involved in situations you don’t approve of, especially those that can be harmful. Unsupervised youth simply have more opportunities to experiment with risky behaviors, including the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, and they may start substance abuse at earlier ages.