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What Parents Need To Know
Helping Your Children Steer Clear of Alcohol and Other Drugs
Why Do Children Choose To Use Drugs?
Will My Child Use Drugs?
Risk Factors
It can be scary to think that your child might use
alcohol or other drugs. It may help you to know that
many parents share your fears. But don't let fear hold
you back. Now is the time to do something.
Children are being exposed to drugs at younger ages.
Some parents want to believe that their young children
have never tried drugs and won't ever develop a drug
problem. The facts are:
- Children are pressured to use drugs:
- 1 in 4 children in 4th grade say there is peer pressure to use marijuana.
Almost half of 6th graders report peer pressure to drink alcohol.
- Almost half of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders say they feel pressured to smoke
cigarettes.
- 1 in 4 children in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades feels pressured to use
crack/cocaine.
- Children use drugs to fit in:
- 4 in 10 children in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades say they would begin using
alcohol to fit in and feel older.
- 4 in 10 children in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades say they would use
crack/cocaine to fit in and feel older.
- Some children already use drugs:
- 2 percent of all 12th graders Let high on marijuana every day.
- 13 percent of 8th graders and 30 percent of seniors had binged on alcohol
(consumed 5 or more drinks in a row) in the 2 weeks just before the survey.
- Drugs are available to children:
- A recent study indicated that half of 1 lth and 12th graders said it would
be easy to buy drugs at school.
- 80 percent of all 12th graders say it would be easy to get marijuana.
- Studies show that the younger a child is when he or she first uses alcohol,
marijuana, or cigarettes, the more likely it is the child will have some type of drug abuse problem later in life.
Risk Factors
Reaserch has revealed that there are many risk factors for drug abuse,
each representing as challenge to the psychological and social development
of an individual and each having a differential impact
depending on the phase of development. For this reason, those
factors that affect early development in the family are probably the
most crucial, such as:
- chaotic home envioroment, particularly in which parents abuse substances or suffer
from mental illness;
- Ineffective parenting, especially with children with difficult temperments
and coduct disorders; and
- lack of mutual attachments and nurturing.
Other risk factors relate to children interacting with other socialization agents outside
of the family, specifically the school, peers, and community. Some of these risk
factors are:
- inapropriate shy and aggressive behavior in the classroom;
- failure in school performance;
- poor social coping skills;
- affiliations with deviant peers or peers around deviant behaviors; and
- perceptions of approval of drug-using behaviors in the school, peer,
and community enviorments.
Other factors- such as the availability of drugs, trafficking patterns,
and beliefs that drug use is generally tolerated- also influence the number'
of young people who start to use drugs.
Why Do Children Choose To Use Drugs?
Children care a lot about what other children think.
Sometimes the desire to be popular or "cool" can lead
children to do things that are dangerous. When children
try to make other children do something they shouldn't
like use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs, it's
called negative peer pressure. Peer pressure can be
positive too. Positive peer pressure is when children
encourage each other to do things that are good for
them, such as joining school clubs, studying for tests, or
learning good ways to say "no" to negative peer
pressure.
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Will My Child Use Drugs?
The following points describes traits shared by children who are good at saying
no to negative peer pressure. Check off all that apply to your
children. Work on any that you call check off at
this time so that You improve your children, chances of
resisting negative peer pressure.
- Self Confident.
- Is Not often home alone.
- Likes school
- Friends don't use drugs.
- Enjoys fun and educational activities.
- Able to make decisions.
- Knows about dangers of drug use.
- Is proud to be trusted with chores and is praised for doing them well.
- Has good relationship with parents.
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