A common sense Guide to keeping your kid’s drug free

Schools have closed up for December holidays and your children have plenty of free time on their hands? You haven’t yet made up your mind on a full time program that they should spend most of their time this holiday? If you are a busy parent, am sure your teenage daughters and sons will lack supervision and will be left with their bicycles, cell phones and computers a reason they can be tempted to embark on other crazy acts that can obviously lead them to drugs. rnFor most parents, keeping their children drug free this summer is a huge challenge especially if they don’t have enough information on how to distract their attention on computers and cellphones. This brief presents to you a common sense guide on how you can keep your children drug free this holiday.

Reasons kids and teenagers experiment drugs

We have heard a lot about drugs and teenagers. As a matter of fact, most parents think that children experimenting drugs are inherently bad kids and they are becoming rebellious. Parents think that these kids want to rush out and become disobedient. Although that may be a reason some kids starts using drugs, there are several other reasons that kids and teenagers experiment drugs. Here are some of them.

Boredom

If you haven’t already found a fulltime program for your kid in such a long school break, you can expect that he/she will have a lot of boredom. Boredom is actually the main reason why kids will try drugs. In most cases, they will see alcohol and drugs as pass-time opportunities that should be explored.

Difficulties making friends

Teenagers especially those in the first years in high school find it very difficult to make new friends. This is the reason they try alcohol and drugs as a bonding experience. They actually want to feel more confident and have the guts to bond with the older students.

Stress and Depression

In many cases, kids and teenagers are prone to stress and depression than any other group. If that is not managed well, they are likely to turn to drugs as a form of escapism. Kids unlike adults will not have better ways of dealing with stress and depression. They will choose alcohol and drugs as a way of making them recover and feel happier.

Curiosity

Kids especially in their adolescent stage will opt for drugs as a way of testing the depth of water. As a matter of fact, curiosity is termed as the mother of all evil. If the kid is very curious about the feeling people get when they take alcohol or any other drug, then they are very likely to try it.

Low self-esteem

Teenagers will get low self-esteem if they cannot make new friends or if they think they are not handsome or beautiful. This just like stress and depression can affect the way they think about themselves and end up falling into trap of taking drugs and alcohol.

What should a parent do to keep their kids’ drug free?

There’s a lot you can do as a parent. Though, to reduce chances of the kid getting into drugs, as a parent you must spend more time with them. Try and explain all the disadvantages and side effects of drugs and alcohol. Here are additional tips to help your children lead an alcohol and drug free life.

Disclose everything about drug and alcohol use to your kids

As a good parent, you should talk to your children about drug use and their side effects. This will mean they have all it takes to understand drugs from all dimensions and the side effects they can expect if they try. Give them some visible examples of people that have attempted to take any of these drugs and had the same health and mental problems. This way, the kid will have enough information about drugs which means they will not try it out of curiosity and low self-esteem.

Always compliment your children

To boost their self-esteem and help them make friends with ease, it’s always advisable to make them feel special and beautiful/handsome. It’s a good thing to always tell them how good looking they are. Secondly, help them to overcome negative complements from haters. Prepare them to counter negative feedbacks from fellow students and even family members.

Enroll them into a full time program

To reduce the time they spend on their cell phones, computers or idling, you can enroll your son or daughter into a full time swimming or skating class where he/she will spend most of the time. This way, the kid will always be happy, have a better way of controlling boredom, stress and depression which will reduce the chances of trying drugs and alcohol.

Always know where the child is and what he/she is doing

There’s no better ways of keeping track than always consulting about their whereabouts and their activities. This will give them fewer chances of getting into drugs. They will also realize that you are very concerned and in watch.

Set rules and enforce them fairly

As the parent, the family should have some clear rules that the kids should always adhere to. Failure to follow all the set rules, fair punishments should be executed. Kids will never learn unless there’s a clear rule with severe consequences.

Be a role model, a good example to your kids

If you are a drug and alcohol addict, how do you expect that your kids will not try those drugs? If you want them to lead a healthy and a drug free life, then you should start by being a good example to them.

Make the home safe

As a parent, you should always have clear information about the people you have at home. If any of your employees or friend is a drug addict, you can expect the child will learn from them. If the kid has naughty or friends you expect can introduce him/her to drugs, then always deal with them.