6:37 AM Mon, Jun 30, 2008 | Permalink
Paige
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Let me set the scene: Your teenager returns from a night out. She's thirty minutes late for her curfew. You ask her who she's been with and if she's been drinking. She rolls her eyes and whines that she was out with her girlfriends and just lost track of time.
You want to believe her. She's a great kid - an honor student. You know her friends and her friends' parents. It's is impossible to imagine that your little girl - the one who just yesterday was in pig tails and pink pajamas holding on to her stuffed bunny and begging for another story- would be experimenting with boys and drugs. Still, something in your gut tells you something is wrong. What do you do?
Until recently, all you had to go on was a nagging gut battling it out with a convincing 16-year-old. Now, you can know - with some level of certainty - if your teen is being straight with you. At-home drug testing is becoming an increasingly popular tool for parents wanting to make sure that their teens are drug-free. The test is quick and easy and reliable. But wait! Don't your kids have a right to privacy? Don't they deserve your trust? In my opinion - NO! Just like teens don't have the RIGHT to vote or the RIGHT to drink; teens don't have the RIGHT to privacy. I feel this principal applies to notes to boyfriends or entries in diaries. If parents find them - READ THEM! You need this inside knowledge. Consider them as clues when solving the mystery of teenagers.
In my opinion, in a world where monsters are everywhere but in the closet, parents need as many tools as possible to protect their children. Don't get me wrong, I know that pulling out a drug test is a sure-fire way to really piss-off a teenager. But guess what? They'll get over it - just like they'll get over their first crush, their first pimple and their first failed driving test. Ultimately, they will know that you love them and care for them and that you are doing what you are suppose to be doing - not being a buddy, or a pal, but instead being a parent.
1st
Four years ago, if someone had told me that my son was going to do the things he did, I never would have believed it. He was a top student, athlete, and very active in church organizations. We had an open door policy, and he could tell me anything. His friends used to hang out at my house, eat pizza, play video games every weekend. I was not naive to the possibility that kids this age might try alcohol/drugs. I told his friends that he would be randomly drug testing him just to warn them what our policy was. Then when they stopped hanging out at my house and I thought they were at another boys house, that was when the lying began. I cannot tell you how many times something went wrong and I didn't want to believe he was using drugs. Or if we caught him, it would only be that one time experimenting or a mistake. He actually passed several drug tests that were given to him, then later we'd find out he had actually smoked pot or something. Another thing that is common that happens to teenagers around the same time, is depression. So we're not sure which came first, the depression or the drugs, but he spiraled out of control. Believe me I was so distraught and in shock. Not my son! I was a good parent. Well, don't ever think it can't happen to you!
Anyway, lots of counseling, drug rehab centers, help from the school counselors, and AlAnon meetings for me, and my son has been sober for a year and will be starting college in the fall. Now he's a adult and he taught me a lot!
Thanks for letting me share this. Parents need to be aware that it can happen to anyone! If you suspect your child might be using drugs, do everything you can to get help before something really tragic happens. It's your job as a parent, while they are still with you.
Drug Testing is the best way to deter your children from using illegal drugs.
Should you drug test your teen? Will this cause your teens to feel like you are disrespecting them on their “home” turf? Are you ignoring the fact that your teens can get drugs even easier today then ever before?
It’s time as a parent to step up to the plate and confront your teens!!!
Drug use and prevention is one of the most frightening discussions you will ever have as a parent with your teen. According to one recent study, teenagers whose parents talk to them on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use are 42 percent less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t. As difficult as it is to bring up the issue of drug use with your teen, simply talking about drug use may not be enough to fully protect your child from experimenting with and using drugs.
How can this be solved? The answer is simple. In-home drug testing! If your teen knows you have the ability to perform a drug test at home on a moments notice, they are going to be even less likely to experiment with drugs. In-home drug testing can be an extremely powerful deterrent tool in preventing drug use! It becomes an “easy out” to peer pressure as well. Your teen can tell their friends, “No, my parents may drug test me when I get home and I have to be clean or they will ground me… take away my car… wont let me go out…” Isn’t this worth providing piece of mind as a parent knowing that your teen is held accountable for their actions?
DrugFreeNetwork.org is a great resource to buy in-home drug testing kits. The drug test kits come with a 10 panel urine drug test, an alcohol test, and a nicotine detection test. These tests are affordable, simple to use, and give accurate results within 5 minutes! One of the best tools in the kit is the contract that parents and the teens sign stating that they live in a “Drug Free” household. Also included in the kit are lists of local resources for counseling and treatment centers as well as a guide to parents which discusses the signs and symptoms of drug use, the many types of illegal drugs, and dangers associated with them.
In addition to using these simple to use drug tests as a deterrent, you could actually save your child’s life by identifying a problem with drugs before law enforcement or school personnel intervention or even death!
Harrison Lux
www.drugfreenetwork.org