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Drug Prevention Checklist
As complex as the issue of substance abuse is, the benefit of research has removed much of the mystery. We now know there to be specific factors that can either cause, or prevent a child from going down the wrong road.
If you address these factors early and thoroughly, you can virtually inoculate your child from the allure of substance abuse. As mentioned in “Prevention Made Simple“, the best defense against substance abuse is the creation of an intrinsic belief system. Once in place, this belief system will shield your child in a way that no lecture, no punishment and no incentive based technique ever could. It’s an investment that will save you years of worry and spare you endless frustration. But there’s one caveat, this “inoculation” is actually a course of treatment that begins around age 3. You have a limited window of opportunity to do it, and by the time your child reaches the age of 14, you’ve either got it or you don’t.
The good news is that our advice to you is the same, regardless of your child’s age. So even if you realize that you’ve missed the mark during the critical early years, you’ve still got a chance to administer a solid booster in the pre-teen years. One last warning though, if you’ve already noticed that your teenage child is experimenting with alcohol, tobacco or other drugs, you’re in the wrong place. Substance abuse is already part of your life, probably more so than you expect. Please go directly to our “Responding to Substance Abuse” page.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ La Tabula Rasa:
This first block of techniques will help you establish a healthy core value system in your child. It’s true that some children are born with genetic predispositions for substance abuse. It’s equally true, however, that a far greater proportion of kids ‘develop’ this predisposition as a result of their first 15 years of life. It’s important for every parent to seize control of these factors as early as possible. An ounce of prevention is worth a kilo of cure. Click here for more…
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The Game Plan
Around the age of thirteen, most families will begin to see some changes in their teenager. A critical shift is about to take place, where they begin to look less and less towards parents, and more towards outward sources of information and guidance. This is where some important measures must now be enacted. This page addresses the most important points, giving you a strong game plan for the teenage years. Click here for more…
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Definite Donts Research has also given us some insight into the practices and circumstances that play a significant factor in the development of substance abuse problems amongst teenagers. Much of our hard work can be easily lost if some of these dangerous mistakes are made. This section will review some of the biggest controllable risk factors, and provide suggestions for avoiding them. Click here for more…