Parent’s awareness of drug abuse
Everyone is talking to their pre-teen children and teenagers about the dangers of drug abuse….right?? Wrong. According to a new report by drugfree.org, many parents have yet to have an honest conversation with their kids regarding substance abuse. Drugfree.org is a nonprofit advocacy group committed to reducing young adult drug and alcohol addiction.
American parents need to be more proactive about their children’s involvement with drug and alcohol abuse, according to the report. The report indicates that many teenagers remain unaware of the dangers behind drug abuse – despite public education and awareness, especially those issues that relate to prescription pill abuse.
The study indicates some interesting results. They state that, “only 14 percent of adolescents have had a conversation with one or both of their parents about pill abuse. Interestingly, over 80 percent of the same group had a similar chat about the problems associated with marijuana.” This result shows that parents still believe that street drugs are more of a threat to their children and that parents discredit the dangers of prescription pills.
Steve Pasierb, president of the organization that runs Drugfree.org, said in a statement, “For parents, it really comes down to not using the power they have because they don’t think this is an immediate problem, meaning their own home, own neighborhood kind of thing. They believe that this is probably a safer way, not as bad as illegal street drugs.”
Further, Pasierb also indicates that part of the problem is that many parents struggle with merging their desire to give their kids space while also setting a good example with healthy boundaries. However, this leniency can lead to further drug abuse posing life-long problems.