Understanding Your Teen

I recently saw a news spot on youtube that was less informative then I would have liked. While it did provide some great information for parents of teens, it also missed a few key points that I think are important.

(1) Your Teen Can Get Much More Then Pot or Beer: The comment by the teen in rehab that “marijuana and alcohol are easy to get in highschool’ doesn’t educate the viewer about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. Sure, marijuana and beer are available to teens…I don’t think that will ever change. These were present in teenage culture when you (the parent) were a teen and they will be present for long into the future

What’s disturbing to me is that teens have incredibly easy access to prescription drugs as well: OxyContin pain killers, “Soma’s”, and much much more. The scariest part of this trend is that teens often think that taking a few pills at a party is the equivalent to drinking a few beers…this is not true and can lead to tragedy.

(2) Parents Need To Know What Goes On: I don’t really feel like this news article talked about what actually goes on in the teenage culture. It did mention that drugs are available, but it did not go into the extent of available drugs and the views of the teenage culture towards these drugs.

Be Informed

As most of my readers know, it’s my goal with the www.UnderstandMyTeen.com project to ensure that you are understanding the realities of what goes on in the teenage world. Be sure to check back often for new information.

Want to See the News Video?

You can watch the actual news video as well as my own video response below.

news video: (click here)

my video response to the news video: (click here)
*please note the video is blurry because my webcam malfunctioned…

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For those of you that are new to my blog, I think it’s important for you to realize why I started the UnderstandMyTeen.com website. My childhood friend (I will call him “Rob” throughout this website) died due to a drug use incident a few years ago. Burying Rob really changed my life and I feel the need to help parents of teens better relate to their teens to avoid tragedies like this from happening ever again.

What You’ll Learn in This Article

• Things to know about current teen drug culture
• How to start that awkward conversation with your teen about not doing drugs
• How to talk to your teen about the dangers of drugs
• How to know if your teen is using drugs
• How to help your teen quit using drugs…they need you to help, not yell

This posting is part I of a multiple part posting that I’m writing about teen drug abuse prevention and how parents can help their teens. During this multiple posting topic, you’ll learn about many powerful concepts when trying to make sure your teen isn’t getting involved in the dangers world of drugs.

What is Teenage Life Like These Days?

Drugs are very available to teens these days…I’d argue that they’re more available then in decades past, although I wasn’t there during those decades so I can’t really push for that argument. However, I can relate to the current teenage world because I am here for that…So I’d like to tell you about the reality of teen life.

• drugs are available and easy to get for your teen
• lots of teens have an ‘acceptance’ of drugs as being ‘ok’
• it’s up to you as a parent to teach your kids about the danger of drug use

How Should You Start the Awkward Conversation of Talking to Your Teen About Drugs?

I realize that having a conversation about a touchy subject like drugs is hard for any teen and parent. However, it’s a conversation that needs to happen…it’s important that your teen realize the dangers of drug use and how it can tear lives apart.

Having a productive and effective conversation about drugs with your teen is very important. I would suggest ‘breaking the ice’ by having some comedic or funny beginning to the conversation.

• show the teen a funny video or movie scene related to drugs
• tell the teen a story you heard about someone doing something ridiculous when they were ‘high’
• think of any way to make the conversation start off as funny…this will help your teen open up to you.

Understand that I’m not trying to suggest that drug use is funny…not at all! Instead, I’m telling you how to strategically start a conversation about this touchy subject with your teen so that they’ll actually listen to you.

If the conversation starts off awkward, your teen will shut off to you and simply hope the conversation is over as soon as possible…that’s not a good or effective conversation at all.

How Should You Actually Talk to Your Teen About the Dangers of Drugs

After you’ve had the chance to ‘break the ice’ by starting off the conversation in some sort of funny way, it’s time to get down to business: you need to talk to you teen about the realities of drugs. I suggest doing a few strategic things to make the conversation progress.

• Be on the same level with your teen: it’s important that you make clear that you realize that drugs are available in the teenage world. Make clear to your teen that you’re not being ignorant and claiming that drugs aren’t around…my kid hasn’t seen drugs before…my kid doesn’t have the chance to try drugs.

Tell your teen that you know drugs are around them in their teenage environment
and that you just want to help

• Tell them that you’re not trying to get them in trouble: They key to having a productive relationship between a parent and a teen is for the teen to feel comfortable talking to their parent about anything. For your teen to feel this way, they need to know they’re not going to get into trouble for telling you that “Tommy offered me pot today…I didn’t really know how to respond’.

Make clear that you want to help your teen
not get them grounded or yelled at.

• Get your teen talking, ask questions, and truly listen: It’s important for you to encourage your teen to talk to you during this conversation. Do Not Lecture Your Teen! Parental lecturing is the easiest way to guarantee that your teen isn’t listening to you.

Your goal should be for the teen to do all the talking
and for you to do all the listening

Want to Learn More?

I will continue this posting in a few days but you can read all the details you need to know to help prevent your teen from doing drugs by reading my ebook. In the ebook, I go into much more detail then in this blog posting.

• actual videos you can use to ‘break the ice’ with your teen and to make them laugh
• other article references that are highly useful information. For example, learn all the secrets of how your teen might be hiding marijuana in your own home.
• ways to productively help your teen avoid or stop using drugs. These are solutions that work! Instead of yelling at your teen and grounding them, do something that will really help them and not simply make them less willing to talk to you about their troubles.

You can read the entire ebook by clicking here. I hope that you will take the time to download the ebook and read it so that you can better relate to your teen. It’s my goal with this entire project to help you better relate to your teen so that you can be a better parent. I truly feel that this ebook will help you to make your teen truly understand the dangers of drugs.

Preventing teen drug abuse really does start with the parent…I hope my info helps.

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I Attended The Funeral of a Childhood Friend

I had a really good friend of mine die from a prescription drug overdose. Burying one of my childhood friends really changed my life…It made me realize that life is short, even for those of us that are quite young, and that every moment should be cherished and appreciated.

Teens Have The Easiest Access to Drugs

The death of my friend also made me realize that the epidemic of teen drug abuse has taken a disturbing and horrible turn for the worst! Prescription drug abuse is now destroying more teenage lives then ever before. The scariest factor of this is that teens have easier access then ever to go out and find their drugs of choice: Vicodin, Soma, Oxycontin, and other prescription drugs.

Things are not as they used to be…sure, if a highschool student wanted to go out and buy some pot, it surely wasn’t impossible. Even finding cocaine is not far out of reach for the majority of teen communities. However, finding prescription drugs is easy: it’s in your bathroom medicine cabinet.

I recently read an article about a 15 year old that took methodone from his father’s cabinet and sold it to a 12 year old…sadly, this girl died shortly after taking the methodone. A similar tragedy happened when a 17 year old gave his 16 year old friend GHB, causing the teen to die from the pills. It’s horrifying to hear about these deaths that could have easily been prevented.

Teens Dont Understand The Dangers!

Prescription drugs are no less dangerous then classic drugs (i.e. cocaine, heroin, etc.) if they are abused and taken as increased quantities. Oxycontin is a time released pain killer that is meant to be released into the blood stream over many hours. However, teens usually chew or sniff the pill, causing all 12 hours (in some cases) to be sent to the blood stream at once!

Because their parent takes something occasionally for a bad back or for chronic pains of some sort, certain teens seem to think that it can’t be all that dangerous. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Teens Spread This Stuff Like Wildfire

In my highschool classrooms, I never could understand how people so nonchalantly talked about and exchanged various prescription drugs. It amazed me that students would take pain killers just to sleep through class, take ADD medications (when they didn’t have ADD) so that they could be back to being hyper after school, and take ridiculous mixes of pills on the weekend’s at parties just for fun.

Whatever happened to having a few beers at a party and calling that a fun time…Hell, what ever happened to getting super drunk with your friends off good old fashion shots of vodka. It’s horrifying to me that teens are moving towards using prescription drugs just for the fun of it. Someone really needs to do something.

What Can Parents Do To Stop This?

As a teen myself, I can speak as to a number of things parents should do to stop this epidemic. As far as me taking action, I’ve created my website and blog (www.UnderstandMyTeen.com) to educate parents of teens about the true life of their teens. I want parents to better understand the world in which their teen is living. It’s so much different then when you all were kids! I want to help you better relate to your teens so that you can be better parents and keep your kids safe…

1. Talk To Your Teens: Make sure your teen is aware of the dangers of using prescription drugs. I have never personally taken pills for fun (I have taken 2 vicodin pills once because my wisdom teeth got pulled out), but I can tell you that my view of pills was forever changed after my friend died from them. Ever since his funeral, I take it upon myself to tell everyone I know that is somehow involved with pills about how my good friend died. I tell them exactly how he died so that they can have a vision and feeling about what they’re getting themselves into.
2. Count Your Pills Weekly: Have a weekly count of your pills in your house. Keep track of how many you use weekly and check to make sure there are none missing ever. If there ever is, immediately talk to your teen and ask them about it (in a productive way…don’t scream at them ever. they’ll turn off and ignore you). Don’t accuse them right away, but now may be the time to dish them up a few news stories about the dangers of pills so they can have a reality check.
3. Lock Your Drugs: If you think your teen might be taking your pills, keep your pills in an area where your teen cannot get to them. This can be a medicine chest with a lock, a locked box in your closet, etc. Just put them somewhere where your teen cannot get to them.

Stopping Teen Drug Abuse

It’s really important to me to help parents better understand their teens so that less teens have to die each year from tragic events. Attending the funeral of one of my childhood friends, seeing myself next to him in pictures from childhood, and not being able to see him anymore really kills me. I’ve created UnderstandMyTeen.com to make the world a better place.

Check back, and check back often. I plan on posting many blog postings relating to many topics that I’m sure will help you become a better parent. I hope that you enjoy my postings.

I miss you Rob!

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