Preventing Drug Abuse
Prevention is still better than cure. This tagline is very appropriate in the case of drug abuse, which has destroyed lives of so many individuals. Thus, the best treatment for drug abuse problems might be to prevent it altogether from happening.
Assessing Risks of Drug Abuse
Your ability to identify possible risks is crucial to send out a warning signal and find ways to intervene with an impending abuse. However, it is often difficult to identify not unless the symptoms have escalated to a more serious level. Here are some of the tips you can use to assess the risk level of drug abuse, especially among the youths:
*Youths that manifest aggressive behaviors even during the earlier years of their youth are more at risk of experimenting with addictive substances. Hence, you need them to develop a sense of self-control to avoid becoming a victim of their own aggressive personalities.
*As you will find out later on, parents play a crucial role in preventing their child from abusing drugs. Thus, you need to properly supervise your kids to avoid exposing them to negative influences.
*Substance abuse often happens as a result of various factors such as low academic performance and lack of self-esteem. Thus, youths turn to drug abuse as an escape from their social reality. It is therefore important to promote academic performance and expose your child to healthy environments that promote their skills and level of self-esteem.
*Children whose parents abuse drugs themselves are at a high risk of abusing drugs and other harmful substances, as well as association with other teens into drug addiction. A healthy relationship and consistent enforcement of discipline within the home can therefore prevent such problems from arising.
Role of Parents
As a parent, you hold the key that will drive your teenagers away from potential situations that will make them turn to drugs. Statistics have shown that a significant percentage of kids abusing alcohol, drugs, and other harmful substances indicate negative or abusive relationship with their parents. Thus, you can turn things around by creating a strong bond with your kids and provide a nurturing relationship with them. How exactly do you achieve that? Below are some tips:
*Maintain a healthy communication with your children. They should be able to open up with you about certain problems affecting them and they should feel as if some is willing to listen to them, provide refuge, and console them.
*Avoid being judgmental to your child's concerns and avoid preaching while you can.
*Become involved with your child's lives such that you are there at every aspect of their growth and development. If you can do this, then they'd be more likely to listen to you later on.
*Establish rules and make sure they are consistently enforced and observed. You have to show them what your limitations are but not to the point wherein they fear you.
*Talk to them openly about drugs and what harmful effects it can do to them and their lives.
Drug Abuse Prevention In School
Outside the home, school is the next place where children spend a great deal of their time in. Thus, this makes the perfect setting to realize your drug abuse preventive measures by inculcating in the minds of these children the harmful effects of drugs to the body, your family, and the rest of the society.
Aside from education, much focus must also be given on improving the child's social and academic skills. This will increase the child's protective factors to overcome the risk factors that might cause them to abuse drugs, such as promoting healthier peer relationships, drug-refusal skills, and self-control.
Drug Abuse Prevention In The Community
The community where your child lives in offers the biggest threat when it comes to drug abuse, but it can also be a crucial tool that you can use for drug abuse prevention. If you can enforce drug abuse prevention programs within the community, it encompasses civil, law enforcement, and religious aspects of the society.
When you can do that, it will enhance anti-drug norms and support promotion of healthy social behaviors to keep your kids away from drugs. One of the common community drug prevention measure is the promotion of engagement in sports activities, which is considered as a healthier and socially enhancing alternative to drugs.