Narconon encourages parents to talk drugs to their kids. Honest communication about the highs, the lows and the problems of drug use, between responsible, informed adults and children is the best way for kids to learn about drugs, and make a commitment not to use them.
Narconon encourages parents to talk drugs to their kids from an early age, and in a natural way. Anything to do with our kids, we like to know about – not be taken by surprise. The time to start talking to kids about drugs is not in panic mode, when you suspect that they are using, but as from an early age. This is a subject that comes up sometimes during general conversation with your child, and it should be considered and discussed.
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Meaningful Communication
Engaging with your child in meaningful communication and conversation from an early age enhances the parent child relationship and fosters self-esteem. It also creates an environment in which illicit drug use can be considered and discussed in a relaxed and non-threatening way.
The younger the child the more important it is to keep things simple, in terms of black and white, when talking drugs to your child. Every child should know, before they go to school that there are things called “drugs” in the world and why drug use is harmful.
Children need to know that “doing drugs” includes any kind of substance abuse. It is doing drugs to sniff petrol or paint thinner, it is doing drugs to sniff any kind of fumes into your nose and mouth, and that includes cigarette smoke. Drug use is any kind of inhaling, injecting or ingestion of a toxic substance.
How Young Does Drug Use Start?
Most official drug prevention programs target 10 – 13 year olds in schools, based on research that shows the average age for first drug use to be 11. There are however kids as young as 6 or 8 abusing toxic substances with little or no parental guidance or control.
Traditional Drug Education
Traditional drug education programs tell kids about the dangers of drugs such as alcohol and marijuana, and the risks of abusing inhalants. The focus is on the dangers, the risks involved. Sometimes “scare” tactics are used. It is highly debatable whether scare tactics and general drug information lead to long term behavioral change, and a rejection of drug use.
Natural Resilience to Drug Use
There is pressure on kids in society today to use illicit drugs that are common and readily available. The only defense a child has to temptation is their personality style and natural resilience to drug use.
Natural resilience to drug use is created by love, support and feelings of connectedness to people in the community. Drug use fills an emotional void where these conditions are lacking in a child’s life. Even when a child lacks adequate support, discouragement to seek drug use as an alternative can be provided by an appropriate intervention.
Interventions Must Be Relevant
To be effective, an intervention must be relevant – imploring children not to use drugs because they are bad and harmful fails to register with a child who sees in drugs the fulfillment of a happier way of life. What children need is a drug intervention that provides a series of “aha” moments – that inspire comprehension and understanding about the negativity that is implicit in the choice of substance abuse.
Effective Drug Education Programs by Narconon
Narconon has been providing for over 40 years effective drug education programs to children in schools throughout the world. Narconon has outreached to over 3.5 million school children. The Narconon drug education program, educates children as to why drug use is detrimental and enables children, no matter what their life circumstances, to come to the conclusion that drug use is not for them. Narconon teaches children how to say no to drug use, and what precisely they are saying no to.
Narconon professionals provide a realistic picture of drug use. Children are educated, rather than “told” about the physical and mental effects of drugs. Program delivery includes hands-on demonstration of the materials with plenty of real life applications. With full comprehension and understanding, children decide to stop using drugs, change their mind about wanting to use them, and are strengthened in any decision they have already made not to get involved with drugs.
Narconon encourages parents to talk drugs to their kids, the more kids understand about the reality of drug use, the less they will be inclined to choose the path of substance abuse and addiction. Parental communication and the Narconon drug education program build drug resilience in children.
Study of the Effectiveness of the Narconon Drug Education Program
The Narconon drug prevention program has been externally examined and findings were that at six month follow up, youths who had received the Narconon Drug Education curriculum, compared with controls, showed reduced drug use in all drug categories tested.
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With endemic drug use today threatening our communities, eroding family values, it makes good sense to invite Narconon to your school, to teach young children alternatives to substance abuse and addiction and to promote an alcohol and drug-free way of life.
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