Pubdate: Fri, 25 Feb 2005
Source: Bowling Green Daily News (KY)
Copyright: 2005 News Publishing LLC
Contact:  http://www.bgdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1218
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

PARENTS MUST TEACH OUR KIDS ABOUT DRUGS

Do you ever wonder why a lot of kids seem unsupervised and are abusing 
alcohol and drugs? One reason may be found in a new study that reveals that 
today's parents are less likely to talk to their kids about drug use.

The study of parental attitudes toward teen drug use, conducted by The 
Partnership for a Drug Free America, found that barely half the parents 
would be upset if their children experimented with drugs.

This mentality is unacceptable.

All children, regardless of economic background, race or ethnicity, should 
be educated at a young age about the dangers of drugs.

The study revealed that parents today are more likely to have used drugs 
than in previous generations and as a result, they see less risk in drug 
experimentation.

The number of parents who have never spoken to their children about drugs 
was 12 percent - double what it was only six years ago.

Eleven percent of parents reported using marijuana in the last year. The 
study revealed that many of them still carry attitudes fostered during 
their teen years.

Behavior and attitudes of parents are part of the problem here.

A large number of them have used or currently use drugs, so they see it as 
all right for their children to do the same.

This may have contributed to the rise in drug use among our youth in recent 
years, coupled with drug use becoming more acceptable in society through 
the culture that children see every day on MTV or VH1.

Another disturbing statistic from the study was that only three in 10 
children said they have learned a lot about drugs at home.

If parents want to do drugs on their own, probably nothing is going to stop 
them from making a poor choice. They do need to realize that their poor 
choice can influence their children's lives in a very negative way.

All children deserve to be educated by their parents about drug dangers.
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MAP posted-by: Beth