Parenting Pointers: How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

Marijuana is being legalized in many states and countries, and nearly every child in the United States will be offered drugs or alcohol before graduating high school. Colleges get a bad reputation for being hotbeds of drinking, and to a lesser extent, prescription drug abuse that is not uncommon. However, if parents tell teenagers about the risks of drugs and alcohol, teens are twice as likely to never try them, and if they can make it to 21 without smoking, using illegal drugs, or abusing alcohol or prescription drugs, their likelihood of ever doing so is nearly zero.

So how can parents sound the alarm for their kids, in ways that they'll listen? In his book HOW TO RAISE A DRUG-FREE KID: The Straight Dope for Parents, Joseph A Califano, Jr., founder of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), provides practical advice on getting the message to your kids.

It was first published in 2009 and has been updated since then, with advice on nearly every facet of drug awareness and abuse, including how to talk to kids about drugs and alcohol, how to identify risky situations, the dangers of drugs, and how to find a program if teens do need treatment. He also looks at how drug use affects boys and girls differently, with different pressures to use or abuse drugs.

A few great tips from the book (there are many more, making the book a good resource for parents):

• Get kids involved in healthy activities.
• Maintain open communication with your teens.
• Provide your kids with tools to appropriate turn down offers of drug use.
• Stay involved with your kids to balance the effects of peer pressure.

The book is easy to read - lengthy, but with self-contained chapters that can be read as time allows. Information is presented clearly, and overall it's a very helpful book.