The Right Time to Talk to Your Child about Drugs
The two major reasons young people get hooked on drugs is because one, they are unhappy and two because of peer pressure. Therefore, you should start talking to your children about drugs as early as 10 years old.
The biggest problem our children experiences today is an overload of information. They are expose to so many things that at their young age it is difficult for them to comprehend all the information propelled at them. Many are not able to differentiate between good, bad, true, or false information.
Many of the apps available to your child gives them access to people who want to sell them drugs or have sex with them. These apps appear harmless, some are even well disguised as being child friendly to throw parents off. For example, the image below is a screen shot of a drug menu for kids on snapchat. This was reported by the DEA, Drug Enforcement Agency. Online the names of the drugs are not displayed; however, the young teens know what each emoji or image represents.
With the advent of the cell phone our children have unfettered access to things that their immature minds are not ready for. As a parent you must be proactive when it comes down to cell phones and technology.
You should inquire about all the tools available that may help you to monitor, limit and or control your children’s access to detrimental material on the internet. You must counteract the messaging aimed at your children that says there are no boundaries, do what you want, your parents don’t know anything.
Parenting is hard, but if you love your children, protect them from the harmful effects of unsupervised internet access.
