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Parents: How Are You Educating Your Children About 'Club Drugs'?

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Parents: How Are You Educating Your Children About 'Club Drugs'?

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Discussion Started: 01-30-2001, 12:27 PM

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A 16-year-old Boulder County girl died after taking ecstasy. Her mother said she never dreamed she needed to discuss the dangers of so-called 'club drugs.'

A few days after her death, a Highlands Ranch girl almost died after taking ecstasy despite widespread coverage of the first girl's death.

As a parent, have you talked to your children about ecstasy and other so-called 'club drugs'?

What age to you think is appropriate to start teaching your children about the dangers of drugs.

Do you think the use of 'club drugs' is prevalent, or overblown by the media?

Are you worried about your children using ecstasy?

What do you think you, as a parent, can do about the problem?

View Messages: [newest first] | [oldest first]

rainman77

10-16-2003, 5:36 PM

Tell it like it is. keep it simple, and don't worry about hurting the reputation of a club drug since they are not worried about your kids reputation much less health or anything else for that matter. Dont let the undefined infinate type of tolerance bug get you, or you will be in as much trouble as the child you are trying to help.(Quicksand) And do it a soon as he is old enough to be vulnerable to any such evil creatures.

sincerly, Rainman

Puppy

03-26-2001, 2:24 AM

I think it's incorrect to call this "educating." What are we teaching the children, exactly? That drugs are just bad, bad, bad, despite whatever positive effects they may have? That the war on drugs is justified simply because the government and corporations say so, despite the fact that millions of Americans are political prisoners now because of it? That lives are destroyed by this war, both innocent and guilty?

And what can parents do? The only way parents can stop their children from doing drugs is to, ahem, have complete and utter control over them -- or what most of us would call "capitivity" and "slavery." Children spend a lot of time away from home and parents cannot monitor their children all the time. This entire "educating children" hogwash comes from parents' feeling of powerlessness over their children's actions, as if their children have no individual rights or freedoms.

So what I say to parents is this: how can you tell your children how bad drugs are when you've never done them yourself? And for those parents who have done drugs in the past: how did you come to decide to not do drugs ever again? In the first case, the parents are simply hypocritical and ignorant about the thing they loathe and despise: they know nothing of drugs and thus cannot spout the psychobabble our American media feeds them. In the second case the parents, at one time drug-users themselves, realized, for whatever reason, that they did not need or should not be doing drugs. (And no, I'm not advocating parents to go out and get high so they can bond with their children.)

Which also leaves those parents who DO still do drugs and have children. Of course these parents can say nothing to their kids about not doing drugs, because not only have they set the example, they would come off as being the epitome of the spiteful parent: having double standards. And when I speak of drugs . . . well, there's the obvious implication of street drugs like cocaine; but what of those more . . . socially accepted intoxicants? Parents who drink lots of booze fall into this category, as are parents who smoke, and parents who pop painkillers. They too have the stick of blame pointed at them.

So . . . I say let it be. Sit down and talk with your children if it'll make you feel better but, really, get realistic -- your children will have sex and commit vandalism and, gasp!, do drugs behind your back and without your consent. You, as a parent, are powerless, and can only hope your children come to terms with their actions.

-- Randy Robinson

"If a drug-free America is such a good idea, why aren't members of the House of Representatives taking drug tests? Why isn't the U.S. Senate pissing into jars on C-SPAN?"

-- P.J. O'Rourke

TRiegel

02-14-2001, 2:24 PM

I agree with the majority in saying that it is never to early to start teaching your children about drugs. But one must understand that you cannot decide for them how they interpret that information. Young Miss Chambers would have made the same choice no matter what her education. I disagree with those people that have determined that the best way to beat drugs is to tell everybody how bad they are. Why is it that this is the land of the people and yet we let a minority make laws, rules and regulations by which the majority must follow? Many would hide behind the political facets of this nations being, in terms of being a democratic republic. The only problem with this is the feed back and information must be there for the representitives to make the decisions and it is not presently. We must first be an educated population with people of well read and learned backgrounds that understand the concepts of how these concepts and objects truly interact with our society, the world, our government and our bodies. I was once told that those people I called teachers were actually nothing of the sort. And parents shouldn't be called teachers by having to teach their children about drugs. I had instructors in school that gave me the most relevant and truthful information and resources, and then it was left to me to decide how to extrapolate the ideas that are deemed to be true. I urge parents to step back from this position of attack and to listen for once. If we were given wrong or mythical information and resources in school about time and physics then we would have the wrong ideas and would not understand the concepts that are held within these concepts. So instead of using scare tactics to get kids off of the drugs sit down with them with truthful and helpful resources. Show them the good and the bad of a situation not just the bad. Its not your decision to make, it is your children's. We must all understand that if you give children the resources to understand something and a general example of how you feel about it and why then they are more likely to listen than to take it at face value and decide for themselves anyway. Heed my warning if we continue down the path of attack in terms of "teaching" our children we will not be pleased with the outcomes. No law or parent is going to be able to stop what someone thinks or decides to do. All you are creating is consequences for an event you are responsible for. Many would argue that our responsibility is based on how much education we have about the action. It is to say that if someone knows that murder is a crime and is wrong and is a violation of that person's rights as a human and they kill someone then they are responsible for it. If you are educating someone about murder and you tell them mythical information about what happens then you are responsible, because that pupil still doesn't have the education with which makes them responsible for it. And to say this is to say that all drug information must be accurate and clear to start before you will ever have grounds to give it to your children. The population must stand up and let the government know that we are fed up with getting the wrong information or only information that proves to be detrimental to our development as cognitive thinking humans. It all starts with the initiative to want to learn. The government can take all of our rights away from us and we can be oppressed by all other people and be plucked from society and interned and yet we never lose that inalienable right to think. So start thinking about the future and the development of one society that is functionally integrated instead of a disfunctional society where age is more than just a number. Parents the best thing you can do to teach your kids about "club drugs" is to listen to what they know about it. Listen intently and actually want to learn, those with the information are willing to convey it, just don't get uncomfortable and use their willingness against them. Stop trying to teach them and learn yourselves. I hope that this post doesn't land on deaf ears.

This is the house that life built...Can we fill it with beautiful things?

polarcat

02-06-2001, 2:16 PM

As a parent, I have been talking to my kids about drugs for years. As soon as kids can understand is not too soon to talk about staying away from drugs. We teach them not to touch cleansers, chemicals and other poisons. Drugs are chemicals that can poison and kill, just like the ones under our sinks. I don't believe the media has over blown the use of ecstacy, I have two teens and a twenty year old and alot of their peers have tried it. It's easy to get and easy to find someone to do it with. Ask any teenager if they know someone who could get some for you, you'd be suprised how many say yes. I do worry about my kids being tempted to try drugs like ecstacy, alcohol, and others. It's quite possible they already have.

I just keep trying to keep the communication open with them. We have a deal that no matter where they are, if they need a ride home or need to get out of a situation, I will go to pick them up with NO questions asked. Sometimes, it's important for kids to be able to realize their own mistakes without being judged or repirmanded. However, on the other hand if I found drugs in my home, and they were being conceled I would have no problem calling the police. The only other way to teach kids is to role model. Don't use/abuse drugs while you are trying to parent them.

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