Teens make better decisions around substance use when they know their parent has their back if they get into an unsafe situation. Let your teen know your expectations, but make sure they also know you will help them if they do slip up. When teens don’t know how their parents will react, they make poor decisions like getting into a car under the influence. Let them know you won’t be happy, but that you would rather them be safe. One strategy is to have a pre-planned code word, so that if they are in a social situation but want to get out, they can get your help and save face with peers. Take a moment to have a conversation with your teen and let them know your expectations and consequences they can expect, but also that you have their back. When they’re not worried about unknown consequences and know what to expect, they tend to make better choices.
What Works in Prevention
It’s important to know what strategies are effective in preventing substance use, as our time and resources are often scarce. Here are a few tried and true principles to implement in your family:
- Build communication skills
- Teach refusal skills
- Reinforce anti-drug attitudes
- Increase study skills and academic support
- Increase social and emotional skills
- Promote healthy alternatives to drug use
- Enhance bonding with positive adults
What Doesn’t Work in Prevention
Perhaps even more importantly, knowing what doesn’t work is necessary so that we don’t do more harm than good. Sometimes, what we think is effective, actually makes the problem worse. Here are some of the don’ts in prevention:
- Scare tactics (scary images, mock car crashes, etc)
- One-time events
- Personal testimony from people in recovery
- Sensationalizing information about substances (reporting how many people DO use)
- Appealing to young people’s morals
- Giving detailed information about substance use (how to use it, potential benefits of use, street names, etc)
- Role play, where youth are asked to play the part of drug dealers or users
