Communicate with Kids about Drugs

This will be a very long blog, because it includes a huge portion of Chapter Eight from the book, Positive Discipline for Parenting in Recovery by Lynn Lott, Riki Intner, and Jane Nelsen. Since we just did a podcast on this book, I thought you might find it helpful to have this section on talking with kids about drugs—whether or not you are in recovery.

Communicate with Kids about Drugs

Recovering parents know first hand the realities and dangers of using drugs and alcohol. The last thing they want is for their kids to go through the living hell that they went through. They want to break the cycle of addiction.

The pressure of that responsibility and the fear that your kids are at a high risk could motivate you to over react in counterproductive ways. You may be tempted to make sure your kids don’t even start using drugs by employing parenting methods that are extremely controlling. But the more you attempt to control your kids, the less effective you are. It is equally ineffective to ignore or neglect dealing with your kids about drugs. Going into denial and pretending drugs don’t exist is more devastating to young people than any over-reactive control measures you might take.