Alcohol-drugs-students-parents

What was your reaction when the Saipan Tribune carried an article recently stating that alcohol and drug use by CNMI students was rising at an alarming rate? According to a 1997 Behavioral Risk Survey about 80 % of 9th to 12th graders surveyed have been trying alcohol; 29 % have been drinking excessively in the last 30 days, and 40 percent reported driving a vehicle after drinking alcohol.

Fifteen percent have tried hard drugs, and 24% have used ice in the last 30 days. Fifty-four percent have tried marijuana in the last 30 days. A similar survey conducted among 6th and 8th graders yielded the same results.

According to Community Guidance Center Director Josephine T. Sablan, most of the students and parents involved are reluctant to seek treatment or counseling on their own because of the stigma attached to seeking treatment. What moronic parents are we surrounded with who let children abuse themselves than plea shame instead of help?

Do these students and parents think that playing with their lives is a joke? Is destroying a child’s future and causing misery for everybody around them so unimportant? Sometimes I become so frustrated and want to scream: “Why should you or me care for these sick people?” But then a calmer side prevails.
I feel compassion for these helpless and hapless students. We are our brothers keepers and must help them despite themselves.

Look for these signs: clothes or jewelry depicting a marijuana leaf or mushrooms; bowls or smoking devices made by denting or poking holes in soda cans; baggies in the bedroom. That’s how drugs are typically stored. Watch for the use of eye drops to get the pot induced red out.

Look for blurry eyes and alcohol breath–a sure giveaway your child is drinking. Don’t tolerate drinking at family functions. Check out your children’s friends. But most of all–talk to your kids about drugs and, alcohol use!

The deplorable fact is that parents just don’t talk enough to children about drug and alcohol abuse! All the DARE programs and all the education given in the schools or in the media is of little effect if you parents don’t talk and relate to your children about the perils of drug and alcohol abuse.

In a 1999 survey of nearly 19,000 parents and teens by the Partnership for a Drug Free America, teens who received antidrug messages at home were 42% less likely to use drugs. U.S. News magazine discovered that 63% of the teens polled on drug and alcohol abuse voted their parents the highest vote of confidence, outranking siblings, teachers and friends.

Children listen when they realize that parents are interested in their problems. Talk to them often. Start early and continue into their teens. Resist the temptation to lecture. Ask lots of questions and listen to your child’s opinions and feelings. Seek the reason why your child wants to or is trying alcohol or drugs. Perhaps he has peer pressure or a personal problem.

The fault lies squarely on the parents for allowing this to happen. Let’s not blame the schools, the churches, or anyone else. These are your children and will only do what you allow them to do. Don’t deny this fact. You are at fault. You are the role model that is failing. Wake up. It’s not too late. Your Child is begging you to help.

Please don’t deny the problem because of shame. The shame is worst when your child becomes an addict or destroys his life or someone else’s because of your stupidity! Throughout his life a child’s dearest friends are mom and dad. Save your child before you lose him.