PARENTS DO MATTER
Dads, Especially, Influence Teens' Decisions About Drugs

No doubt some parents were relieved a couple of years ago when a book,
"The Nurture Assumption," told them they had only minor influence on
their children. The major impact, the author concluded, comes from
children's peers and heredity.

Some parents may have taken that as a signal they could engage in
"minimal parenting" or even leave the job to someone else. But in case
any sane person truly believed that theory, a new survey of drug use
gives lie to it. Parents matter a lot -- teens say so themselves.

The survey isn't surprising. We all knew parents mattered -- for good
or ill. But it's worth noting in this survey how important each parent
is in helping kids tackle difficult issues. Greater risks of drinking,
drug use and smoking, for example, are linked to teens' relationships
with their fathers.

This survey of 2,000 teens and 1,000 parents focused particular
attention on the role of fathers, who often are not as actively
engaged in their children's lives as are mothers. The teens themselves
said emphatically that parents influence their lives. And they said
they wanted their parents, especially their fathers, involved.

Sadly, the parents in this survey seemed to believe they had little
influence over their child's decisions about drugs. Joseph Califano,
director of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University, attributes that in part to parents' own history
of drug use: A whopping 58 percent who had used marijuana felt their
child would.

But the survey shows that almost half of teens who had never used
marijuana said their parents were responsible for their decision.
That's a whole lot of parental influence.

Successful parenting doesn't happen by accident. It takes work, and
the benefits may not be immediately obvious. But as the survey
indicates, parents who hold back because they think what they do
doesn't matter aren't being realistic, they're being
irresponsible.