PARENTS MUST TEACH OUR KIDS ABOUT DRUGS

Do you ever wonder why a lot of kids seem unsupervised and are abusing
alcohol and drugs? One reason may be found in a new study that reveals that
today's parents are less likely to talk to their kids about drug use.

The study of parental attitudes toward teen drug use, conducted by The
Partnership for a Drug Free America, found that barely half the parents
would be upset if their children experimented with drugs.

This mentality is unacceptable.

All children, regardless of economic background, race or ethnicity, should
be educated at a young age about the dangers of drugs.

The study revealed that parents today are more likely to have used drugs
than in previous generations and as a result, they see less risk in drug
experimentation.

The number of parents who have never spoken to their children about drugs
was 12 percent - double what it was only six years ago.

Eleven percent of parents reported using marijuana in the last year. The
study revealed that many of them still carry attitudes fostered during
their teen years.

Behavior and attitudes of parents are part of the problem here.

A large number of them have used or currently use drugs, so they see it as
all right for their children to do the same.

This may have contributed to the rise in drug use among our youth in recent
years, coupled with drug use becoming more acceptable in society through
the culture that children see every day on MTV or VH1.

Another disturbing statistic from the study was that only three in 10
children said they have learned a lot about drugs at home.

If parents want to do drugs on their own, probably nothing is going to stop
them from making a poor choice. They do need to realize that their poor
choice can influence their children's lives in a very negative way.

All children deserve to be educated by their parents about drug dangers.