REACHING OUT WITH OPEN EARS

For some parents, they feel like they're at a total loss when trying to
talk to their kids about drugs, the dangers of drugs and the consequences.

Once a child is introduced and decides to experiment, is it too late for
parents to get involved?

It's never too late.

Drugs are claiming the lives, living and dead, of thousands, perhaps a few
million, people on this continent. And why? Well, if we had the answer to
this magical question, we could solve it.

There are so many factors which play into why kids try drugs and later
abuse them.

As many people might have noticed, methamphetamines are more than a growing
concern in Whitecourt. The days of this community being a sleepy little
hollow along a major highway are gone, and gone for good. As we grow, so do
the problems and it's up to us to work on a solution. Depending only on one
group or organization is irresponsible. It takes a community to raise a
child, but parenting begins at home.

Thankfully, parent support networks have formed to give caregivers a place
to go, share experiences and look for answers. A new program, Drug Proof
Your Kids, is more than what this title indicates. The formula is based on
communication ---- communication between spouses and parents and their
children.

No child came into this world with an instruction manual and no parent is
perfect, but as soon as the lines of communication are damaged, the
potential is there for children to seek outside support, love and their
idea of nurturing.

Preteens and teens don't have it easy in this town. There are everyday
stresses that many adults don't or can't recognize, such as keeping up with
their friends financially, social pressures of being considered cool and
doing what they think their peers will look up to.

Daily torment and abuse coincides with not being accepted by peers, put
down because they don't fit in or do what the rest do, which leads to
isolation and detachment.

It seems as if leading the right way is harder than being a follower down
the wrong path. But no one ever said life was easy and that making the
right decisions were always cool ---- but at least it keeps you out of the
hospital and out of a jail cell.

Positive decision making skills is the key factor, along with open lines of
communication. No matter the severity or the situation, children need to
feel comfortable when talking to their parents, or any other caregiver,
about the things they face.

All it takes is once ---- once for a parent to not be there when needed,
for a parent to not listen when asked and for a parent to ignore the signs
they don't want to see.