PARENTS ARE INFLUENTIAL IN CHILDREN'S LIVES

Parents perhaps give themselves too little credit for their ability to
influence whether their teenage sons and daughters engage in drugs. A
nationwide survey by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse said 35 percent of parents think they have little influence
over their teens' decisions about whether to use alcohol, smokes, or
illegal drugs. Yet, the center's research over the years indicates that
parents have the most important influence on whether their children decide
to use those items.

In the latest survey, for instance, 49 percent of the students who had not
tried marijuana attributed the decision to the influence of parents.
Parental discussion about drug abuse during the pre-teen years is
especially important in heading off teen use, the survey indicated.

Consider this: 95 percent of teens who smoke cigarettes start at or before
age 15; 93 percent of the students who drink alcohol start before that age;
and 86 percent of teens who smoke pot start at or before that age. In the
case of cigarettes and booze, the average starting age is 12. It's 13 for
marijuana.

The center's statistics show that the risk of substance abuse by teens
increases by almost 500 percent between the ages of 12 and 16. The center
surveyed 541 parents and 1,000 students ages 12 to 17 nationwide, with a
plus/minus 3.1 percent margin of error for teen responses and plus/minus
4.2 percent for adult responses.

Here are some of the results: * 43 percent of parents think future drug use
by their teen is likely. * 89 percent of parents think there are drugs in
their children's schools despite the best efforts of administrators to keep
them out. * 29 percent of teens said drugs, including alcohol and
cigarettes, are their biggest concern. * Teens who usually make A's and B's
in school are at half the drug abuse risk of teens getting low grades. *
Teens who attended religious services four or more times a month are at
nearly half the risk of drug abuse as teens who do not attend religious
services. One of the more positive findings by the study is that 63 percent
of youths surveyed said their schools are drug free, which is slightly more
than double the figure reported in 1998. But the youths also said that
marijuana is easy to get as cigarettes and even easier to buy than booze.
The study results underscore the powerful influence parents can have in
keeping their children drug free. Talking to them about drug dangers,
helping them make good grades and encouraging them to attend church pays
off in many ways.