Straight Dope for Parents

Recognize

Drugs are available to kids everywhere. Wherever you live—large city or small town, affluent suburb or rural community—tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription pills are relatively inexpensive and will likely be offered to your children. Such casual and frequent exposure makes experimentation tempting.

• What Do I Need to Know to Protect My Kid?
  There are certain factors that make kids more tempted to smoke, drink and use drugs. If you know what these factors are, and what to do about them, you can help keep your children drug free.
  
  
  • The Adolescent Brain is Particularly Vulnerable to Substance Use
  • When Are Children Most Tempted to Smoke, Drink and Use Drugs?
  • Similarities and Differences Between Sons and Daughters
  • Some Kids Are at Especially High Risk for Trying Drugs
  
  
• Where Do Kids Get Drugs?
  You might assume that teens obtain drugs from drug dealers in dark alleys, but in reality, kids get drugs in the places where they spend most of their time: their homes, their schools, and their friends' homes.
  
  
  • At Home
  • At School
  • From Parties and Friends' Homes
  • Drug Offers
  
  
• How Do I Prepare My Kids for College?
  Your ability to influence your kids positively will persist through the college years—especially if that influence is cultivated before college starts.