Many teens give in to peer pressure because they want to feel accepted and liked by their peers. While this is a natural tendency among many young people, there are preventative measures parents can take to help protect against teen drug abuse.
As a parent, it’s important to speak to your children on regular basis and let them know what you do and do not find to be tolerable behaviour. If your children know that it would greatly disappoint you if they even tried drugs, they may be stronger in their ability to avoid peer pressure to use.
To monitor your teen, you need to know where they are, who they are with, and what they are doing.
Even when you are not physically present, you can still track their behaviours. It is possible to monitor your teens through:
- Phone calls
- Random trips home earlier than expected
- Having neighbours watch for visitors during hours when you are away
- Monitoring levels of prescription drugs in your home, if any
- Looking for changes in your child’s habits and/or friend groups
Rather than only enforcing punishment for undesirable behaviours, consider rewarding your teen for their willingness to engage in the desired, socially appropriate behaviours like doing well in school, maintaining good relationships, and respecting the household rules. It will be much easier to prevent drug abuse than stopping established use. Checkout out full articles here.