|
Your Baby
Your Toddler
Your School-Age Child
Your Teenager
Summer Camps
Self-Esteem
Safety
Your Child can Succeed!
Your Child's Sexuality
Playing and Learning
|
Help your teen stop using drugs and alcohol.
You may be feeling scared or confused if you think your teen is using drugs or alcohol.
But there are things you can do to help.
Talk with your teen.
- Talk about making smart and healthy choices.
- Talk about her goals for the future.
- Be open and honest about your own choices and mistakes.
- Let her ask you questions and really listen to what she says.
- Practice how to say "no" to drugs and alcohol.
Talk about communication.
Being a teen can be very hard. Hearing loss can add to her challenge.
Think about how easy it is for your child to talk to you.
- Do you communicate in the same language?
- Are there other ways your teen tells you how she feels?
- What else can you do to make communication easier for her?
Make sure your teen knows where you stand.
- Talk about rules, and why rules are important.
- Talk about what happens if she breaks the rules.
- Talk about what will happen to your teen's body and mind if she keeps using drugs and alcohol.
- Be a good example for your child.
Spend more time with your teen.
- Be home more.
- Spend time together, one on one.
- The closer you are to your teen, the more you will know about what she is doing
and how she is feeling.
Any time your teen acts different, pay attention and ask questions.
|
Get help.
If you think your teen is using drugs or alcohol:
- Test her for drug use at her school, clinic, or family doctor.
- Bring her to an addictions counselor or youth counselor. These counselors are trained to
help teens stop using drugs and alcohol.
Find out about treatment programs.
- Bring your teen to a drug treatment program. Sometimes this is called a drug rehabilitation program.
These programs are in hospitals, clinics, schools, churches, and private centers.
- Find a
substance abuse treatment center in your state.
- Bring your teen to a 12 step program. These are free programs known as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). These meetings are held every day, all over town.
Read more about AA at www.aa.org and NA at
www.na.org.
- There are special meetings for you, the family member, and for teens. These meetings are called
Al-Anon and Alateen. Read more about Al-Anon and Alateen.
- Talk to your teen's teachers and counselors at school to find out what treatment programs they know.
Many schools have programs that teach kids about what happens when they use drugs and alcohol, and how to
say no.
Learn more about special programs.
|
