Parenting: Teenage Kids and Drugs

Parenting: Teenage Kids and Drugs - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Usually if we have a feeling our kid is taking drugs, then there is probably something that has been happening. We do not catch our kids the first time they use drugs or the first time they break curfew. It is often they have gotten more comfortable, they have gotten less careful, and that is when we catch them. If you think your child is using drugs, you need to sit her down, you need to have a very serious talk with her, you need to explain that this is a safety issue as well as a trust issue, and you need to know what is happening. If you truly suspect your child is using drugs, and they are denying it, you need to get them drug tested by the doctor, and if they say, "I refuse to go to the doctor for the drug test," then you are going to know that it is because they are afraid that the test is going to come up positive. This is something you absolutely have to try to get a handle on: there needs to be rules, there needs to be consequences, and there needs to be closer supervision. If you think your child is using drugs, you absolutely need to find that out for sure, and then take actions to help your child because if they are using drugs, they need help.