According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), research has shown that the brain continues to develop into the early twenties. The pre-frontal cortex, the part that controls reasoning and cognitive ability takes the longest to mature. This is why drinking, especially heavy drinking, before the brain finishes development affects memory and damages this pre-frontal cortex region.  Since this region is responsible for the ability to learn complex tasks and controls impulses and organizing, this is a significant loss.  Some studies indicate that this damage may be permanent. The hippocampus, which is responsible for forming new memories, was noticeably smaller in youth who abuse alcohol than in their non-drinking peers. Additionally, studies show that alcohol use in adolescence decreased ability in planning and executive functioning, memory, spatial operations and attention – all of which are important to academic performance and future functioning.

1. Clearly, real physical brain damage caused by alcohol is a danger for teenagers.
2. Most teens do not know that a 12 oz can of beer = a 5 oz. glass of wine = a 1.5 oz. shot of hard liquor.  They think beer and wine are safer.
3. Youth who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholic adults that those who start to drink at 21.
4. In Sacramento County, 11 percent of 7th graders, 29 percent of 9th graders and 38 percent of 11th graders have used alcohol in the last 30 days.

What can a concerned parent do to help their children successfully resist alcohol?

• Be Involved – spend time, know where your child is and who they are with.
• Communicate – be clear about family values, listen, talk about their problems, practice how they could say “no” when offered a drink by friends.
• Walk the Walk – set high standards of responsible alcohol use for yourself.
• Lay Down the Law – make sure they know your rules and the punishment involved in drinking.
• Praise, Reward, Show Love – Catch them being wonderful, form a strong bond.

“I wish I’d known…how important it is to be awake when your teen comes home in the evening. Give him or her a big hug, and take a deep sniff for tell-tale signs of alcohol or marijuana use.  Engage your teen in conversation about the evening to make sure your teen is sober and coherent before going to bed.  Teens are awake and talkative late at night and you’ll probably find these conversations enlightening and insightful.” By Christy Crandell local author of Lost & Found: A Mother and Son Find Victory Over Teen Drug Addiction

Want more ideas and resources?  Go to www.parentsempowered.org

In spite of everything that parents and schools are doing to get the message about not smoking out to kids, according to the recent county-wide results of the California Healthy Kids Survey, 8 percent of 9th graders and 14 percent of 11th graders report that they have smoked a cigarette in the last 30 days.

Is there anything more a parent can do to prevent tobacco use beyond the basics of communicating family values, being a role model and making sure that our children know what the consequence at home would be if they were ever found to be smoking or chewing tobacco?  Here are two more ideas:

1. Help your child practice saying no to offers of tobacco.  Offer to be used as an excuse as in “if my parents smell smoke on me, I’ll lose my cell phone for two weeks and I’ll have to write a two page report on 50 reasons not to smoke.”
2. Use teachable moments (such as when you see tobacco use on TV or a movie or when you have to walk through a cloud of foul smelling smoke to get in a store) to pass along a few facts.  Ask your child, “did you know…”

• Smoking damages the fibers (collagen and elastin) that give your skin strength and elasticity.  Ask them what they think the result will be.  Sagging skin and wrinkles is the answer.
• The Surgeon General has said recently that “smoking harms nearly every organ of the body.”  Choose a body part or organ system that you think would be most interesting to your individual child (i.e. healthy lungs for an athlete) and discuss how their life would change if that area of their body was damaged by smoking.
• One hour in a smoke filled room fills your body with as much poison as if you had smoked a cigarette yourself.  Ask if there are ever times when someone is smoking around your child.
• Nicotine, the addictive drug in tobacco, is as addictive as heroin and cocaine and is as difficult to quit.  A teen can get hooked during their first pack of cigarettes.
• Often when you are in a store that sells tobacco, ask your child to figure out the cost of smoking or chewing (include the taxes that are not in the advertisements).  Ask which would be more fun: spending that much on their favorite stuff or buying dried leaves and paper, lighting it on fire and pulling the smoke down into their lungs?
• Spit tobacco and cigars are not safe alternatives to cigarettes; low-tar and additive-free cigarettes are not safer either.

For a complete website that will give you all the information and ideas you need about tobacco go to www.cdc.gov/tobacco

What can a caring parent do to help their child grow up drug free?

1. Walk the Walk.  Be a role model of the person you want your child to become.
2. Be absolutely clear with your child that using illegal drugs or abusing prescription drugs is out of the question.  Explain your family’s values related to drug use.  Speak often of the dangers of drugs and the fact that their use would drastically damage their ability to be the successful person you know they can be.
3. Create rules and discuss in advance the consequences of breaking them.  Don’t make empty threats or let the rule breaker off the hook.
4. Set a curfew and stick to it.  Know where your child is at all times.
5. Call the parents whose home is to be used for a party.  Ask about adult supervision.  If you are not satisfied with the answers, tell your child they are not allowed to attend the party.
6. Make it easy for your child to get out of a situation when they are offered drugs. Repeatedly practice with them ways to say no.  Tell them that they call you to give them a ride home at any time if they do not feel safe, and tell them they are doing the right thing and would not get in trouble for it.
7. Teenagers whose parents talk to them regularly about the dangers of drugs are 42 percent less likely to use drugs than teens whose parents don’t, yet only  one in four teens report having those conversations.

Are you concerned that your son or daughter or their friends might be either using illegal drugs or abusing prescription drugs?  Here are some of the warning signs:
- Bloodshot eyes
- Moodiness or unusual behavior
- Change in sleeping habits – either sleeping more or less
- Change in friends or spending habits
- Isolation/depression/loss of motivation or on the other extreme: agitation and restlessness
- Drop in grades
- Drug paraphernalia – either as pictures decorating their room or as personal belongings

The presence of one or two of these signs may not mean that your child has started to experiment with drugs.  They could mean there is a different kind of problem or no problem.  However, if you see any of these signs, dig a little deeper.  Talk to your child to try to understand what is going on.

If you find out that your child has begun experimenting with drugs, be courageous enough to get help immediately.  Talk to your doctor; call the California Youth Crisis Line (1-800-843-5200) and definitely wait until your child is sober then have a heart-to-heart talk with them. Your child will need a great deal of love and firm discipline from you to get back on track.

www.theantidrug.com is a website that is rich in ideas and resources for parents to use if they want to learn more about preventing drug use or if they have a child that they suspect has already started to experiment.