Wouldn’t life be easier if kids came with instruction manuals? No matter what the situation – be it the “Terrible Twos” or requests for tattoos – you’d always know where to turn for answers. When your children reached the teen years, you could dog-ear the corners of each page for easy reference.

Of course, there isn’t any magical handbook for raising kids, but that doesn’t mean parents are totally on their own. If you’re the parent of a teen, handling the subject of drug abuse may be a problem area for you. To help you protect your family against the threat of drugs, here are tips for raising drug-free teens:

1. Educate Yourself

If you want to get through to your kids about the dangers of drug abuse, you need to understand current drug abuse trends. Most parents don’t know that an alarming number of today’s teenagers are more likely to abuse dextromethorphan – the active ingredient in many cough syrups – to get high, than a variety of illegal drugs like Ecstasy, cocaine, crack and meth. Parents need to stay alert to the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, in addition to illegal drugs, if they want to help their teens combat new drug threats.

2. Talk with Your Teen

Parents should talk often, listen regularly, and communicate clearly that they do not want their kids using drugs. According to a recent study on teen drug trends, kids who say they learn a lot about the risks of drugs at home are up to 50 percent less likely to try drugs. Make sure your teen understands that abusing over-the-counter medicines, prescription drugs, or illegal drugs can be very dangerous.

3. Know Where Your Teen Is

It’s important to know where your teen is and what he or she is doing. Children without adult supervision are at significantly greater risk of truancy from school, stress, receiving poor grades, risk-taking behavior, and substance abuse. It is also important to keep tabs of your child’s Internet use by using web browser tools and software designed to block certain sites.

4. Introduce Your Teen to Adult Role Models

Find out what adult-supervised activities – like clubs or after-school sports – interest your teen and help get him or her involved. Connection with other influential adults in teens’ lives also can help them avoid the dangers of drugs, and reinforce the benefits of healthy, drug-free living.

5. Know Your Teen’s Friends

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America reports that more than half of teens say they have close friends who get high regularly. Parents need to know if these are the close friends with which their teens are spending time.

6. Recognize Signs Your Teen Is Using Drugs

Parents don’t always recognize their kids might be doing drugs. While it can be hard to know, there are some general warning signs you can watch for. The fact is that any teen could be using drugs, so stay alert. As a general rule, changes that are sudden or extreme may indicate a problem.

Signs your teen could be using drugs include:

• Change in friends

• Change in eating or sleeping patterns

• Changes in physical appearance or hygiene

• Declining grades

• Loss of interest in hobbies or favorite activities

• Hostile and uncooperative attitude

• Unexplained disappearance of household money or medicines

• Visits to pro-drug websites

• Empty drug or medicine containers or drug paraphernalia

• Unusual chemical or medicinal smells on your child or in his or her room

While there is no special instruction manual for raising kids, parents need to remember that kids don’t have a special guidebook for dealing with these difficult issues either. By being involved in your child’s life and sending a clear message about the dangers of drug abuse, you can help your teen stay drug-free.

About the Partnership for a Drug-Free America

This article is copyrighted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part and may not be posted on other websites, without the express written permission of the author who may be contacted via email at editorial_dept@drugfree.org.

About Jessica April

Jessica began her full-time career with the Partnership in January 2006 as Web Writer/Content Producer in the Interactive department. In this role, Jessica is responsible for working with and supporting the Senior Editor/Writer in the research, writing, development and publishing of content features for the Partnership’s websites. Prior to this position, Jessica interned for three consecutive summers in the Creative and Interactive departments at the Partnership and contributed as a freelance contractor to the Interactive team for six months before accepting a permanent role. Jessica is a 2005 graduate from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and lives in New York City.