As a parent, the most important thing in your life is your children. Everything you do is to ensure that they’re safe, healthy, and happy. But as your children get older, some of their own decisions can make it hard for you to keep them safe, healthy, and happy, especially as they mature into teenagers. One thing that can severely threaten the health and safety of your teen is if he or she gets involved in the drug culture of your area. So if you think this might be a path that your teen is heading down, here are three things you can do if you suspect your teen of getting into trouble with drugs.
Know The Warning Signs
If you have an inkling that your teen is involved with drugs, something’s probably happened that’s made you feel this way. In fact, many parents start to notice the same types of things when they think their teen is doing drugs. According to DrugAbuse.com, some of the most common warning signs that your teen might be using drugs include always having odd or strong smells around, a drop in their grades or school attendance, abandoning friendships or activities that they previously cherished, being evasive, having issues with memory and attention, or an overall drop in their health or appearance. While some of these things individually could mean nothing, many of these factors together might be a sign that your teen is getting into some type of trouble with drugs.
Get On The Same Page With Other Loved Ones
Once you feel certain that your teen is using some type of drugs, it’s going to be very helpful for you as the parent or guardian if you’re able to get other people beloved by your teen on board with you and your ideas for how to address this issue. According to DrugFree.org, you should speak with other adults about how you should all respond when certain rules are broken and what the consequences for breaking those rules will be. Try to keep this consistent across the board for everyone who interacts with your teen to help enforce healthy and safe boundaries for him or her.
Encourage Your Teen To Seek Professional Help
If your teen’s dependence on drugs doesn’t seem to be something that you can tackle on your own, DrugAbuse.gov recommends going all that you can to encourage your teen to seek professional help, either from a doctor or a counselor. Oftentimes, the help and advice a teen hears from a third party will be better received than having a parent express their own concern. This professional help might be just what you and your teen need to turn over a new leaf.
If you think your teen might be using drugs, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you devise a plan for how to address these issues.
