Connect

Connection is key to prevention. Kids that have stable, consistent, and healthy relationships with adults are more likely to make safer decisions and live healthier lives. It’s important that parents, and other caring adults, take time to listen, pay attention, spend time, and follow up with the kids in their lives. When kids feel valued, they better understand their feelings and are more willing to listen to you.

Connect Action Steps:

• This TED Talk explores practical ideas for anyone who wants to create connections with kids.
• Meaningful Meals Kit: Kids who have meals with their family on a regular basis are less likely to engage in risky behaviors, including substance use! Our Tools page here at Parent Up has a great kit with tools, tips, and resources to help parents make meals more meaningful with their kids and teens. Utilizing this kit can help you maximize the benefits of regular family meals, which includes reducing the likelihood of prescription drug misuse!
• Set aside regular one-on-one time with your child to bond and have fun together.
• Brainstorm healthy ways to manage the stress in their life with your child (like getting more sleep, going outdoors, having “unplugged” time from the internet, etc.). Be open to your child’s suggestions and help them think through some ideas.

Communicate

Consistent and clear communication with your child is important. While your child might reasonably know that alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine are a no-go with you, prescription medication isn’t always so clear. Many youth believe that medicine prescribed by doctors couldn’t be dangerous or harmful. As a parent, make prescription drug misuse part of the “no drugs or alcohol” talks you have with your child throughout their life. Parents do make a difference:  Youth who continue to learn about the risks of drugs at home are up to 50% less likely to use drugs than those who are not taught about the dangers. 

Make it clear to your child that you don’t approve of them misusing prescription drugs, but be curious and open-minded about their experiences. It’s easier to start a conversation by asking what they think about it or if they’ve seen other kids doing it than to immediately interrogate them about if they’ve ever misused a prescription. It’s more important – and effective– to listen and discuss rather than to lecture.

Communicate Action Steps:

• • Take a stand and let your child know you disapprove of any drug or alcohol use, no exceptions. Explain to them that misusing prescription drugs is harmful to their developing brains, can lead to lifelong addiction, and can lead to dangerous health consequences.
  • Talk to your child early and often about medication safety. Tell them that they should never use another person’s prescription and never give their prescription medications to others.
  • Ask them if they’ve ever seen prescription drugs in a movie or tv show, and what they thought about it. Their answer may surprise you (in a good way). Talk about “use” versus “misuse.”
  • Frequently talk, and listen, to your child about how things are going in their life. Try to find time to talk and really connect with your child every day.
  • Try these talking tips specifically for preventing prescription drug misuse.

Careful Attention

As a general rule, know where your kids are at, who they are with, and be sure to check in when they get home. Be on alert for changes in behaviors, friend groups, or attitudes.

Careful Attention Action Steps:

• • Take steps to limit access to prescription drugs in your home. Monitor the prescription drugs you have in your home, and keep track of how many you have, in case some go missing. Keeping track of medications is key to preventing access to these drugs.
  • Secure the prescriptions in your home. Instead of having them easily accessible in a medicine cabinet, put them some place only you know about, or put them in a locked cabinet or safe to assure they are out of reach of teens and children. This will help prevent misuse and accidental poisonings. 
  • Safely dispose of unwanted, unused, or expired medication in your trash at home. You can safely dispose of them in your own home, participate in a DEA Drug Take Back Day, or find a permanent drug drop box near you (in the Kansas City Northland).
  • Talk to family and other parents about monitoring, securing, and disposing of medications as well.
  • Be on the look out for warning signs that your child might be misusing prescription drugs (see below).