13 Warning Signs: Protect your kids from drugs.

When children start using drugs they usually exhibit telltale behaviors.  Many parents miss the warning signs.  Here are 13 things to look for to protect your child from drugs.

1. Succumbing to peer pressure.  Dramatic changes in clothing, hair or music, or excessive cussing, are all signs that your child is vulnerable to peer pressure that could progress to drug use.
2. Hanging out with a ?bad crowd.?   Chances are the way your child?s friends behave is the way your child behaves when you?re not around.
3. Tardiness and truancies.  Check your child?s attendance record at school to ensure your child is not skipping classes to use drugs.
4. Lack of motivation.  Your child should have a healthy interest in school.  Something is wrong if he or she doesn?t seem to care.
5. Isolating from family.  If your child doesn?t tell you what he or she has been up to, or avoids being around you, this is a serious red flag.
6. Sleep changes.  If your child sleeps too much or too little, he or she may be using tranquilizers, stimulants or other dangerous drugs.
7. Changes in eating habits.  Marijuana may cause your child to eat excessively.  Speed may cause your child to skip means.
8. Paranoia.  Does your son or daughter treat everybody as if they were the enemy?  This is not normal teenage behavior.
9. Physical changes to the eyes.  Do your child?s eyes look red or glazed?  Are the pupils large?  A person?s eyes often show the effects of drugs.
10. Mood swings and personality changes.  Depression one day and elation the next, or sudden anger, yelling or threatening are all cause for concern.
11. Lies!  If you wonder if your child is telling the truth, your instincts are probably right.  Find out what your child is trying to cover up.
12. Excessive money spending.  He or she may ask for money in chunks of $20 or $50 ? since that is often the price drugs cost.
13. Changes in speech.  Marijuana tends to put a child in a stupor, causing slow speech.  Stimulants may cause a child to speak very fast.

A Significant Threat

?Scientific evidence shows that the earlier children begin drinking, the more likely they are to develop serious alcohol problems in their lifetime,? says Enoch Gordis, M.D., and Director of NIAAA.  ?Put simply, our nation can no longer ignore alcohol use by children.?

?Underage alcohol use is a significant threat to the health and safety of our children.  It is time for us to come to grips with this widespread, devastating public health problem,? noted Steven A. Schroeder, M.D., President and CEO of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The extent of alcohol consumption by children ages 9 to 15 is startling, and preventing consumption must become a national priority.

Consider these facts:

  3 million children ages 14 through 17 are regular drinkers who already have a confirmed alcohol problem. 24 per cent of eighth graders say they have used alcohol in the last 30 days. More than 100,000 12-13 year-olds binge drink every month. Ninth graders who drink are almost twice as likely to attempt suicide as those who do not. 40 per cent of children who begin drinking before the age of 15 will become alcoholics at some point in their lives.

What you just read shows the scope of this problem.  If you, your child or a friend needs further help, we have free literature and information available at Teen Challenge of Arizona that you can obtain by calling 1-800-346-7859.

Rev. Snow Peabody

Executive Director

Teen Challenge of Arizona