New Book: Drug Prevention For Parents Just Released

Drug Prevention for Parents by Dr. Marcus M. Mottley has just been released.

Its major focus is on how parents can "Drug and Alcohol Proof their Children". 

It gives parents and others tons (not ounces... not even pounds...) of information about how to prevent teenage drug use. An “ounce” of prevention used to get you a “pound” of cure! Not anymore! These days with all the powerful negative risk factors that are aligned against children, parents need “tons” of prevention to get even one little “ounce” of cure.

Parents who read and use "Drug Prevention for Parents" are informed and feel empowered as they take steps to protect their children, keep them safe and drug free and help them become more resilient!  Children and teens achieve improved academic scores, enhanced social and communication skills, better decision-making, and become more focused and goal oriented. 

If you are a teacher, counselor, school administrator, social worker or other professional... can you use this information to work with parents and children? The answer is absolutely yes! "Drug Prevention for Parents" can be used as a core manual for school and community-based drug prevention programs. 

For those parents with teenagers who have already started to use drugs... you need to focus on intervention and possibly, treatment. The great thing about Drug and Alcohol Proof Your Child is the techniques, strategies and prevention methods it presents can also be used as an adjunct to drug abuse intervention, relapse prevention, and some aspects of treatment to build teenagers’ social, emotive and cognitive skills.

You can get "Drug Information for Parents" here at Amazon.com or at Prevent-Drug-Abuse.com 

For more information visit Prevent-Drug-Abuse.com 

What Parents Can Do to Help Prevent Youth Violence

Give your children consistent love and attention. Every child needs a strong, loving, relationship with a parent or other adult to feel safe and secure and to develop a sense of trust.

Communicate openly with your children, and encourage them to talk about all aspects of their lives: school, social activities, and their interests and concerns. Listen respectfully and solicit their opinions. Then, if a problem or crisis arises, they will be more likely to come to you.
Set clear standards for your children's behavior, and be consistent about rules and discipline. Involve your children in the setting of rules whenever possible, and discuss the reasons for rules with them. Make sure they understand what you expect and the consequences for disobedience, and then enforce rules consistently.

Make sure your children are supervised. Insist on knowing where your children are at all times and who their friends are. Try to get to know their friends' parents and your children's teachers. Encourage your children to participate in supervised after-school activities such as sports teams, tutoring programs, or organized recreation.

Promote peaceful resolutions to conflict by being a good role model. Deal with conflict at home calmly, considerately and quickly and manage your anger without violence. Talk with your children about handling disagreements, and help your children learn how to examine and find non-aggressive solutions to problems.

Talk with your children about the consequences of drug and weapon use, gang participation, and violence. Explain in detail how getting involved with these can result in injury, jail, even death. Also, make sure that all weapons are kept out of the reach of children.

Limit your children's exposure to violence in the media. Monitor the programs your children watch, the music they listen to, and the video games they play. Take time to watch television programs with your children and discuss any violence with them. Is the violence realistic? What would be the real-life consequences of such violence?

Try to limit your children's exposure to violence in the home or community. Work toward making your home a safe, nonviolent place, and always discourage violent behavior or hostile, aggressive arguments between family members. If the people in your home physically or verbally hurt and abuse each other, get help from a psychologist or counselor in your community. If your children are exposed to violence in the street, at school, or at home, they may need help in dealing with these frightening experiences. A psychologist, a counselor at school, or a member of the clergy, are among those who can help them cope with their feelings.

Take the initiative to make your school and community safer.

• Join up with other parents, through school and neighborhood associations, religious organizations, civic groups, and youth activity groups.
• Talk together about your concerns about youth in the community, including issues related to alcohol, drugs, and violence, and share your common parenting concerns.
• Support the development and implementation of school and community plans to address the needs of youth.

Parent Participation Helps Prevent Violence

When we are committed and involved in our children's lives, we can teach them, by example and discussion, how to avoid violent situations.

Although we are not present during school time, parents a key players in promoting school safety. When parents take an interest in school work, participate in school events, teach their children how to manager anger, or talk with their children about rules at school and home, they are helping to provide their children with alternatives to violence.

Youth gangs are responsible for much of the serious violence in the United States. In schools and neighborhoods where they are active, they create a climate of fear and increase the amount of violence and criminal behavior. Parents can take action to prevent their children from participating in gangs.

After school and other community programs not only give our children safety and supervision when we're not there; they also help them develop their skills and abilities. Finding good after school and other community programs for our children is worth the effort. Many resources are also available online to assist parents interested in starting their own programs to prevent youth involvement in violence, drug use or other delinquent behaviors.