Better informed parents communicate more effectively, and a knowledge of available resources puts parents in a position to significantly reduce the risks.

Easy availability, peer pressure, and the perceived 'excitement' of drugs is a major concern for today's parents.

There is a wide spectrum of drug use, ranging from abstinence to dependence, and parents need to understand and respond in a way most appropriate to their situation. To simply tell children who are already casual or dependent users to stop taking drugs is naive. As is lecturing young people that "all they have to do is say no." It is a much more complex issue, and there are social and health issues that need to be addressed.

course objectives...

• Develop home-based strategies to influence your child’s choices
• Be better informed of drug use and related harm
• Examine your own beliefs, attitudes and behaviours
• Gain community information and access local support

Session 1: DRUGS! Just how bad is it?
Session 2: Why kids take drugs
Session 3: How to educate kids to make good choices
Session 4: Prevention tools for parents
Session 5: Learning to intervene and where to get help
Session 6: A parent’s guide to handling relapses

If you mean, "Will parents be more effective at influencing their children's choices in relation to drug use?", the answer is YES!

Risk-taking is a normal part of adolescence, as is stretching and testing parental boundaries. Parents often do not know how to respond.