Sensible Drug Prevention for Children and Teens

One of the largest consolidated efforts to curb substance use in young people was the “Just Say No!” campaign. The “Just Say No!” campaign was built around the idea that teaching youth to avoid drugs and alcohol and instructing them to “Say No!” would be enough to prevent drug use. 

​A child using drugs or alcohol is one of the greatest fears of most parents. The fear that their beloved child will not only experiment with substances, but that they will actually become addicted to these substances keeps many parents up at night.  Unfortunately, as a society, we have done a terrible job providing parents with tools to actually address the factors that lead to substance use and subsequent addiction. 

The campaign cost millions of dollars and did little to prevent youth from falling into the drug and alcohol trap. One of the largest reasons for its failure is that the campaign did not take into account the reasons WHY some youth fall victim to addiction more readily than others.  The factors that lead to drug addiction in adolescents have typically been at play for years before the fateful moment that they are confronted with a choice to use substances. 

​A fundamental fact of addiction is that it is a childhood disease and must be addressed just like any other early onset chronic condition via early intervention.
In this video Phil Boissiere, MFT helps parents/caregivers get clear answers on what drugs are, why they work, and which children/teens are at the highest risk of addiction and why. Parents and caregivers will walk away with a reality based proactive model of prevention and strategies to employ that uses a child’s interests and strengths combined with Emotion Coaching to guard against the substance use trap.
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Please take a moment to also visit the http://www.sensibleprevention.com and share this valuable information with your family, friends, and community. You can also join the conversation on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sensibleprevention or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/preventnow .