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| | Questions: The Anti-Drug
Ask Who, What, When and Where
Here are some ways to know what your child is up to:
 | Know where your child is when he or she is away from home. |
| Have your kids check in with you regularly.
 | Give them coins, a phone card or a beeper with clear usage rules. (For
example, "When I beep you, I expect a call back within five minutes.") |
| If a beeper or cell phone is not allowed to be used in school, have your
child keep one in his backpack and ask him to turn it on after school. |
| You may have to coordinate the use of beepers and cell phones with
school administrators. |
| If your child does not have a beeper or cell phone, get the numbers of
where he'll be after school so that you can check in or have him call you at
certain times so he can check in with you. |
| Make a list of her activities for the coming day and put it on the fridge,
on a calendar or in your wallet or pocketbook. |
| Walk through your neighborhood and note where kids your child's age hang
out. |
| Know your child's friends. |
| Make a point of meeting your child's friend's parents - find them at a PTA
meeting, soccer practice, dance rehearsal or wherever kids hang out. |
| Work with other parents to get a list of everyone's addresses, e-mails, and
phone numbers so you can keep in touch with your child. |
| Show up a little early to pick up your child so you can observe his/her
behavior. |
| Occasionally check to see that your kids are where they say they're going to
be. |
| Lots of kids get into trouble with drugs right after school - from 3 PM to 6
PM. Try to be with your kids then, but if you can't. make sure your child is
doing something positive with an adult around: sports, jobs, clubs, after-school
programs or religious youth groups. If your kids have to be home, make sure they
are doing homework or chores and not hanging out with friends. |
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Remember, It's Not Pestering, it's Parenting! |
FOR MORE INFORMATION
National Youth Anti Drug Media Campaign
Keeping Your Kids Drug-Free: A How to Guide
for Parents and Caregivers
 Keeping
Your Kids Drug Free: A How To Guide for Parents and Caregivers is a 45-page
pocket size brochure that offers parents real-life solutions to the challenge of
keeping kids healthy and drug-free. Written in collaboration with parents and
parenting experts from across the country, the brochure includes a message to
parents from National PTA and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Keeping Your Kids Drug-Free includes opening lines for
having conversations about drugs and how parents can use everyday opportunities
as teachable moments. Research shows that kids who learn about drugs from their
parents are much less likely to use drugs, and if they abstain from drugs until
21, they are unlikely to ever use drugs.
The brochure is available free of charge by calling the
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 800-788-2800
or it can be downloaded by visiting the National Youth and Anti Drug Media
Campaign website at
www.theantidrug.com/advice/index.html.
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