I recently read about a child roughly the age of my son who died of a drug overdose. I was appalled by this as the child lived in the next town over from us. We didn’t know him, but it brought home the necessity of talking to my children about saying NO to drugs again. I know that the D.A.R.E program in school helps some, but parents need to be proactive in defending their children from the drug pushers.
In addition to the child I mentioned, there is one distant family member of ours that has had an addiction for a long time. We don’t see her very often and that is probably a good thing. I don’t want my children to think that drugs are harmless, because someone they know does them. They need to know that not only can drugs kill you, but they can ruin and chance you have at a decent life. I think I will have them write down questions they have about drugs and then answer them as we go. That might be a good way to help keep them safe. An honest question, deserves an honest answer and they know it.