Runaway Drug Usage: Symptoms Parents Should Watch For
Posted: Tuesday, March 01, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Unfortunately masses of our youths are being swept into using illegal drugs and illicit sexual activity. Who is to blame and what is to be done about it? The major problem and reason for the high increase in these immoral activities is neglect over the years which has now spread like Kudzu on a southern farm. Those areas of responsibility have been neglected so long now that to stop, or even decrease the momentum is strongly in doubt.
The above scenario took both parents into the job market, leaving any small children in the care of others. Leaving older children with the responsibility of caring for the younger, and so on. In some of these situations, probably, all worked out well. But so very many cases did not. And as those children reached adulthood, their outlook for the care of their children, became even more neglectful. Our society grew more and more affluent and craved more and more possessions and more and more recreation and fun. Henry Ford, promised to make cars where there would be one in every garage. But we grew to the point that there should be two cars for the couple and then another for each of the children as they reached driving age.
Add to that, the motorboats in most garages, motorcycles, four wheelers and even a few airplanes. It took Mom and Dad both working and some of them with two or more jobs each. Less and less time and responsibility taken with the youngsters. And the youngsters began turning their attentions to pleasure of their own since so little was possible with Mom and Dad.
But today, even those who care deeply for their children are finding it difficult to keep them from participating in those things which are so proliferated. Illegal drugs are everywhere. Numerous people are saying make them legal. But they are harmful, extremely dangerous and costly. Parents and schools hold the difference in their hands. Simply caring deeply for one’s children will go a along way. Instead of trying to catch them in something illegal to punish them, try to teach them and watch for symptoms which may be indications of the very things you are attempting to keep them from. If so, do whatever it takes to rescue them. If, they have already become addicted to something, see that they are treated professionally for that addiction. Don’t wait and try to encourage them to quit, the chances are they cannot.
Here are some symptoms which experts have given that can enable you to change your child’s direction before it becomes too late. Watch for any of these.
• Change in peer group with little interest in old friends
• Associating with an older crowd
• Loss of interest in hobbies, extracurricular activities
• Fighting with peers
• Associating with known drug/alcohol users
• Defiance toward parents, other adults
• Red eyes, frequent use of eye drops
• Suicidal statements or ideations
• Nightmares
• Anxiety or phobias
• Entitled behavior
• Works parents against each other to get his way
• Idle and lazy
• Sleeplessness
• Body posture with head down showing guilt/shame
• Rise in aggression
• Depression
There are others but of the same general idea, a noticeable change in temperament or activity of any kind should bear watching. Of course, many of these symptoms might be caused by other things, even an illness, but regardless, they should be observed and investigated.
If parents and schools become dedicated towards these things, a change in direction might be possible. But it has become very obvious that the trend is not going to be self correcting.
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