Friday, March 19, 2010

Prescription Medicine Abuse Among American Teens

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/17/teen-prescription-drug-abuse/

Parents, I wanted you to be aware--if you were not already--of an alarming trend among America's young people. I don't want to freak you out, but a brief look at the article I linked above will help you see the extent of what's going on with American teenagers and prescription medicine abuse. A statistic that jumped out at me is that 1 in 5 teens report having abused a prescription medicine in their lifetime, and 1 in 7 report having abused a prescription medicine within the last year. This should give us pause. I know that in Christian homes we like to believe that our children are immune to such temptations and struggles, but we need to be honest with ourselves.

So maybe you could take a few minutes to talk to your child about this and get a feel for where they are. You could just ask about their classmates in general instead of launching into a discussion directly about their decisions (b/c this would cut conversation off pretty fast). And use this as an opportunity to get a feel for their personal convictions and attitudes about the issue...But mainly, I just wanted you to keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for things like: missing pills from prescription bottles, off handed comments about taking medicine in inappropriate ways, etc.

I know from talking with our students that this is a real problem in our local schools--even though none have expressed a personal struggle with the meds. I know that some of their peers do.

If your child ever does voice a struggle with abusing medications, take it very seriously. And use it as an opportunity to lovingly point them to the One who really does bring relief and comfort, and who can free them from any addiction.

No comments: