Daddy, what are drugs?
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My six year old son who is currently in first grade at school, has recently been exposed to a school anti-drug campaign - "Just say no to drugs". Last night he asked me, "What are drugs?" It would seem to me that the school has just piqued his interest in something he previously knew nothing about! I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions. Am I really living in a blind Utopia where a six-year old doesn't know about drugs, or is the rest of the country in some sort of meth-induced meltdown, such that 1st graders are getting pat-downs for crack pipes?
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Miszou wrote:
I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions.
Have you not seen the anti-smoking campaign ads on TV showing the mother talking to her 6-month old infant about how smoking doesn't make you look cool? The ads then say it's never too early to talk to your kids about smoking. The same logic can be applied to drugs and alcohol. I remember a couple of months ago there was a story in the news where two teenagers were arrested for giving their ?4? year old nephew hits on a joint. It's a sad sad world. If your six year old is out of your sight where you're not sure there's constant adult supervision (like a friend's house) then won't you feel better knowing that he knows to say no to drugs?
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My six year old son who is currently in first grade at school, has recently been exposed to a school anti-drug campaign - "Just say no to drugs". Last night he asked me, "What are drugs?" It would seem to me that the school has just piqued his interest in something he previously knew nothing about! I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions. Am I really living in a blind Utopia where a six-year old doesn't know about drugs, or is the rest of the country in some sort of meth-induced meltdown, such that 1st graders are getting pat-downs for crack pipes?
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Six is too young to talk about drugs. Also, don't let the schools lie to your kids without telling them the truth. Most schools teach kids that all drugs are bad. Then they go try pot. After having a lot of laughs and maybe eating to many doritos they might think the teachers are lying. Then they might do something stupid like trying heroin. Be honest with your kids. For some drugs the worse thing about them is the law, other drugs really are dangerous. But you shouldn't have to have that conversation for at least 4 more yeats.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
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My six year old son who is currently in first grade at school, has recently been exposed to a school anti-drug campaign - "Just say no to drugs". Last night he asked me, "What are drugs?" It would seem to me that the school has just piqued his interest in something he previously knew nothing about! I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions. Am I really living in a blind Utopia where a six-year old doesn't know about drugs, or is the rest of the country in some sort of meth-induced meltdown, such that 1st graders are getting pat-downs for crack pipes?
Sunrise Wallpaper Project | The StartPage Randomizer | The Windows Cheerleader
It sounds like you have a smart son. And it's great that he trusts you with this very important question. Judging by you post I'm sure you also gave him a thoughful answer. Last week was the week of project DARE, but the fires in Southern California kept our schools closed for the week so we missed it. I catch myself when I warn my kids about stuff all the time. Climbing furninture, household chemicals, sharp utensils. Does the the explanation of the danger increase the appeal that they will try it? There's a lot of handwringing over the effectiveness of Project DARE, but like others said he's going to find out about it sooner or later. I wouldn't stress about institutional influences too much. You can't realistically control all of them. Shielding too much is probably more harmful. Better that kids take what they see and reflect with the parents. (commment: ha-ha I just realized I'm trying to apply a software architecture pattern to raise my kids!) IMHO Probably the number one cause of substance abuse is poor family dynamics. Kids who are ignored or abused turn to substances to fill that void in their lives. So long as kids have a good home environment they should be fine.
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Miszou wrote:
or is the rest of the country in some sort of meth-induced meltdown,
Drugs including Meth and Crack are at a critical stage. I think it was ?Wyoming?, had a special on the other night and said that 70% of adults and 50% teens where using Meth frequently. But the anti-drug program isn't a recent thing it has been going on for years. My kids are grown but I remember many years ago them coming home from school and telling me that there teachers told them if anyone in the house was using drugs to turn them in for there own good. At the time I also thought it was ridiculous and still do. I akin it to something I remember from my childhood... Soupy Sales (a kiddy show of the time) asked kids to go into there parents room and find money and send it to him! Under cover agents??? Mike
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. "George Carlin"
Mike Hankey wrote:
70% of adults and 50% teens where using Meth frequently.
what...i would really like to see the evidence on that one...what kind of scale was this percentage applied to...
----------------------------------------------------------- Completion Deadline: two days before the day after tomorrow
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I was already interested in drugs when I was six. I wondered what made people take them, how the people felt, etc. I nearly studied pharmacology, and if I had, the precarious process of satisfying my curiosity, when I was old enough to afford drugs, would probably have been less risky. Now I know a lot about drugs that makes me in a way not having access to them.
MY BLOG
Brady Kelly wrote:
I was already interested in drugs when I was six. I wondered what made people take them, how the people felt, etc. I nearly studied pharmacology,
pretty heavy load for a six year old...
----------------------------------------------------------- Completion Deadline: two days before the day after tomorrow
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:wtf: Another reason why I am becoming even less supportive of the public school system.
My Blog A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - -Lazarus Long
There was a study in Montréal (Canada) about drug use in school They found that there is as much if not more drug use in the private schools and colleges than in the public system schools. One of the reason is that kids in private schools usually have access to more money and they could afford better drugs and in safest ways than in public schools; there is less visible "criminal" behaviour in and around school, so it's harder to see if you are not used to look for specific patterns. One reporter went to one of the most known college ( Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf ) and in a few minutes talking to students he was able to find half a dozen kids selling drugs.
Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad
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Miszou wrote:
I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions.
Have you not seen the anti-smoking campaign ads on TV showing the mother talking to her 6-month old infant about how smoking doesn't make you look cool? The ads then say it's never too early to talk to your kids about smoking. The same logic can be applied to drugs and alcohol. I remember a couple of months ago there was a story in the news where two teenagers were arrested for giving their ?4? year old nephew hits on a joint. It's a sad sad world. If your six year old is out of your sight where you're not sure there's constant adult supervision (like a friend's house) then won't you feel better knowing that he knows to say no to drugs?
FyreWyrm wrote:
won't you feel better knowing that he knows to say no to drugs?
To be honest, no. At this point he doesn't have a clue what drugs are, nor why they are so bad. To ask a curious six year old to decline something, without explaining what it is, is just silly. For example, my older (17) daughter said something the other day, he overheard it and promptly started repeating it. So, now you have a six year old in the car, shouting "faggots" at the top of his voice, getting laughs out of his sisters, and me and my wife trying to get him to stop. So then you have to explain why "faggot" isn't a nice thing to say etc. and all the while you know that he's filed the word away and it will come out at some inopportune moment. He can't unlearn it - the damage is done, and the same is true with drug edcuation at six years old. No-one is going to give him drugs and say "Here, try these DRUGS!" If someone offers him a cigarette, a crack pipe or a tab of LSD, it won't have a big flashing "DRUGS!!!OMG!!11!" sign on it - it will be much more subtle, and he will be very unlikely to associate "drugs" with "eat this candy".
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Brady Kelly wrote:
I was already interested in drugs when I was six. I wondered what made people take them, how the people felt, etc. I nearly studied pharmacology,
pretty heavy load for a six year old...
----------------------------------------------------------- Completion Deadline: two days before the day after tomorrow
My interest in studying in that field only started around 10 or 11 years old, but I think my healthy interest in drugs played a part in it. It wasn't long after that I started wondering why the people I read about sniffed solvents.
MY BLOG
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Six is too young to talk about drugs. Also, don't let the schools lie to your kids without telling them the truth. Most schools teach kids that all drugs are bad. Then they go try pot. After having a lot of laughs and maybe eating to many doritos they might think the teachers are lying. Then they might do something stupid like trying heroin. Be honest with your kids. For some drugs the worse thing about them is the law, other drugs really are dangerous. But you shouldn't have to have that conversation for at least 4 more yeats.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
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Mike Hankey wrote:
70% of adults and 50% teens where using Meth frequently.
what...i would really like to see the evidence on that one...what kind of scale was this percentage applied to...
----------------------------------------------------------- Completion Deadline: two days before the day after tomorrow
I googled for a while and couldn't find any numbers but you know news casters are accurite in there information?? but did find a bunch on "drug problem in Wyoming" it is serious! Mike
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. "George Carlin"
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My six year old son who is currently in first grade at school, has recently been exposed to a school anti-drug campaign - "Just say no to drugs". Last night he asked me, "What are drugs?" It would seem to me that the school has just piqued his interest in something he previously knew nothing about! I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions. Am I really living in a blind Utopia where a six-year old doesn't know about drugs, or is the rest of the country in some sort of meth-induced meltdown, such that 1st graders are getting pat-downs for crack pipes?
Sunrise Wallpaper Project | The StartPage Randomizer | The Windows Cheerleader
I was a drug addict for 19 horrible years. The last six of which were spent using meth. That almost ended with my death. Six years is all it took for me to have all but 3 of my teeth rot down to their cores, they've all been pulled. My body was over-flowing with infection and disease. My neck had a 9" X 3" boil -- several smaller ones had congregated into one multi core nightmare -- which left behind several huge cysts; including one in the shape of an almond that grew deep into my neck muscle. They can't be removed, since there isn't any tissue there to take it's place. So it will take at least another 10+ years of medicines to make them disappate. The list goes on and on -- the worst of which? My mind.:sigh: At first I had to count with my fingers, because I couldn't keep focused long enough to do it in my head. I couldn't read books. I couldn't retain anything. I had to fight hard to get it back and I'm still fighting, in some ways I always will. I'm just grateful that my mother was able to see me sober for two years before she died. Here in Phoenix, AZ meth is a problem of epidemic proportions. The drug is being used by 10 and 11 year olds. Maybe in your area I'd see things differently, but when 9 year kids get busted for bringing meth to school to sell, then yes, I would want my kindergartener age child to know what to do. I'd want a police officer to teach them and I'd want to have the opportunity to sign off on it and to attend. I would talk to them about it myself, as well.
____________________________________________________________________________ "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." -- Douglas Adams -- Shohom67
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Holy crap! 6 years old and being taught about (presumably illicit rather than prescription) drugs? :wtf: I'm all for educating on sensitive issues but surely this is too young!
is it really. depending on where some live 5 year olds snort coke and 10 yearolds shoot smack and booty calls abound for all that are under 13. wake up and smell the perversion.
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FyreWyrm wrote:
won't you feel better knowing that he knows to say no to drugs?
To be honest, no. At this point he doesn't have a clue what drugs are, nor why they are so bad. To ask a curious six year old to decline something, without explaining what it is, is just silly. For example, my older (17) daughter said something the other day, he overheard it and promptly started repeating it. So, now you have a six year old in the car, shouting "faggots" at the top of his voice, getting laughs out of his sisters, and me and my wife trying to get him to stop. So then you have to explain why "faggot" isn't a nice thing to say etc. and all the while you know that he's filed the word away and it will come out at some inopportune moment. He can't unlearn it - the damage is done, and the same is true with drug edcuation at six years old. No-one is going to give him drugs and say "Here, try these DRUGS!" If someone offers him a cigarette, a crack pipe or a tab of LSD, it won't have a big flashing "DRUGS!!!OMG!!11!" sign on it - it will be much more subtle, and he will be very unlikely to associate "drugs" with "eat this candy".
Sunrise Wallpaper Project | The StartPage Randomizer | The Windows Cheerleader
You are absolutely right, and I think, you won't have any control over it when he will grew up. It will depend a lot on his personality and entourage. You can think education have an important role here, personnaly I don't. I have no kids, but I can imagine how stressfull a situation like that can be. I it the same in all public schools?
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There was a study in Montréal (Canada) about drug use in school They found that there is as much if not more drug use in the private schools and colleges than in the public system schools. One of the reason is that kids in private schools usually have access to more money and they could afford better drugs and in safest ways than in public schools; there is less visible "criminal" behaviour in and around school, so it's harder to see if you are not used to look for specific patterns. One reporter went to one of the most known college ( Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf ) and in a few minutes talking to students he was able to find half a dozen kids selling drugs.
Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad
Maximilien wrote:
They found that there is as much if not more drug use in the private schools and colleges than in the public system schools.
What does that have to do with introducing children to drugs at this age?
My Blog A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - -Lazarus Long
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My six year old son who is currently in first grade at school, has recently been exposed to a school anti-drug campaign - "Just say no to drugs". Last night he asked me, "What are drugs?" It would seem to me that the school has just piqued his interest in something he previously knew nothing about! I can't help thinking that an anti-drug campaign targeted at six year olds is a little ridiculous, and I'm of half a mind to ask to have him excluded from future sessions. Am I really living in a blind Utopia where a six-year old doesn't know about drugs, or is the rest of the country in some sort of meth-induced meltdown, such that 1st graders are getting pat-downs for crack pipes?
Sunrise Wallpaper Project | The StartPage Randomizer | The Windows Cheerleader
When I was in primary school, the high school kids used to come to tell us about drugs, sex and how Santa was not real. It happens. IMO, it's never too early to discuss this sort of stuff with your kids, but just keep it at their level. Drugs for my 7 year old are things that some people take because they like how it feels, but that are bad to take because they can hurt you. I'll fill the gaps as he gets older, as I have been for my 11 yo. She knows I took drugs as a kid, as she knows I shoplifted a bit for a few years. I'm happy for her to know that I am a flawed individual, and to tell her why I feel those things were mistakes and why I would recommend not doing them. I just remember my mums lectures on drugs, and it was plain she had absolutely no idea. If your kids get mininal exposure to drugs and realise that what you have told them was all wrong, then that only makes them more likely to check it out further IMO. If you don't have first hand experience, admit it, but I think the core thing is to admit that taking drugs feels good. If it didn't, why would people do it ? The reasons we don't do it is not that it's not fun, but that it's addictive, and it can kill you.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
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I was a drug addict for 19 horrible years. The last six of which were spent using meth. That almost ended with my death. Six years is all it took for me to have all but 3 of my teeth rot down to their cores, they've all been pulled. My body was over-flowing with infection and disease. My neck had a 9" X 3" boil -- several smaller ones had congregated into one multi core nightmare -- which left behind several huge cysts; including one in the shape of an almond that grew deep into my neck muscle. They can't be removed, since there isn't any tissue there to take it's place. So it will take at least another 10+ years of medicines to make them disappate. The list goes on and on -- the worst of which? My mind.:sigh: At first I had to count with my fingers, because I couldn't keep focused long enough to do it in my head. I couldn't read books. I couldn't retain anything. I had to fight hard to get it back and I'm still fighting, in some ways I always will. I'm just grateful that my mother was able to see me sober for two years before she died. Here in Phoenix, AZ meth is a problem of epidemic proportions. The drug is being used by 10 and 11 year olds. Maybe in your area I'd see things differently, but when 9 year kids get busted for bringing meth to school to sell, then yes, I would want my kindergartener age child to know what to do. I'd want a police officer to teach them and I'd want to have the opportunity to sign off on it and to attend. I would talk to them about it myself, as well.
____________________________________________________________________________ "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." -- Douglas Adams -- Shohom67
Two questions: 1) I actually been involved with some drugs and I keep asking myself, is that a positive thing for children to know? Will you tell them how much you harmed yourself, will you allow them to see you as a weak person (in the past at least). I think it requires a lot of personality and serious for a child not want to follow his father steps. Even with drugs, even if you say it in a convincing way, I'm sure, he will want to try it even more one day or and other. I hope I am terribly wrong, but I ask myself exactly that, should I tell my children or not? 2) As an ex drug addict, do you believe that poor are more exposed to drugs? Because I keep seeing that rich mama boys, are the ones that takes more "heavy" drugs, and the poor ones, tend to drug themselves with gas, paint. I am not saying it is better, I just say, that I think the main drug buyers are rich persons and not poor ones.
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There was a study in Montréal (Canada) about drug use in school They found that there is as much if not more drug use in the private schools and colleges than in the public system schools. One of the reason is that kids in private schools usually have access to more money and they could afford better drugs and in safest ways than in public schools; there is less visible "criminal" behaviour in and around school, so it's harder to see if you are not used to look for specific patterns. One reporter went to one of the most known college ( Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf ) and in a few minutes talking to students he was able to find half a dozen kids selling drugs.
Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad
Maximilien wrote:
They found that there is as much if not more drug use in the private schools and colleges than in the public system schools.
money, money, money. drugs are expensive.
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When I was in primary school, the high school kids used to come to tell us about drugs, sex and how Santa was not real. It happens. IMO, it's never too early to discuss this sort of stuff with your kids, but just keep it at their level. Drugs for my 7 year old are things that some people take because they like how it feels, but that are bad to take because they can hurt you. I'll fill the gaps as he gets older, as I have been for my 11 yo. She knows I took drugs as a kid, as she knows I shoplifted a bit for a few years. I'm happy for her to know that I am a flawed individual, and to tell her why I feel those things were mistakes and why I would recommend not doing them. I just remember my mums lectures on drugs, and it was plain she had absolutely no idea. If your kids get mininal exposure to drugs and realise that what you have told them was all wrong, then that only makes them more likely to check it out further IMO. If you don't have first hand experience, admit it, but I think the core thing is to admit that taking drugs feels good. If it didn't, why would people do it ? The reasons we don't do it is not that it's not fun, but that it's addictive, and it can kill you.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
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Two questions: 1) I actually been involved with some drugs and I keep asking myself, is that a positive thing for children to know? Will you tell them how much you harmed yourself, will you allow them to see you as a weak person (in the past at least). I think it requires a lot of personality and serious for a child not want to follow his father steps. Even with drugs, even if you say it in a convincing way, I'm sure, he will want to try it even more one day or and other. I hope I am terribly wrong, but I ask myself exactly that, should I tell my children or not? 2) As an ex drug addict, do you believe that poor are more exposed to drugs? Because I keep seeing that rich mama boys, are the ones that takes more "heavy" drugs, and the poor ones, tend to drug themselves with gas, paint. I am not saying it is better, I just say, that I think the main drug buyers are rich persons and not poor ones.
I respect you for asking these tough questions. Let me start with the 2nd one. Drugs are everywhere. The rich guys get the highest quality stuff, the poor get the filthy, bathroom stuff. I think the poor used to be more exposed and yes there are probably more poor people smoking bathroom crank or crack, then there are rich folk, snorting coke and shooting heroin per capita, but the numbers are growing at alarming rates. Add in the over-the-counter drug abusers, Rx drug abusers and alcoholics and I think the numbers are dead even, if not higher for those more able to afford these cost intensive habits. The effects are more easily seen in the poorer classes, than in the richer ones. The rich get sent to rehab (resorts) and the poor go to prison. But trust me, drugs are everywhere. The first question is a lot tougher. I'll do my best to answer, but I hope others will chime in on this very serious issue. Showing a child that you have weakness that you have overcome is an amazing thing. Kids learn more by what you do then what you say. The very act of humbling yourself in front of them will show them that you respect them enough to tell them the truth. It will also demonstrate that you care about them enough to do such a hard thing and that they are WORTHY of such care. It will also show them that such things are possible. Parents aren't perfect, kids no it. It's foolish for us to deny it. I've been open and honest with the two boys we've been kid-sitting so long that their part of the family (with their Mom's blessing, of course). I came right out and told them, that the reason I was telling them this is because I loved them and I didn't want them to suffer through what they saw me go through. Still, I'm afraid the younger one will try drugs. The only hope I have is that I did talk to him, a lot, about drugs. He's seen that I was right about several other things I've warned them about and he knows that I did it because I couldn't bare the thought of him going through what I went through, or worse. I have done all I can do. I chose the best path I could and I can only sit by and hope and pray that he'll chose the right choice. After all, he's going to make choices with or without my influence, so I'd rather it be with. I feel I must add a few words of caution. If you do tell your kids, make sure you NEVER go back EVER to doing drugs. Don't make any bets you may not be able to keep. Just do the best you can and show a little faith in your kids. You may be surprised what you see.
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When I was in primary school, the high school kids used to come to tell us about drugs, sex and how Santa was not real. It happens. IMO, it's never too early to discuss this sort of stuff with your kids, but just keep it at their level. Drugs for my 7 year old are things that some people take because they like how it feels, but that are bad to take because they can hurt you. I'll fill the gaps as he gets older, as I have been for my 11 yo. She knows I took drugs as a kid, as she knows I shoplifted a bit for a few years. I'm happy for her to know that I am a flawed individual, and to tell her why I feel those things were mistakes and why I would recommend not doing them. I just remember my mums lectures on drugs, and it was plain she had absolutely no idea. If your kids get mininal exposure to drugs and realise that what you have told them was all wrong, then that only makes them more likely to check it out further IMO. If you don't have first hand experience, admit it, but I think the core thing is to admit that taking drugs feels good. If it didn't, why would people do it ? The reasons we don't do it is not that it's not fun, but that it's addictive, and it can kill you.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
Good for you!
____________________________________________________________________________ "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." -- Douglas Adams -- Shohom67
