Parental Awareness Resource Information

Following is an excerpt from the Community Advisory Council (CAC) South Region January 26, 2008 meeting minutes that provides background information on the resource page.

Denise Miller, a representative from Commonwealth Parenting, made some remarks concerning the health and well being of teenagers. She encouraged parent awareness, listening to children's friends, being supportive, using resources, and encouraging parents to think about programs regarding the underlying substance abuse problem. She stated parents shouldn't be their child's friends. Kids want to be popular, and even though it is not legal to drink, they view it as the beginning of popularity. Denise's hope is to get parents to think differently. She submitted a resource handout to post on the CAC Web page from the Commonwealth Parenting organization.

Below is the text from the handout:

Parental Awareness

"A child who reaches twenty-one without smoking, using illegal drugs or abusing alcohol is almost certain never to do so." Joseph Califano, Jr. in HIGH SOCIETY: How Substance Abuse Ravages America And What to Do About It

"Parent power is the most potent, the least appreciated, and the most underutilized resource we have in the struggle to raise children free of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction."

"There are no silver bullets, but involved parents who send a clear message of disapproval of substance use dramatically reduce the odds that their teen will get involved in tobacco, alcohol, or drugs."

"Parents should realize that they are not pals. They have a critical standard-and boundary-setting responsibility that inevitably will prompt some teen resistance. That is to be expected. Indeed, parents who always get along with their teens are probably doing something wrong."

"The permissiveness of parents who want their kids to be popular can lead to tragic consequences."

"Most disturbing...97% of adult pathological drinkers started drinking as teens or even younger. A stunning 25.9% of underage drinkers meet the clinical criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence, compared to 9.6% of adult drinkers."

"Most heavy drinking college students started while in high school. Too many of these kids will pay the piper a fearful price: The younger a child begins to drink, the greater the danger that child will become an alcoholic."

www.thepassagegroup.com This is the company that founded the Parent-to-Parent program, which has been used in the Saints community for many years.

"The toxic culture is aggressively pursuing your child; your parental efforts to protect and guide them should be just as aggressive, if not more so."

"Our solution is not to tell parents what to think, it's to get parents thinking."

"There is no big secret to empowered parenting. It's pure commitment. Commitment to be the parent your child deserves and to set the level of expectations in your own family. We offer tools and resources to help you be that parent."

Go to the "Turn on the Lights" Movie Theater and watch the Bottoms Up video and the Top Toxic Culture Videos of the Week.

www.samspadyfoundation.org "Binge drinking kills more than 1,400 college students each year. The epidemic is growing at high schools, colleges and universities across the nation. We hope kids, parents, families and friends will watch Sam's story (Death by Alcohol), learn her lesson and know when to say no."