Hi everybody.......

I have few questions for you that I hope you can help me with.

Before I ask ~ I'll just give you a very brief background about my situation. Almost 5 years ago (hard to believe) my hubby and I discovered that our youngest of 3 (who was 15 then) was experimenting. Soon after that things spun out of control at home, with the law, and school. There were signs that "something" was going on but we thought it was either a mental illness or that his newly ADD diagnosis. I had never been exposed to alcoholism or addiction and had no clue as to how devastating or horrible it is. So we were blindsided and a mess. Why didn't I know anything about it? I attended most of the parents meetings offered at our sons' school but they only consisted of trends and statistics and not much more than that.

Since then, like all of you, I've done my best to try and learn all I can about this ~ seeking help from "seasoned" parents, counseling, reading, Al Anon, and attending parenting classes. Truthfully, I found it frustrating that I had to learn about it after the fact. I felt that if I had known what the signs were and where to seek the proper help ~ we would have interceded much sooner. The stigma didn't help either.

Fast forward ~ my husband and I are going into our 2nd half of our third year educating parents about adolescent drug use at our local middle school. I especially want to share informative with the parents what I wished we had had and at an earlier time. We include the signs, what adolescent addiction/alcoholism means and what it looks like, the trends, how to parent a using teen, where to go for help, and the stigma that is attached to it. We work hard on that one. I feel if a parent can't get passed the stigma then they will not hear any of the other information. In addition - I have a panel of "experts" that also includes the police department. I feel it does take "a village" to address this issue and that we all need to be on board if we're going to make any headway.

I feel, however, that we can't move forward if we only are able to reach a small segment of the parent population. Typically, only a very small group of the same parents to these meetings. How can these programs make an impact if we cannot reach the majority of the parents? So - my "schtick" (and has been for quite sometime) is to convince school administrators to embrace the idea of mandating parent drug education meetings. Since adolescent chemical substance abuse is the #1 health problem in America ~ it makes sense to me that it's addressed like it is.

The questions:

1. Before you discovered your child's usage ~ did you have any prior knowledge about this disease?

2. Did your school offer any parent drug programs and if so did they contain any of the information I listed?

3. Once your child's school found out ~ what was the interaction like between you and the administrators?

4. Did your school have a drug counselor?

5. Do you believe that all parents should be mandated to attend meetings?

6. If so, what are some good arguments for convincing them that it's necessary?

7. Comments:


* I have a long list of my own and I am quietly working on a proposal to approach the new principal at our local high school. And revisit the school board (they did not support it).


Note: Parent mandatory parent drug education programs are being done in other areas with a 90 +% compliance. So it does work.

Thanks!