More parent involvement needed

Published by in isafety, leadership on August 24th, 2006

We read and hear people lamenting the low level of involvement many parents have (or don’t have) in their childrens’ digital lives, but how about levels of parent involvement in regular F2F life: especially when it comes to drug abuse? According to the recently released report, “National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XI: Teens and Parents” (PDF):

Ninety-nine percent of parents say they would not be willing to serve alcohol at their teen’s party. BUT 28 percent of teen partygoers have been at parties at a home where parents were present and teens were drinking alcohol.

Only 12 percent of parents see drugs as their teen’s greatest concern. BUT more than twice as many teens (27 percent) say drugs are their greatest concern.

The message is loud and clear: parents, wake up and smell the beer and pot! If your teen is having a party at your home, you should not only be there, but also be aware of what is going on. And if your teen attends a party at someone else’s home, you should confirm that the parents will be present and that alcohol and drugs will not. The reality is that even when parents are present at a party, some kids will try to sneak in substances.

As I have noted previously, articles about MySpace and teens making poor choices really serve more as a window into problems we have and should face up to together as communities, rather than revealing many “new” issues. It takes a village to raise children, and we need more parent/guardian awareness and participation in the lives of our young people to deal not only with issues of Internet safety, but also more basic issues of safety and good decisionmaking.

On this day..

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