NDC urges parents to protect kids from drugs & booze

| 14/07/2016 | 18 Comments

Cayman News Service(CNS): With school out for the summer, the National Drug Council is urging parents to ensure that their teenagers’ free time and less adult supervision doesn’t lead to them using drugs and alcohol. The NDC warned that the long summer break presents an opportunity for teenagers to be pressured into drinking or using drugs for the first time. But it also said parents should not keep booze at home if they are serious about setting an example to kids.

The NDC said parents should have plans in place to help teenagers stay safe and sober during the summer but should check what’s going on at home first.

“Carry out a home inventory on what you have around your house that could potentially pose a risk or be a temptation for experimentation. It could be alcohol, tobacco or even prescription medications. Teens are more likely to abuse substances that are easily accessible to them,” the NDC stated in a public advisory released this week.

The council, which has the remit of raising awareness and educating the community about drug and alcohol misuse, advised parents to find constructive ways to keep young people occupied through the long break by sending them to summer camps, encouraging them to secure summer jobs or community service and voluntary work, where they can be supervised and kept busy.

The NDC said parents should check in with their children regularly throughout the day, making certain that they know where they are and who they are with at all times. The council also encouraged parents to talk to their sons and daughters about drugs. Officials said that many parents aren’t quite sure how to approach the topic but they advised that open dialogue with teens is important even if parents are confident their kids won’t use drugs.

“You want to make it absolutely clear that you do not approve of your child using these substances under any circumstances,” the NDC stated. “Be sure to leave the opportunity for discussion open and make certain your teen feels comfortable talking to you about anything.”

For more information visit www.ndc.ky, contact info@ndc.ky or call 949-9000.

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Comments (18)

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  1. kid says:

    These parents should tell their kids to get part time job and start to earn money. I hàd my first part time job when I was 10 years old.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I think it is important to set before our children the right example. if children see adults drinking alcohol, there is a strong possibility that they will want to experiment with alcohol as well. One drink leads to another and the rest is history. Dare to be different!

  3. Anonymous says:

    How about help get them jobs?!?

  4. Big Al says:

    Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m protecting my booze and drugs from those darn kids!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Maybe we should have Dart sponsor “Alcohol Free Month.”
    Good luck with that.
    Hic!

  6. Anonymous says:

    How many times have I had to listen to a half-drunk “administrator” coming back from one of their “brainstorming” lunches to share all their half-a$%^ed ideas. Students pick up on this and think its ok to be a functioning drunk at work as long as you look good.

  7. anonymous says:

    Blah, blah,blah…
    Trying alcohol is part of growing up. Name one single kid who avoided it. Drugs is another matter, but still many would try it in the company of peers. This is called experimenting life.

    • Anonymous says:

      Alcohol is a drug idiot, your just consenting to a manufactured response from years of commercial adds.

  8. whatever says:

    Parents can’t take care of themselves, never mind taking care of the kids…

  9. Anonymous says:

    How?? When that’s all anyone does in these islands! Everybody drinks here, everybody. From the leaders of this country on down. So the parents are to set an example, but every weekend there’s a WetFete, or Booze Cruise, or Street Dance and the list goes on. And don’t say church is the answer, because half of them up in there, boozing too.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Getting really boozed up is awesome and makes you cool.

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