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Sooner or later, most American children will be offered drugs, and will have to make a conscious decision to accept or reject them. And they will likely be faced with this decision many times before they grow out of adolescence. How can you make sure your child continues to make the right choice?
“Parents can help their children learn how to say no when a friend offers drugs by role-playing with them the ways they make tough life choices,” says Ruth Wooden, president of the National Parenting Association in New York. She says, “If your kids see how you deal with the tough issues of daily life and how you consider options, your kids will have first hand experience with their own tough choices.” She advises parents to ask their children questions like, “My boss wants me to work this weekend and I really would rather not. How do I tell him no without getting in trouble?” Or “Grandma is going to be mad at me if I tell her I don’t like the gift she gave me for Christmas. Any ideas on how to handle this?”
