Raising Eli & Zachary + a little Princess

If you have been paying attention (I admit, I wasn’t because I didn’t think the problem was so bad) and read the Newsday article this weekend regarding the drug use problem that is running rampant on Long Island you must be shocked. It turns out that kids, teenagers, our “babies” are doing drugs. When I use the term drugs, most people think of marijuana but what is turning into a crisis in our schools is not abuse of alcohol or marijuana, it is the use of heavy hitting drugs like Heroin and cocaine.

Are you stunned? Heroin and cocaine? In the hands of kids?

How could you not be stunned? I wonder how many people reading this just let what they are reading go in one ear and out the other with no thought as to the seriousness of this message. Your kids, your sweet, innocent high school student who is on the honor roll and involved in church choir is going to parties, and doing heroin. Like most moronic parents, you are probably thinking:

I say this to you. BULLSHIT. Wake up. Your kids are exposed to this, and a strong willed kid can crack easily under the pressure from their peers, especially in social situations. Kids are using it. It is easy to get, and cheap to buy. Kids are doing it because they feel they won’t be accepted by their peers if they don’t. Television and movies have numbed kids to the risks associated with drug use, and to be honest, kids just don’t think long term, they are naturally stupid and selfish and only think about what they can get out of the moment they are in. Yes, that even holds true for your honors student.

Parents, you need to think about this. No longer is it enough to talk to your kids about drugs, you need to find a method of connecting to your kids to make sure they understand the consequences. You need to beat it into their heads that drugs, no matter what or who presents it to them, is something you just walk away from. Not because it is illegal, because it ruins and destroys everything in its path. Better yet, shock them by taking them to a rehab center, to a funeral. Do whatever it takes to scare them silly.

I think we are in trouble here. Our culture has slipped and our morale values are declining faster than it can be rebuilt. Abuse of drugs and alcohol in our schools and homes is out of control. When I was in High School I never once saw alcohol at a party. Now, parents are funding and serving alcohol at parties for their kids because the feel that at least it is controlled in their house where it wouldn’t be controlled at their friends. This is crazy, and the attitude is horrible. Parents, I really think you need to take a sanity check and re-start the process of bonding with your children.

The only way to solve this problem is to never let it start. Act early, and be strong with your kids.