Preventing Drug Use During the Summer Months

Summer is usually the time of year that most families look forward to most. School is out and it’s time to go on vacations. It can seem like a season of unlimited possibilities. While there is always a lot of fun to be had, it can also be the time of year that is most dangerous for young people.

That is because it’s the season that is responsible for the most drug and alcohol injuries and deaths. While everyone is heading outside to have fun, many of those people are also cracking open cans of beer and lighting up joints or swallowing pills. While many Americans are under the ignorant assumption that this will just make their events even more fun, they don’t realize how many people die every year from acting irresponsibly around alcohol and narcotics.

Ways that Alcohol and Drugs Harm During the Summer

Drugs and alcohol can lead to driving under the influence, which is why there are so many auto accidents during the summer. It can also lead people to act in an unsafe manner around watercraft or fireworks, leading to drowning deaths and lost fingers. There is also the danger of simply drinking too much and getting alcohol poisoning.

With so many risks being associated with the summer, it’s vital for families to educate their kids about staying safe from alcohol and drugs over the summer.

Vital Information from Narconon Centers

Before each summer season gets underway, Narconon centers around the country work to educate kids and parents so that they understand the risks of alcohol and drugs. Here are a few guidelines for parents to help prevent your child from abusing drugs or alcohol this summer:

• Take the time to talk to your kids about drugs early on. If you wait to talk to your kids until the summer is already underway, you may be waiting too long. Your kids might have already attended parties where alcohol or weed was present. You have to talk to kids before the beginning of the summer to help them make the right choices.
• Stay up to date on who your children’s friends are. When you know who your children’s friends are and have met them and spoken to them yourself, you can get a good feeling for the morals and relative educational level of these young people. That can help you understand whether or not they will be a risk to leading your own children into bad decisions.
• Set a great example. If parents are themselves getting drunk or using drugs, they are giving children the idea that this is acceptable behavior. In order to raise kids that know how to stay safe, parents should always keep any alcohol consumption within reason and should never use any recreational drugs.
• Keep your kids busy. One of the prime reasons that young people start experimenting with drugs over the summer is simply because they are bored. If you don’t have any activities planned for your kids, they will start trying to come up with their own ways to fill the time. They will be putting themselves in danger if some of those ways to fill time involve trying to drink or get high. A great way to prevent this is to have lots of camps and classes planned to keep your children occupied every week of the summer.

While the summer is historically the worst time of the year for drug and alcohol injuries and deaths, it doesn’t have to be for your family. Follow these tips and keep them safe.