Drinking Hand Sanitizer To Get Drunk - What Will They Think Of Next?

From inserting alcohol soaked tampons into their bodies to pouring vodka shots in their eyeballs, it’s really hard to keep up with the latest trends in teenage substance use and abuse. Just when we thought we’d seen it all, six California teens landed in the emergency room after distilling hand sanitizer and drinking it to get drunk. Boy, our kids are looking for a quick fix aren’t they?

What are three things parents can do to prevent their kids from doing the same?

1.       Create a Parent Peer Group with the parents of your children’s friends to set rules and monitor your children environment and their behavior,

2.       Talk your children about the stupidity of distilling hand sanitizer and the potentially lethal consequences; ask if they heard of anything like this at their school.

3.       Don’t take chances, use alcohol-free hand sanitizer or the kind that foams in your home.

Do you work in a school or have your kids told you about any emerging drug trends? Share your info at www.facebook.com/informedfamilies.

Prom & Graduation: Life & Death Decisions

Today’s Informed Families Lunch & Learn event was entitled, “Prom & Graduation: Life & Death Decisions.” We had three fabulous speakers representing prevention, education, law enforcement and addiction treatment.  Here’s what we learned:

• If your teen gets caught with alcohol, they can be arrested and charged with a second degree misdemeanor which can stay on their permanent record.
• If your teen is caught with simply having a fake id, it is also a second degree misdemeanor.
• If your teen is caught trying to use the fake ID fraudulently (to buy alcohol, for example), they can be arrested and charged with a third degree felony.
• Parents or other adults can be arrested and charged for contributing to the delinquiency of a minor if they buy alcohol or do anything that will lead their children astray
• Parents can be arrested and charged with a 2nd degree misdemeanor for having an open house party, where they either know or should know that children are consuming alcohol or drugs, having failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. 
• Alcohol and drug use among teens can significantly negatively impact learning, both on a short term and long term level.
• Set parameters with your children. Have a curfew, know their itinerary, monitor the venue. Supervise their activities. Know who they are hanging out with.
• Another good way to prevent your teens from making poor decisions is to role play with them. Ask, “what would you do if someone offered you alcohol,” for example.  By acting out these scenarios, children are more likely to feel comfortable doing the right thing.
• The most important thing parents need during the teenage years is to maintain a meaningful connection with their children. Spend more time listening than talking, for example. Ask difficult questions, even if you run the risk of embarrassing your children. The long term benefits outweigh the short term risk. Stay open minded and listen.
• Parents need to play a more active role in their children’s lives (be their parent not their friend) to prevent drug use and abuse from happening.
• Consider making policy changes within your sphere of influence. Talk to the school about developing policies that hinder drug use and abuse. Some schools ban prom and graduation after parties. Others require parents to drop off and pick up their children at the prom.

Do you still think teen drinking is a rite of passage? What are you doing to prevent your children from making decisions with devastating consequences?

How To Protect The Kid Who "Has Everything"

More money, more problems? Perhaps. Today’s Lunch and Learn event, presented by Dr. Marino Carbonell, focused on this very topic. According to Dr. Carbonell, every school and every community has drugs. In poorer areas, the kids might be sniffing glue while the kids in more affluent areas are snorting cocaine. The actual drug is not the issue – so it’s not absolutely necessary to learn everything there is to know about every drug out there.

Here are 9 tips to help your kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

1. Be consistent (“no” means “no” today, tomorrow and the next day). Changing the rules along the way will invite your kids to challenge your rules in the future.
2. Realize that we have limitations. Our kids have way more energy than we do, so a simple “no” without a complicated explanation will suffice. Don’t engage in debates about your rules.
3. Understand that if your kids are admitting to any alcohol or drug use – you are only hearing 10% of the story. There is likely greater use than they will admit.
4. Don’t assume that because your child is smart or does well in school that they are not using alcohol or drugs.
5. You have plenty of friends. Be a parent to your child, not a friend.
6. Give direction to your kids, not the other way around.
7. Remain calm. You don’t need to scream or yell to get your message across. Take a deep breath and be firm.
8. Start early. Creating an environment where you are in control from the beginning will make your life much easier when your kids become teenagers.
9. Use your support systems. Reach out to the parents of children your kids spend time with – and work together to create a healthy environment for your children. Start a Parent Peer Group. Informed Families can help. Call us at (305) 856-4886.

Following Amy Winehouse's Dad's Lead?

Amy Winehouse's dad is promoting a petition for mandatory drug education in the UK.

Tell us on Facebook: Amy Winehouse’​s father is petitionin​g the UK House of Commons for mandatory drug education.​ Should we have a petition for this in the U.S.?

Ohio School Shooting Tragedy seems to be a random repeating pattern: Is it Mental Illness and/or a Dysfunctional Society?

How do mental illness and a dysfunctional society feed each other? The Ohio School shooting is not an isolated problem; social problems are tied together. Why didn’t this behavior exhibit itself in a different era? Why is it surfacing now? Where are all of these school shootings coming from? What is causing their perpetuation?

Many times the shooter has some mental problems, but sometimes sane individuals do crazy things in dysfunctional societies. Have you ever had a crazy moment? Roger Mills, PhD used to say, “Normal people do crazy things. We go in and out of mental illness all day long. Our best hope is to recognize it and not act when we are in a crazy moment.”

What do you think?

When Did You Last Talk With Your Kids About Serious Issues?

Creating safe environments and messages for children is a parent's responsibility. That means standing up for what right.

Do we know what is right? As parents, grandparents and concerned citizens, we must be willing to see what is going on right before our eyes and speak out...Remember the Emperor's New Clothes?

We need to talk to our kids about what is wrong with negative messages in the media and celebrity culture, express our disapproval of youth alcohol and drug use and continue to reinforce positive, healthy behaviors.

When did you last talk with your kids about serious issues?

Libel Suits Are The Least Of Our Worries

We’ve received some great feedback on our recent Lock Your Meds email campaign, which refers to the death of Whitney Houston and the prescription drug abuse epidemic. One reader suggested we be careful what we say about Whitney Houston, as we don’t have any proof that she died of prescription drug abuse. That’s true…and we did not say that she did.

But, is there anything wrong in suggesting that drug abuse may have played a role in her death? It’s been all over the news that prescription drugs were found in small quantity and near her body. It has also been said that Whitney liked to mix drugs and her cocktails, a potentially deadly combination.

It is our responsibility as parents to call attention to the negative behaviors of our children's so-called role models. No, we are not concerned about a libel suit for suggesting what the rest of the national media is also suggesting. We are concerned about our children and the state of the world they are growing up in.

Got A Problem? There's A Pill For That.

Got a problem? There's a Pill For That. BUZZ. Wrong. But that's why we have a prescription drug problem. We are not discounting the value of medication when there is a true need, but when did we lose the ability to solve problems without a quick fix??? When did people become walking pill dispensaries?

Take action today by securing your medicine cabinet and safely removing unwanted and unused medication. Pledge to Lock Your Meds today and be entered to win an Amazon Kindle Fire.

Modern Day Witch Hunt and/or Bullying Targets DC Reporter and her children?

Does the public not want to know that what they view as "normal" teenage behavior is harmful to their kids' brains and creates a host of other social problems? Kudos to Andrea McCarren for sending out positive health messages to families.

What can we all do? Write a letter to the Washington Post, send a note to Andrea's TV station and join together to express our support for her. There's strength in numbers. Our children have the right to grow up drug free and we have the responsibility to make that happen.

Read the original article in the Huffington Post.

Too much going on right before your eyes? Have you seen Toddlers and Tiaras?

Young girls are suffering from the Lolita effect (early sexualization of young girls). Didn’t see it coming and now it is all over the place. Have you been shopping for clothes for your eight-year-old girl?

Here's what we need you to do… when you spot the Lolita effect, let us know so we can write some letters together to the sponsors.

Want to know more about the Lolita effect? The American Psychological Association offers wonderful info about this topic.

Special thanks to Trish Ramsay of The Melissa Institute for her wonderful presentation.

Girls Build Self Esteem By Having Babies?

We sent out an email to our supporters this morning with the subject line: "Girls Build Self By Having Babies." One of our long-time friends wrote to us and said, "I think the subject line was incorrectly stated."

Our response was that yes, the subject line needed a question mark at the end. We were not making a statement but asking a question and the answer to the question unfortunately is "Yes, some girls do try and build self esteem by having a baby, which of course creates lots more problems."

The topic of tomorrow's Lunch and Learn event is "The Lolita Effect." Marketers tell us they are trying to reach teens. Researchers say it is actually geared to the 8 year old! What is our society teaching young women? How will you help to change the message from unhealthy to healthy?

So what can you do about it? Be observant, when something offends your common sense tell the store or the producer of the product. Write the sponsors of shows who promote false values.

So what do you think (other than Toddlers & Tiaras) are the shows that are promoting negative behaviors in young girls?