Drug Education Parent Booklet

8 STARTING THE CONVERSATION WHEN YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE If you are worried that your teenager might be using drugs or alcohol, it’s important to keep talking to them and being open to communication. This will help to keep them connected to you, even at the most challenging of times. Starting the conversation about a young person’s potential drug or alcohol use can be tricky. Having that initial conversation may not resolve everything, but it can be an important first step so your teenager trusts you and feels able to talk to you. Here are some tips to getting started: 1. PREPARE FOR THE CONVERSATION ● Gather information to make sure you understand what drug your teenager may be using and its effects. Relate this information to how your teenager is acting, and see whether it applies to their situation. Have a clear idea of what it is that concerns you about their drug use. ● Arrange a suitable time to talk where you will have some privacy and won’t be interrupted. ● Only start the conversation when the person is not currently under the influence of drugs or alcohol . If this is difficult, try to pick a time when they seem less intoxicated than others (e.g. in the morning). Try not to start conversations when they are on their way out of the house. ● It is OK to ask directly about drug use, but don’t make assumptions that they are using drugs, how often, or why they use it. ● Have some specific examples ready that show the behaviours that you are worried about, in case you get a “like what?” in response. To start the conversation, you might say: “I’ve noticed a few changes in you lately, and I’m a bit worried that you aren’t all that happy…what’s going on in your life at the moment?” “How are your friends going? …I haven’t seen them in a while.” “I haven’t heard you talking much about school at the moment…how’s that going?”