Protect Your Family from Drug Abuse
What can parents do to help children face the drug-abuse problem? What has proved a remedy?
WAKE up, parents! The drug problem is here. It is big, and is growing bigger.
A generation ago many young boys secretly smoked cigarettes behind the family house or barn. Today far too many youths have taken to dangerous drugs and narcotics. The cigarettes smoked by their parents caused innumerable deaths by lung cancer. The drugs offered by “friends” at school may also represent a step toward personal destruction.
Generally drugs are not offered to parents. Not having had experience with them, they need to learn what to watch for, and how to warn their children. Thus, some specific examples will be of value to conscientious parents and children alike.
In Los Angeles young Jafus said a friend had offered him drugs in the washroom of his high school. How was the temptation presented? “Come on over here and try this,” the friend urged. “It’ll make a man out of you. It’ll make you feel good.” On another occasion in a neighborhood laundromat a “pusher” of drugs boasted how easily he made money, and invited Jafus to his home where he said he had a big bowl of marijuana and a big jar of “reds” (seconal). What should be done in such cases? What Jafus says he did was this: “I got out of there as fast as I could.”
In talking with students it becomes evident that drugs are available in many schools. Marijuana is smoked in washrooms. Pills are frequently seen. One Los Angeles family wondered why their son rushed straight to the bathroom every day after school. Then they found out that he would not go to the rest room at school because of the drug use and other immoral practices there. It is reported that in Los Angeles juvenile arrests for dangerous drugs increased 247 percent between 1967 and 1968!
Better Protected
When one is speaking with young persons who have had these experiences, one fact stands out: On the whole, the children of Jehovah’s witnesses, known for their high moral principles, do not have as great a problem as other students. When a student refused a barbiturate with the comment, “I’m one of Jehovah’s witnesses,” he was told: “We don’t have anything to do with you anyway.” The “pusher” walked away.
Fifteen-year-old Marilyn knew that drugs were common in her school. But no one had ever offered any to her. Why not? “Well those people hang around in specific crowds, and if you are not in a crowd with them they usually won’t bother you.”
A Witness, whose son was in a school where a large number of students had been arrested for drug violations, asked his son: “Has anyone ever offered dope to you?” No one had. “Have you ever seen any?” The son had not.
Why not? The fact is that there are persons to whom one usually does not propose certain things. Even youths show, by their actions, what principles they have. Children reared in families where Biblical principles really are taught have a great advantage, for their high moral standards are often well known by other youths. Thus, Witness children are usually not approached by drug users as are other children. Their living by Bible principles serves as a protection for them.
Inculcate Spiritual Values
Many youths who have taken drugs say they are dissatisfied with the terrible world conditions and the materialistic pursuits of their parents. One high-school graduating senior put it this way: “Most kids feel no real purpose in living, except enjoying today. They think all these pressures of ‘making it’ in jobs just seem sort of stupid.” A young couple who overcame their drug habit said: “Kids today are fed up with the system. That’s why they take drugs—it’s an escape. . . . Their hang-up is the hypocrisy of today’s world.”
Dorin, who was thirteen when she started on drugs, remarked: “The kids nowadays have nothing to believe in, like me, I had nothing to believe in. I lived to get ‘high.’ I couldn’t care less whether I lived or died.” Then, referring to her present life as one of Jehovah’s witnesses, she added: “Now I’ve found something to hold onto, something that really makes life worth while. Before, life was nothing. I would say to parents, Bring your children up right. Give them something to believe in, something to hold onto.”
The key is the teaching of children Bible principles, giving them something solid to believe in. The hearts of mankind, and especially youths, cry out for peace, security, health and life. They want to live without the threat of war, famine and disease. God’s Word the Bible invites them: “Trust in Jehovah and do good . . . and he will give you the requests of your heart.” (Ps. 37:3, 4) Jehovah will satisfy the requests of the hearts of all those trusting in him by providing for them a new order wherein “righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Pet. 3:13) In that new order Jehovah will even satisfy the heart’s desire for perfect health and endless life. For “he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more.” (Rev. 21:4) What a marvelous hope this is! It is something youth can believe in and develop a keen desire for, because it is promised by Jehovah, the God “who cannot lie.”—Titus 1:2.
Give youths, then, the Bible’s grand hope for the future. Also, good parental training, as well as personal application of God’s Word, is vital in encouraging children to avoid the bad habit of taking drugs.
Talk to Your Child
Parents should talk with their children about the problem of drug abuse. Communication is vital. (Deut. 6:6, 7; Prov. 22:6) During a discussion, you might ask calmly and sympathetically, not reproachfully, if he has ever been with those who have experimented with drugs. Often a young person in the initial state of drug abuse will want to talk about it to ease his conscience.
The way you talk with your children is very important. (Eph. 6:4) Do not nag or berate them. Said a former addict: “Principle and logic are the only things that will appeal to them. Emotionalism doesn’t work. I think that the first thing parents should do is to explain from the Bible, using principles, why it is wrong to use drugs. First of all, in America it is against the law to possess certain drugs. So, if you possess them you are breaking the Bible’s law by not being in subjection to the ‘superior authorities.’ (Rom. 13:1) Further, by seeking drugs you have to mingle with people who deal with the stuff. You are having bad associations, so that is in violation of Christian principles. (1 Cor. 15:33) Also you are being ‘a lover of pleasures,’ and it becomes an all-out thing to find drugs. (2 Tim. 3:4) You are developing bad habits, not offering yourself as a sacrifice ‘living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason.’”—Rom. 12:1.
Summing up, this former addict said: “I think parents should explain it on the basis of principles, not emotionalism.”
The lessons here to be learned are that Bible principles inculcated in youths early in life, plus intelligent, factual and sympathetic counseling by parents, are what children need to safeguard them from drug abuse.
Parents, Be Good Listeners
In talking with their children, parents should also listen carefully when their children speak. By listening you can tell where they spend their time and with whom. Often children are introduced to drugs through a close associate whom they regard as a “friend.” A former addict who is now one of Jehovah’s witnesses said: “In my experience with drugs, in the almost five years that I was using them, I never met anybody that was coerced into trying them for the first time. You just don’t give it away free unless it is a good friend of yours, or you’ve got a lot on hand and you give away a tiny bit. People take it of their own volition.” Listening to your child may help you to protect him from such so-called friends.
A father who conducted interviews with former addicts remarked: “This is a very interesting point. Both of the habitual drug takers I interviewed had taken drugs deliberately, out of curiosity or interest. No one had tried to force them. The point is a very important one as far as ‘prevention’ goes. We have to develop a strong motivation toward right-mindedness and Biblical principles. Among people who have this motivation the drug problem seems to be a very minor one. Often they aren’t even approached by other young persons who use drugs.”
Young Persons Stress Prevention
Youths emphasize a close parent-child relationship as a safeguard against drug abuse. A former drug addict stressed: “A close and constant relationship between the parents and their children is the best preventive medicine.” The Bible, too, says it is a safeguard. (Prov. 6:20-22) What is your relationship with your child?
A family Bible study obviously plays a vital part in protecting youths against drug addiction. For it is in such Bible study that right principles are explained and meaningful goals are brought into focus. A young man writes about the results of his Bible study: “What a wonderful change it made in our lives! The so-called drug-induced ‘spiritual experiences’ look hollow when compared to any hour of our present lives.”
The encouragement here is to follow Bible principles as a way of life. To this end, invite Jehovah’s witnesses to study the Bible with you as millions of others have; this service they do freely and gladly. The outcome may prove most rewarding to you now and in the years to come.—John 17:3.
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The key to protecting children against drugs is to teach them Bible principles