5-8 Year Olds Share +


Here are 9 tips to help you guide your child toward a healthy, drug-free life:

  1. Keep your discussions about tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs factual and focused on the present. Long-term consequences are too distant to have any meaning. Let your child know that people who drink too much alcohol get sick and throw up, or that smoking makes clothes stink and causes bad breath.
  2. Talk to your kids about the drug-related messages they receive through advertisements, the news media and entertainment sources. Some TV shows or movies may even glamorize drug use. Remember to ask your kids how they feel about the things they’ve heard — you’ll learn a great deal about what they’re thinking.
  3. Consider the following topics when discussing drugs with your child: what alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are like; why drugs are illegal; what harm drugs can do to users. You should also consider talking about the differences between the medicinal uses and illegal uses of drugs, and how drugs can impact the families and friends of users.
  4. Set clear rules and behave the way you want your kids to behave. Tell them the reasons for your rules. If yok-3u use tobacco or alcohol, be mindful of the message you are sending to your children.
  5. Help your child explore new ways to express their feelings. Kids who feel shy in one-on-one conversation might open up through painting, writing, or emailing a friend or relative.
  6. Work on problem solving by focusing on the types of problems kids come across. Help them find long-lasting solutions to homework trouble, a fight with a friend, or in dealing with a bully. Be sure to point out that quick fixes are not long-term solutions.
  8. Get to know your child’s friends — and their friends’ parents. Check in by phone or a visit once in a while to make sure they are giving their children the same kinds of messages you give your children.
  9. Sign your kids up with community groups or programs that emphasize the positive impact of a healthy lifestyle. Your drug-free messages will be reinforced — and your kids will have fun, stay active and develop healthy friendships.
Wondering what to say to your 5-8 year old? Click here for tips from DrugFree.org!