Just read this fantastic guest blog on Lisa Belkin’s Motherlode (New York Times). This brave mother, Janice Lynch Schuster, has two teens currently battling what she figuratively refers to as a “big black snake” – or, as it is more commonly known, drug and alcohol addiction. I’m sure that most parents who have watched their children struggle with a drug problem would agree that Schuster is right on target when she compares addiction to a scary – and possibly deadly –snake.
Facing her children’s drug problems, she writes, used to paralyze her. Even when she wanted to confront the monster, she was reduced to ineffectively yelling, taking away things that her kids could just get more of, and convincing herself that drug use was simply a rite of passage for teens. But luckily, Schuster finally got strong enough to intervene and get help for both her addicted children. Here’s a great quote from the post:
“I insisted that first one child and then another be admitted to a substance-abuse recovery program, a residential program that specializes in treating children, like mine, who are alcoholics and drug addicts. Just writing that is painful and foreign; it is as difficult as speaking in the snake’s tongue. The language of addiction is full of loss — lost opportunities, lost lives, lost potential, lost families, lost time. Now both children are in what is called recovery — they have been clean and sober, one for about eight weeks and the other for scarcely more than two.”
For those of you who can relate to Schuster’s story, I highly encourage you to check out Intervene, our newly launched blog here at the Partnership. We’re so proud of Intervene because it’s more than just a website – it’s a supportive community of parents and caring adults concerned about a beloved teen or young adult’s drug use. Right now, we have some very inspiring guest bloggers posting, including two authors with new books out and one wonderful woman who has been running marathons all over the world to raise funds and awareness for drug addiction and treatment.
And remember, you can also visit our website TimeToAct if you suspect or know your teenager is using drugs. TimeToAct has tips on how to initiate a conversation and get your child help.
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First of all great a web-site, it sounds as if you have something to do with it. Secondly, I have never seen a better resource for a parent who is concerned about their kids drug/alcohol use.
I’m a father of 5 grown children, my wife and I did an intervention on our now 24 year old son, when he was in High School. In our situation, he loved to get high and kept it a secret, ’til the cops got involved. I have turned this experience into a blog for parents who are raising kids with a problem that started out when they realized that they love to get high. As soon as they have fall in love with getting high they also realize “I need to keep this a secret!”. “If my parents find out about me getting high, it’s over.”
It’s my hope that parents start seeing the little signs of loving to get high before the “big black snake” takes over the house. We can “Intervene” early as well as later.
p.s. my blog is http://www.lovingtogethighsyndrome.com or http://www.timtitus.com
I found here number of inspiring thoughts and posts in one place about curbing issues in our society. Highly encouraging..Now Parents of teens are more concerned about their teen health, activities and academic performance of course. But for effective parenting, parents need to periodic check for the activities of their children and any irregular behavior or attitude should not be taken lightly. If possible, try to intervene into the matter using the home based intervention process. There are couple of programs available for parents to guide them step by step. One of them is home intervention system that will help parents deal with a wide range of problems that children often encounter including; anger, substance abuse, school issues, self-esteem, arguing, motivation, interacting with family, and more. http://homeinterventionsystem.com , I hope this information help.