Recommendations

Remain in contact with your child

• In order to talk with your child about psychoactive substances you need to remain in a good contact with him/her.
• Talk with the child about all the questions that are important for him/her, the small and the big things in his/her life.
• Show your interest in what your child is doing, who are his/her friends, what are he/she doing in his/her free time and what time he/she gets home.
• Pay attention to every small change in his/her behavior.

Self education

• Find information about psychoactive substances. You can do that together with the child.
• Receive consultation about how to suggest that information to your child.
• When giving the information it is very important whether your child is experimenting, using or he/she is already addicted to psychoactive substances.
• Do not forget that blaming can restrain your contact with the child.
• If you have all the information needed, you can communicate with the child in a good way. Do visit the parents meetings on drugs questions organized by the child’s school or request such to be organized.
• Call the Helpline if you have specific questions.
• Do visit professional web sites about drugs. Not all the information on the Internet is relevant.
• It is not necessary for you to be an expert on drugs but know enough to be able to answer you child’s questions.

Talk with your child about these topics

• You can freely talk with your child on a specific topic if you have trust in each other and can share about all kinds of things.
• Talking about drugs is easier if the information is given in child’s early years.

Is postponing important?

• Statistics shows that children nowadays are in contact with alcohol and drugs in earlier age than before.
• When a child starts using psychoactive substances in an early age, it is more probable for him/her to become an addict when growing older.
• Do not hesitate to forbid the use of alcohol of your child if he/she is age under 18. Postponing of consumption is very important.

Create order and principles

• Do not hesitate to set clear boundaries for your child (order and principles).
• Older children also feel the need of setting clear boundaries with them.
• Do your best to set achievable goals and explain well to the child why you are setting the following order and principles.
• Encourage the positive behavior of your child.
• Be critical towards your own behavior.
• Consult with other parents how do they cope with that situation.

Be present with your child when he/she makes a choice

• Encourage your child to be self-dependent.
• Encourage your child’s participation in activities that would help him/her to become more self-dependent.
• Stimulate your child to seek meaning in everything.

Be aware of yourself being a role model and an example for imitation

• It is not needed to be a total abstainer as a parent като but do not forget that your behavior influences on your child and his/her behavior.
• If you smoke tobacco or drink alcohol from time to time this does not mean that you are not good as a parent.
• Your child is in contact with other institutions and people that have influence on his/her upbringing.

Keep yourself informed what your child is doing at school

• Inform yourself how much time your child spends in his/her school.
• You can invite an institution working in the field of the addictions to give a lecture in your child’s school.

Inform yourself on what you can do if a problem occurs

• Know that keeping those guidelines helps you to decrease the risk of problems but is not solving them.
• Know that if your child is already addicted these guidelines are not useful for you.
• Look for help from a medical doctor or consult with a specialist from the Helpline (0888 991 866) where confidentiality is guaranteed.