RWHN's adventures in Teenage Land.

[AFK]

Are you allowed to express your personal opinion on any of these subjects?

Me?  No. 

I am simply there to ask the questions and moderate.  The idea is for the kids to talk with each other about the subject so that they can learn what other peers are experiencing with regards to the subject.  Just trying to promote some open, and confidential, dialogue. 

And generally speaking, I keep my personal opinions on substance use out of all of my prevention work with kids. 

[Corvidia]

Good work you're doing, Rev, by the sounds of it.


DARE was just retarded. I went to an elementary school where no one knew what drug were beyond the abstract, so if anything it probably got people interested in it, like Tempest Virago said. The kids who were the loudest about "just saying NO!" certainly became the biggest meth heads and alcoholics by the end of high school.

[Spiny_Norman]

It's amazing how much kids will understand if you talk to them like adults.  The problem with DARE, of which I am a graduate, is that it is too mickey mouse.  Kids see right through that BS.  Give them the honest facts and they will usually make the right choice.  Of course I didn't, but they didn't cover Robert Anton Wilson in DARE.

But hey, I'm still here and not too much worse for wear.


...hey that rhymes.....

[Bruno]

Don't use a whistle; too authoritarian.

Use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-City-Clown-Bulb-Horn/dp/B001A7X4QE

[Fredfredly ⊂(◉‿◉)つ]

USE YOUR NOSE FLUTE

[AFK]

Heh, that would be amusing actually.  I may have to contemplate that for the last one. 

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Of course I didn't, but they didn't cover Robert Anton Wilson in DARE.

100% TROOF

[AFK]

So today we talked about booze.  The session was a bit more active than the one on Rx drugs but not as noisy as the one on pot.  The one thing I will say, after hearing some of the stories of how their parents behave while completely drunk, I'm thoroughly amazed that those kids were as well adjusted as they seemed to be, or for that matter, among the living.  When you see news stories and specials done by the major news networks on alcohol addiction amongst kids they always talk about peer pressure.  There is undoubtedly peer pressure involved when it comes to drug and alcohol use.  But what has been glossed over, for years, is the huge impact adults and parents have on kids drinking and trying drugs.  Kids don't know how to form boundaries because the parents and adults in their lives aren't giving them good examples to go by. 

When a parent has an open and honest conversation with their kids about drugs, alcohol, sex, any of those "taboo" kind of topics, it doesn't matter what they see on TV or what their friends are doing.  A kid who is armed with the knowledge of how to act responsibly, to themselves, will know enough what kind of decisions are good for them and those that aren't.  It was pretty clear most of the kids I talked to didn't have the first clue as to what those boundaries should be. 

Next week is the last week.  No topic, it's going to be a free form discussion to wrap it all up. 

[Jenne]

I have to agree with this.  I often worry about the picture my kids get of me while I drink, so I actually don't do that much around them, though I manage still to do quite a bit.  *thinks on that one*  I have to say that if I'm getting a drink on, I do wait til they go to bed.

[AFK]

Yeah, but from what I gleem from you I'm guessing you are exhibiting responsible behavior.  You aren't like the parent I heard about today who was so drunk she was sitting on the floor barking at people as they came and went.  The WHN clan went to a wedding in Vermont last year, with LWHN in tow.  Mrs WHN and I both enjoyed an adult beverage while we were there.  When my daughter asked me what it was I just explained it was like a soda for adults.  As it turned out it was a local microbrew that tasted like rancid ass, so I didn't drink very much of it. 

[Jenne]

Oh hell no, don't do the whole "Mommy's ill and barfing" thing in front of the chillins, though I don't hide the fact I'm drinking alcohol--I have wine at dinner, perhaps a beer.  Mardi Gras I made hurricanes (virgin ones for the kids).

BUT, I don't get drinky.  Not in front of them.  I would just be sick to my stomach thinking they saw me all sloshy and whatnot.  Bleh.  Don't wanna be THAT mom.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

There's been a massive campaign on here in Utah for the last year about how "underage drinking will destroy your kids' BRAAAAAAAAAINNNSS!!! so tell them not to!".  I just think it's really irresponsible to demonize alcohol, especially when it's so readily available.  But then, I do live in utah so...

[AFK]

I would not advocate for demonization.  I would advocate for education and conversation.  You don't yell at your kids "Don't drink or else!!!"  Instead, you have a reasoned and rational discussion about the realities of what can happen when a young person drinks and what happens when a young person becomes addicted to alcohol.

I would also advocate that parents become more familiar with brain research and understand the implications of a young person drinking.  Again, not so they can put the fear of god in their kids, but so they can have a reasoned and straight-forward conversation so a child knows what they are risking by choosing to start drinking at an early age. 

[hooplala]

I love alcohol, but I have to say that the first time I saw either of my parents drunk was a very disturbing episode in my life, but also a very rewarding one.  I think its important not to think of one's parents as perfect specimens of humanity, and placed on a pedestal.  Seeing them drunk, and having your mother get you in a headlock to give you a noogie, shatters that illusion immediately and completely.

[Fredfredly ⊂(◉‿◉)つ]

yeah seeing my dad spew all over the walls then pass out in in a puddle of his own vomit is great 
it also helps later when hes being all hypocritical and lecturing about alcohol