Just Say No

By: Dan Carlson January 16, 2006

Over the course of this past week, the pages of this newspaper have contained several stories dealing with drug abuse and the growing prevalence of methamphetamines as the drug of choice. Like many of you, I find the growth of this problem in our area of great concern and, as a parent I'm especially concerned about how I can encourage them to make right decisions in life.

We live in a world that is vastly different from the one I grew up in. Back when my parents considered my peers and I to be "at risk" in terms of drug abuse we were taught about the dangers of uppers, downers, shooting up heroin and dropping acid. I'll confess that I did drop acid once, but that was in science class and it only resulted in an embarrassing skin irritation and minor damage to floor tile. By the time I reached college I was educated further about drugs by professors, several of whom would invite favored students over to their pads after hours for a joint or two. I never smoked dope, but sometimes acted like I was stoned just to confuse people.

During the 1980s our nation's First Lady promoted the "Just Say No" program to prevent drug abuse. As a personal experiment to test the effectiveness of the campaign I decided to "just say no" to highly addictive pastries. In order for it to be a fair test I had to have such pastries present in my bachelor pad at all times so I'd have the opportunity to say no when tempted. I gained 40 pounds in two years. I can therefore attest to the fact that simply telling someone to say "no" to things that are bad for them is not very effective.

So what is a parent to do? How do we keep our kids from meth and other drugs? I'll have to say that I have it a lot easier than I suspect many of you do. I've got battlements, a 100-yard kill zone around the house and a home that is only accessible by four-wheel-drive. For now, anyone wanting to see my daughter has to drive a 4x4 and cover a football field of open ground without me seeing him before he can even ring the doorbell. That's when the dog will get him. If he gets by me and the dog, her brother is the fallback defense. If he gets by me, the dog, and the brother and manages to make it to her bedroom door in the tower he'll meet the worst of fates ... a protective mom.

Seriously, we are protective of our children. We homeschool, monitor all TV and Internet activity personally, regulate who they speak to and when on the telephone, and determine whose home they can visit. Is it strict? Absolutely. Do they resent it? Not one bit. We took a stab at parenting with authority and our children respect us for it. We have also, by the grace of God, been able to parent with authority and still be loved and considered best friends by our children. Honestly though, I think one reason for our success so far is because we started parenting that way and our kids have never known us to be any other way.

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