Will your child have the correct data?

August is upon us and a new year of school is about to start.

Young people are bouncing, bubbly, and chattering with excitement.

School brings old friends, new friends, old routines, new adventures and learning experiences.

Most of those learning experiences are good ones but it's what a child learns that parents don't know about that can be life threatening.

As the new school year starts a student will be reviewing old information previously studied while learning new terms, and some of the terms that you may hear during this school year from children of all ages are: addiction, AIDS, dependence, drugs, trafficking, narcotics, prevention, treatment and tolerance, to list only a few.

Although you may be surprised, students of any age need to know these terms and have a full understanding of exactly what they mean and their affects.

Another subject that will certainly make an appearance in schools this year is prescription and/or over the counter drugs.

Children often mistake the safety in abusing these drugs because they are legal.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration a relatively high rate of prescription painkiller abuse is occurring among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders.

Accessibility of pharmaceutical drugs and the abuse of these are at incredibly high levels throughout most of the country.

Much of this availability is due to the ever increasing amount of rogue internet pharmacies and neighborhood pill mills.

At either location a person can obtain prescription drugs with little or no resistance.

Simple honest communication of the facts to children who will most certainly encounter drugs as some point in their life is the most effective prevention measure a parent can take.

These measures must start at an earlier age and must start at home.

Parents who rely solely on drug education in schools are doing their children a disservice.

A parent who imparts to their children at an early age understandable information regarding the dangers of drugs and alcohol will reap the rewards later in life when their children choose to abstain from use because they are fully informed.

Scare tactics can do more harm than good and can cause a child to become curious rather than aware.

Mind-altering, painkilling and amphetamine prescription drugs, to illicit street drugs are swallowing up a society that was once considered safe.

According to data obtained from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in a 2004 study, non-medical use of psychotherapeutics by individuals aged 12 and older were (6.1%) and second only to those for marijuana (10.6%) and much higher for cocaine (2.4%), methamphetamine (0.6%), or heroin (0.2%).

Non-medical use of prescription painkillers are relatively high among teenagers and include a considerable increase in the abuse of OxyContin among twelfth graders, which has been the cause of many deaths of young people.

Friends of Narconon reminds you that returning to school can be adventurous for kids and is also a time when many kids become exposed to drugs for the first time.

Take the time to speak to your kids about drug and alcohol abuse and let's make a better society for all.