NATIONAL "BACK TO SCHOOL" CAMPAIGN
LAUNCHED TO ADDRESS PRESCRIPTION AND ILLICIT DRUG ABUSE
~ notMYkid and Project
7th Grade Issue Family Tool Kit to Better Equip Parents
and Children with Prevention Resources for "Back to
School" Planning ~
August 2007
Phoenix, AZ - August, 2007
- The "Back to School" season has always been an exciting
and sometimes stressful time for parents and children.
But, the modern threats posed by potential abuse of
illicit, and increasingly prescription, drugs has made
this tradition even more daunting in recent years. To
help parents prepare and communicate with their children
and provide a safe and drug free school year, Project
7th Grade, a national drug prevention program of the
non-profit organization, notMYkid, has developed a "Back
to School" tool kit for parents.
The tool kit will help parents
equip their children with not only the traditional resources
of backpacks, notebooks, pens and other standard staples
for the start of the school year, but also the means
to avoid ever trying or abusing drugs. Project 7th Grade
serves as a national family-oriented prevention initiative
that helps parents develop plans to communicate and
maintain an early and ongoing dialogue with their children
about the perils of substance abuse, incorporating home
drug testing as a cornerstone of deterrence that gives
kids an innovative means to say 'no' at an age when
there is considerable peer pressure to use or abuse
drugs for the first time.
The tool kit, available at
www.notmykid.org and www.project7thgrade.org, is designed
to help parents initiate these important and ongoing
conversations with their children and includes a set
of tips, conversation starters, and a sample "family
drug prevention plan" that parents and children can
develop together. Parents can also work with their local
school districts and PTAs to request a Project 7th Grade
seminar in their region to educate them in-person on
drug abuse prevention.
Prevention experts agree that
parents are the single most effective youth drug prevention
method. According to a survey conducted by the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
kids who learn about the risks of drug abuse from a
parent or guardian are significantly less likely to
use drugs than kids who do not. Ongoing, honest discussions
can serve as a way to teach children about the perils
of drug use, help them find the best ways to turn down
offers to try drugs and give parents insights into the
peer pressures that kids face at school each day.
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