Family Night Out Events Encourage Parent-Child Communication

"My kid would never use drugs."

A familiar sentiment among parents that is just not true. Drugs and alcohol problems can enter into any family at any time. But when parents continually remind their children how strongly they are opposed to drug use, there is more of a trend for the child to not get involved.

That is the message that was given at Chippewa Valley Schools' Family Night Out, "Not My Kid" Drug Information Night on Feb. 9 at .

Speaker Rich Isaacson, a public education officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, was clear when he said: "Communication is the key. Every opportunity to remind your child how wrong drugs are is real important. You must give the impression that you are strongly opposed to it. It really matters to kids what their parents think."

Isaacson spent the first half of the presentation giving information on various drugs seen in local high schools. The second half was spent in small group discussions to encourage families to speak out about the experiences they were having at home and school.

Informing parents and students about the dangers of these drugs is important since new drugs are being created all the time.

In a survey of Chippewa Valley High School students taken one year ago, 39 percent of 11th-graders reported they drank alcohol in the past 30 days and 39 percent admitted using marijuana at some point in their lifetime.

One fact highlighted by these statistics is that students do not understand the health risks and consequences of drug and alcohol use.

Stephanie Lange, student assistance specialist for Dakota High School and coordinator for the event, said she hopes parents realize how important it is to keep talking to their kids. 

"Even though parents feel like they are not the biggest influence in their kids lives, they need to know that they really are," Lange said. "At these events we try to give them the courage to keep that communication open with their teen."

The Family Night Out events are free to anyone in the community, not just families from Chippewa Valley Schools. Out of the 180 who attended, many were from Chippewa, but other schools included Anchor Bay, Utica, Romeo, the International Academy of Macomb and .

This was the third Family Night Out event this school year and one more is scheduled for March 16. The theme will be Teen Drama: Mean Girls and Bullies Rule our School.

"We are getting a great response from the parents and students who attend," Lange said.

Parents interested in learning more about drug abuse can find information at the Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth and Families.

The National Institute of drug abuse website offers information and drugfree.org is also a parent resource from A Partnership for a Drug Free America.