Drinking and drug abuse are two major problems that the world faces today. Developed or developing, all nations face the same problem. The worst part is that they affect the young people. The main victims are the teenagers in the schools and universities and the sports persons. They go for drug abuse and drinking for different reasons. The teenagers do this mostly for recognition. The sports persons resort to illicit drug use for improving their performance by building bigger and stronger muscles.

This menace of drug abuse and drinking has to be dealt with expeditiously before it devours the youth of all nations. Influencing the youth is the best way to tackle the problem. They are the biggest users of drug and the greatest harm by drug abuse is caused to them. The governments can enact laws to prevent and control the drug abuse. But the governments have their limitations. It is not easy for the law enforcing agencies to seek out all the abusers and correct them. The parents have a greater role here to influence them, especially the teenagers.

First, the parents should recognize their responsibility to guide their young children. They resort to drugs when they don’t get enough support or happiness from home. Close involvement of parents in activities of their children will keep them away from bad friends and bad habits. However, if they still go about abusing drugs, then parents should speak out or look like disinterested, otherwise, the children will take it as a permission to continue. At the same time, too much control will be construed as invasion of privacy.

So where to draw the line? The parents themselves must identify the risk factors and avoid their children from crossing the line. Membership of gangs, too much involvement with friends and misuse of cell phones are some of the things that parents can monitor and must monitor. The risk factors involved in the gang membership and drug abuse must be explained to the children. The parents should explain to their children the bad effects of drinking and drug abuse.

Most people start using drugs in conjunction with sexual activities. Therefore, early sexual activities among children must be controlled. The parents have a great role in that too. The father or mother can feel the changes in their attitude and can come in contact with their friends. It is advisable for the parents to visit the parents of the friends along with their own children. That will create a bond between the children and the elder generation. That will give a greater insight for the parents into the thinking and activities of the children. Thus a close monitoring of their behavior becomes possible.

The teenage period is the period of great changes in the human body and mind. During this period, several changes occur in their environment. They may change schools. The youngster has to move from the elementary school to the middle school and then to the high school. He gets new friends at every change. The influence of friends differs from person to person. This period of wider horizon and uncertainty may expose them to the risk of drug addition. At this stage the teenager may resort to drug abuse just to get recognition among the friends who already use drugs. The adventurous inclination may also encourage them to have a new experience. To do something new and dangerous may thrill him. Here is where the parental influence can help. If the youngster can talk freely to the parents and discuss matters concerning his friends the parents can come to know of the new experience of their child. If you can prevent drug abuse you can prevent drug addiction.

Certain surveys have shown that some children, even at the tender age of twelve and thirteen, are drug users. Alcohol and drugs makes changes in the brain. Such changes lead to addiction. Once addicted to drug or alcohol, escape is not easy. So it is better to prevent abuse of drugs or alcohol. If early use of drugs can be prevented, the drug abuse can be reduced to a great extend. A chance of getting addicted at a later stage is much smaller than that in childhood.

National Institute on Drug Abuse is of the opinion that five percent of the high school seniors are users of drugs. The Institute has initiated a program to organize the school children themselves to form a team among them to lead a campaign to explain the bad effects of the drug abuse and to discourage it. In the meet the main thrust is to discuss how the drugs adversely affect the physical capacity and not enhance it. This program was found to be very effective. It is much better than the regular instruction given by the teacher in the classroom against drug abuse. It mainly targeted the athletes who used drugs to enhance their performance. In the meet they divide into squads and each squad would discuss the bad effects of drugs and encourage intake of nutrition for increasing athletic skills. This program has benefited thousands of children. Experience has shown that this program has helped many school going children. They could be rescued from drug abuse. The numbers rescued are increasing year after year. New entrants into the abuse are also coming down where the campaign exists.

Thanks to campaigns of this kind more and more children are today aware of the bad effects of the use of alcohol, drugs and smoking. A concerted effort by all concerned will surely improve the situation. The new efforts to organize the young generation themselves to clinch the initiative in the fight against the drug abuse are bearing fruits. This along with the parental support will go a long way in fighting the drug abuse.

Various organizations are leading campaigns to fight against drug abuse and rescue those who are already in the habit. A very important factor of the fight is to prevent new entrants into the practice. A joint effort by the government, the parents and the voluntary organizations can surely find good results.