In a nutshell this article is saying it is a bad idea to share about a parents drug use with their children as it will actually promote drug use instead of discourage it.
Thoughts?
I disagree. In fact, I've prepared a brief seminar for parents on how to talk to their kids about drugs. I've learn a lot in my years as an alcohol/'drug/compulsive gambling counselor. Essentially, I teach that having "the talk" about drugs, alcohol and tobacco (and I'm saying "include gambling" in that mix as well) is a waste of time. Teens don't have a long attention span, and they won't sit through a half hour or hour long lecture about these vices. In fact, if you've waited until they are teens to talk about drugs, alcohol, tobacco and gambling, you've waited about ten years too long.
It doesn't matter whether you talk about your own experiences or not. The important thing is that you talk, period. And you should start at a young age. Five and six isn't too young to start the drug/alcohol/etc. education of your children. But again, not "the talk.' Instead make casual references, using opportunities that arise in everyday events. At that age, just a mere mention in passing during a beer commercial during a football game will do: "You know, our family doesn't believe that's such a good idea." When the child asks why, it gives you a chance to say something that reinforces a positive abstinence message. But not too long a statement. Thirty seconds is plenty.
As they grow older -- eight or nine -- take opportunities such as driving by a police officer involved in a traffic stop to ask if the child might have any ideas as to why that is going on. Chances are they'll say "speeding" or some other such thing. You can mention, "or maybe the driver was drinking." Then you can explain why that's a bad idea.
By the time they are teens, parents can have taken hundreds of such opportunities to take advantage of teachable moments. Perhaps when they are that age, you might ask them their opinion of the most recent steroid scandal, or events such as the Jovan Belcher murder of his girlfriend at their home and his own suicide at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City after a night of drinking and confrontation with his girlfriend after both had been out separately that night. An exchange of ideas is always a good thing in relationship to establishing how your teen is thinking.
So don't worry about sharing your own experiences, as long as you don't glamorize them, and be sure to play up the negative aspects of the behavior. A strong "I was wrong, please don't make the mistakes I made" message should accompany this disclosure. Your kids will respect you for it.
