i tell ya it's a crazy world our kids live in. when i started teaching back in '94, i was in a high school in a semi-urban area and you heard very little about kids using drugs. i mean, i'm sure they were there to some extent, but just not super- prevalent.

i had a break of over 7 years before i started back teaching again, and this time it's in a couple of middle schools in a rural area. believe it or not, i hear more about kids and drugs here and now than i ever did back then.

i will not go into the painful details bc i know some family members read this blog, but a few years ago a very closely related relative of mine passed away due to the long term effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

he was in his 30's and he had a 1 month old son.

from what i see as a teacher, the best way to keep your kids off drugs is to know where they are, who they are with, and what they are doing 24/7. sure it may bug the heck out of em but oh well. many parents are not realistic about what their kids may or may not do when they are subject to peer pressure.

i remember my first year teaching, a girl was showing off in front of the class and called me a b*tch. we had phones in our rooms we could use to call outside the school, so i made her stay after class and called her mom at work as soon as the other students left. when i told her mom what happened, her mom told me "i don't believe you. my daughter would never use that word."

um, it was in front of the whole class. can you say denial?

my point is, we need resources as parents and educators to be able to direct people for help. hopefully you will never ever need this link for a rehab facility for anyone you know who has addiction, but it also has alot of other great info you can use to educate yourself.