21. Let it be okay for your teen to have a sense of belonging with their peers. This gives an important buffer and helps them deal with the stress they confront.
22. Tune in to the teenager. Be sensitive about providing support, encouragement, love and a nurturing home environment.
23. Develop ties with a pediatrician, or family physician. Let the teen know about this. Tell the teen about how important it is to have medical help for emergencies brought on by drinking and driving.
24. Know and recognize these warning signs of drug (and alcohol) impaired thinking:
• Distraction and shortened span of attention
• Difficulty understanding questions and concepts
• Frequently losing the train of thought in the middle of a sentence or idea
• Getting stuck on one thought and repeating it numerous times
• Appearing generally confused
• Limited ability to apply new learning to different situations
• Difficulty understanding abstract thoughts.
25. Notice and later comment when the teen hasn't been in his bed when he should be.
26. Make the dinner table a pleasant place even if hasn't been for years.
27. Reduce stimuli that trigger emotional or behavioral problems. These triggers can be a difficult classroom setting, the wrong group of friends, availability of drugs and alcohol, or negative interactions with parents (you.) Even if you just try to reduce trigger stimuli, it may help.
28. Develop a trusting and open relationship. If you can’t, won’t or don’t do this, you will be lucky if a counselor is the one to do it and not a scumbag. Lack of a trusting and open relationship is one of major reason why changing things often fails at home.
29. Realize: It's not just your child's problem, it's a family problem, and you should take that ol’ “journey to wellness” together.
30. Let the teen know that you are having a struggle with the decision of whether or not to send him/her away to get help for drug and alcohol use
