Reply to Teen hospitalized for drug use last night

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Also, I'm sure this won't be a popular opinion, but along with getting my kid help I'm not sure I would actively try to cover this up. You know, there's consequences to this shit. You wanna play with drugs, maybe you can accept that it's going to cause your peers to gossip about you and possibly ostracize you. That's what happens when you're a druggie, decent people avoid you. I wouldn't be in such a hurry to soften that blow for my kid as it might do a lot towards making them reconsider their drug usage. [/quote]

Druggies are decent people too, PP.  Addiction is a disease.  People need help--not stupid judgement.  Did you realize that drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in this country?  We need mental health services, needle exchanges, access to OD prevention drugs, and lots of compassion:
http://www.npr.org/2016/02/18/464463631/when-a-loved-one-dies-of-overdose-what-happens-to-the-family[/quote]

Yeah yeah yeah that's all well and good but many of these people could have been straightened out well before becoming addicts with good parental intervention and maybe some solid natural consequences from peers. A teen who is experimenting with drugs isn't at the addict stage yet. Goal is not to cure an addict here, it's to prevent further use of drugs period because it's still stoppable at this age. Social rejection is a big influence at that age is all I'm saying. [/quote]

Wow, you no nothing about drug abuse. I would not listen to this advice. Shaming kids does not work. Leave it to the  professionals OP. [/quote]

Im not advocating [b]shaming him[/b] if you read. I said get him help and be supportive but don't hide it from the school out of fear of protecting his reputation. [b]Having kids or the school know that about him might embarrass him enough to quit fooling around with drugs[/b] before it becomes a serious addiction. Let him feel that stigma from his peers and see how bad it sucks and it might help put him on a better path now before it's too late. As the parent I would never shame. But I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to make sure he doesn't deal with any social consequences over this. That could save him. [/quote]

Please explain the difference between shaming a kid and sharing information with the intent that it will embarrass him into changing his behavior.  Further, your original point reveals a troubling judgment that addicts are all people that came from bad parents and hanging out with the wrong crowd.  There are many paths to becoming an addict, even as a teenager.  And to the longer that you believe in a once-size-fits-most solution, the harder it will be for those struggling with this problem.  Some are struggling with too many expectations, others are just meeting the low bar set for them.  Some are self-meddicating mental health issues.  Some are simply lonely outcasts.  In many high-schools across the country the most accepting group the school will be drug users.  Perhaps least discriminating might be a better way of phrasing that.  Much more complex than a bunch of low-lifes that need a haircut, spanking, and job.[/quote]

I did NOT say to share the information with the intent to shame. I suggested sharing it because the counselor can help with homebound schoolwork and teachers and guidance need to be aware that there was an issue that may require ongoing discretion and monitoring. They can help with that. I said an unintended side effect of his peers knowing, which trust me, they do, even if the school admin doesn't yet, could be some social rejection that MIGHT NOT be a bad thing.

Also, why does everyone assume the kid overdosed? Op didn't say that.  He could've taken a hit of something and freaked out and gone to the hospital but it doesn't mean he overdosed. Highly unlikely this is a full blown addict here, more likely a kid experimenting and I would be doing everything I could to nip that now, even if it meant some friends ostracized him as a result. My mom is an addict and I can tell you that hearing platitudes from family meant nothing to her because she has heard it too long. When friends step in and either say something or distance themselves, THAT has impact for her. [/quote]

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