Unplug To Connect With Your Children This Summer

Summer offers a sense of freedom for kids. With school out of session, children gain a great deal of free time. As parents you take on more responsibility; it’s your responsibility to keep children active physically and mentally and to not leave them to their own devices. While some boredom is good for the teen brain, excessive free time can increase their risk to get involved in harmful behaviors.

Did you know that summer is the riskiest time of the year for teens and drugs? Research shows that more teens try marijuana and other drugs for the first time in June and July than any other time of the year. 

As your first priority, plan time to just have fun together, connecting as a family. Turn off the Media madness (that means you too!) and play a game. You’ll be surprised how much fun it is. Plus, it will reduce your stress and increase bonding, as you learn more about each person in the family. Spending time together walking, swimming or hiking outdoors is also a great chance to stay fit and connected. If one activity turns disasterous, try another one. Don't give up on connecting with your children.  

Communicate with your kids about the things they want to do this summer. Open them up to positive activities such as a sport, community serivce or have them take additional summer classes to keep their minds sharp and vibrant. Don’t allow their minds to become addicted to screens. And monitor what they are consuming when they are watching screens. Common Sense Media is a wonderful, time-saving tool.

If you have two minutes to spare, we'd love to get your feedback on issues that matter to you, as we are always striving to offer you the best research-based support to help your kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for all the wonderful dads out there. I hope you had a great Father's Day. 

Until next time,

Peggy

 

The Secret To Our Success Is You & Making Protective Factors A Reality

There’s really nothing like Informed Families’ Annual Dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab Restaurant.  Joe’s is a Miami institution known throughout the world as the place to see and be seen! During stone crab season (October-May), customers wait in line for hours just to experience their amazing stone crabs, cole slaw, hash browns and famous key lime pie.

Our first stone crab dinner was the idea of Informed Families’ Board member Dorothy Shula, the late wife of Don Shula, former head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Jo Anne Sawitz Bass and her son Steve Sawitz hosted our first Joe’s dinner 32 years ago, which was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and partnership. The restaurant closes to the public at the very end of stone crab season and opens its doors to friends of Informed Families for one night to help Florida’s children grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

Listen Up: Teen Mistakes & Their Unintended, Permanent Consequences

4,300 children die each year due to underage drinking-related causes. Springtime is a peak time for celebrations - and that's why parents need to take steps to ensure parties held in their home and in the community are Safe Homes, Smart Parties. Sure, there’s a chance your kids will make it out unscathed, but is it really worth the risk? 

US District Court Judge Beth Bloom and her son Jacob Stern, a high school student then attending Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, developed a presentation called "Listen Up: Teen Mistakes & Their Unintended, Permanent Consequences." For a busy parent of a teenager, Jacob's presentation is concise, eye-opening and should be mandatory viewing for both kids and parents! I ask you to please watch our 30-minute video and share it with your friends who are raising teenagers. Get the family together and spend 30 minutes to save yourselves a lot of time, money and hassle. The beauty of online viewing is you can stop and restart at your convenience.

Two Things I've Learned About Prom & Graduation Season

It’s Party Time! Prom, Spring Break, Graduation... We want our kids to have fun and create memories – but we want them to be safe. Both can be achieved by serving the best thing parents can serve their children: common sense. Kids who start drinking before age 15 are 6 times more likely to develop alcohol problems as adults. And with 4,300 children dying each year due to underage drinking-related causes, we all need to help our kids celebrate safely.

The two things I’ve learned about Prom & Graduation Season are:

5 Ways Parents Are Like The "Instant Pot"

(...That's the cooking pot, not marijuana!)

Have you heard of the latest kitchen craze? There’s a new device that can do it all: the 7-in-one version can steam, sauté, slow cook, pressure cook, cook rice, make yogurt (not sure who has time for that) and warm food. It’s called an Instant Pot!  

The Instant Pot has been around for a few years, but recently hit a tipping point and became Amazon’s top selling kitchen device. The device’s developers spent no money on advertising, choosing to strategically send a free Instant Pot to hundreds of cooking bloggers, which led to word of mouth and hitting an all-time high at the end of 2016.  (Remember, this is how behavior changes and why we need you to tell your friends about Informed Families’ Four Campaigns.)

People love The Instant Pot because it saves so much time! A dish that cooks in a slow cooker for 8 hours only takes 25-30 minutes. You can even cook frozen meat – and do it quickly. Talk about a blessing for busy parents. In today’s 24/7/365 technology-crazed life, any opportunity to simplify and reduce time and effort is key to our sanity! (Our prevention tips will also SAVE YOU LOTS OF TIME in the future.)

Parents are a lot like the “Instant Pot” because:

Ready (But Actually Not), Heroin Is Here

As the government cracks down on “doctor shopping,” or going to multiple doctors to obtain pain medication which by the way is illegal in Florida, and America becomes increasingly aware of the dangers of opioid abuse, people already addicted to opioids looking to satisfy their need/illness are turning to a cheaper and more easily accessible alternative: good ole heroin. 

Like the 1980’s anti-drug commercial says, “no one ever says, ‘I want to be a junkie when I grow up.’” The same is true over 30 years later. People don’t seek out addiction.

Two important predictors of drug use are: availability and a low perception of harm. So what helps create an opioid epidemic? People perceive them to be safe because they are legal – and they are widely prescribed and easy to obtain. In fact, the source of the opioids is typically from friends and family. 67% of all abused pain meds come from someone you know, not a stranger, drug dealer or the internet.  

And people who abuse opioids are 40 times more likely to abuse heroin. Not very good odds, if you ask me.

The Best Gift You Can Give Your Kids Is Not A Hatchimal

Every year, the toy craze du jour sends parents frantically using their FBI skills to track down the “perfect” gift for their child. The coveted gift is likely no longer in stores and can only be purchased on ebay for three times its original price. These parents dedicate a great deal of time trying to give kids want they want. “Oh, won’t they be so happy,” the parents say. “My child is so special to me and I just want to make him/her happy.”

This year’s top toy, the Hatchimal, is very impressive! It’s a plush robot inside of an egg that hatches when you take care of it and once hatched, responds to commands. Boy have we come a long way from the cabbage patch doll!

Those of us who haven’t found lasting happiness through material goods can agree that having the coolest toy doesn’t always make us happy. Meaningful relationships can be the gifts that truly keep on giving. It may not seem like it, but your kids will likely agree.

Read This: Gratitude...improves your health and your quality of life!

It’s November - the perfect time to feel and express gratitude. Sometimes we are so busy grumbling about what didn’t go our way that we forget to be grateful for small things, nice weather, a smile or a cup of coffee.

Life is not perfect. Where did we get the idea that it was supposed to be perfect? The shiny magazines and media telling us to do more, be more, buy more? Have you noticed that even those who appear to "have it all" don’t have perfect lives? Life is messy. Be grateful for life’s imperfections. It makes it more interesting.

I am saddened that our country is so divided. Yet, I am grateful that we live in a democracy and have the freedom to choose.

I am overwhelmed by 24/365 technology. Yet, I am grateful to text with my grandkids and send a birthday gift certificate with the touch of a button.

Did You Get The Red Ribbon Message?

Did You Pass It On Correctly?

During Red Ribbon Week®, the red ribbon is used to symbolize the importance of a healthy, drug free lifestyle. This year’s theme, YOLO. Be Drug Free.® was created by two sixth graders in Claysburg, Pennsylvania. It reminds us to take care of our minds and our bodies.

Years ago I directed an after-school program. No matter how hard I tried to educate and set my students on a path to success, if their parents or caregivers weren’t delivering the same message at home, the work was exponentially harder. Furthermore, when our overall environment is sending conflicting, unhealthy messages, we are stressed and challenged. I do believe that one person can make a difference in a child’s life, but by partnering with parents and improving community messaging, the likelihood of raising safe, healthy, drug free kids is vastly improved.

Do You Eat Dinner With Your Children?

Eating dinner together sounds so simple and yet, it is not today’s norm. Why? The answer has something to do with hectic schedules, after school activities and other outside influences that interfere with dinnertime. This reality is most unfortunate because research has shown that the more children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.

So welcome to Informed Families’ first drug prevention tool of the school year: Family Day.  Family Day is a national effort, developed by the Center for Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University, to encourage family dinners as an effective way to reduce youth substance abuse and other risky behaviors.  Join us on Family Day, September 26^th and learn how to have fun through simple exercises.