• Some signs of risk can be seen as early as infancy or early childhood, such as aggressive behavior, lack of self-control, or difficult temperament. As the child gets older, interactions with family, at school, and within the community can affect that child’s risk for later drug abuse. Children’s earliest interactions occur in the family; sometimes family situations heighten a child’s risk for later drug abuse, for example, when there is:
  
• a lack of attachment and nurturing by parents or caregivers;
• ineffective parenting; and
  
• a caregiver who abuses drugs.
• But families can provide protection from later drug abuse when there is:
  
• a strong bond between children and parents;
• parental involvement in the child’s life; and
  
• clear limits and consistent enforcement of discipline.
  
• Interactions outside the family can involve risks for both children and adolescents, such as:
  poor classroom behavior or social skills;
• academic failure; and
  
• association with drug-abusing peers.

Your child's transition from elementary school to middle school or junior high calls for special vigilance. Children are much more vulnerable to drugs and other risky behavior when they move from sixth to seventh grade than when they were younger.

Continue the dialogue on drugs that you began when your child was younger, and stay involved in your child's daily life by encouraging interests and monitoring activities. Use the specific actions below to significantly reduce the chance of your child becoming involved with drugs. Some of these actions, like being sure your child is supervised in the hours after school, may seem like common sense. And some may meet with resistance from preteens who are naturally striving to achieve independence from their parents. But all the measures listed below are critically important in making sure that your child's life is structured in such a way that drugs have no place in it.

• If possible, arrange to have your children looked after and engaged from three to five p.m. Encourage them to get involved with youth groups, arts, music, sports, community service and academic clubs.
• Make sure children who are unattended for periods during the day feel your presence. Give them a schedule and set limits on their behavior. Give them household chores to accomplish. Enforce a strict phone-in-to-you policy. Leave notes for them around the house. Provide easy-to-find snacks.
• Get to know the parents of your child's friends. Exchange phone numbers and addresses. Have everyone agree to forbid each others' children from consuming alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in their homes, and pledge that you will inform each other if one of you becomes aware of a child who violates this pact.
• Call parents whose home is to be used for a party. Make sure they can assure you that no alcoholic beverages or illegal substances will be dispensed. Don't be afraid to check out the party yourself to see that adult supervision is in place.
• Make it easy for your child to leave a place where substances are being used. Discuss in advance how to contact you or another designated adult in order to get a ride home. If another adult provides the transportation, be up and available to talk about the incident when your child arrives home.
• Set curfews and enforce them.
• Encourage open dialogue with your children about their experiences. Tell your child, "I love you and trust you, but I don't trust the world around you, and I need to know what's going on in your life so I can be a good parent to you."

Talk With Your Child: It is important to establish and maintain good communication with your children. Ask questions and be patient when listening.

Get Involved: Young people are much less likely to have mental health and substance use problems when they have positive activities to do and when caring adults are involved in their lives.

Set Rules: Experts say it is essential to make clear rules and enforce them with consistency and appropriate disciplinary action.

Be a Role Model: Children like to imitate adults. This is why parents need to be mindful of their actions when it comes to the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs and what they say about people with mental illness.

Teach Kids To Choose Friends Wisely: We've all heard the phrase "peer pressure." Children want to be accepted and noticed by their peers, and sometimes this can lead children to do things they would not normally do. This section offers information and tips to support children's social skills and development at a time when they are making important decisions that will affect their whole life.

Monitor Your Child's Activities: Research shows that monitoring a child's activities is an important way of lowering his or her chances of getting involved in a harmful situation.