A study by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that parents are the keys to keeping their kids off drugs. However, they point out that just having Mom and Dad around is not the solution within itself, but that it's what Mom and/or Dad do that's important.

The importance is dramatically increased when both Mom and Dad take time to build relationships with their teenagers. It begins with loving them unconditionally — not because they are handsome or beautiful, not because they make A's and are obedient, and so on. Any time you put a condition on your love, you are raising a child who is insecure, and it's insecure kids who typically seek the wrong company and get involved in destructive activities. It takes time to build relationships with your kids. They need to know that your conversational door is always open to them.

The CASA survey showed that teens are far more likely to talk to Mom than to Dad. Message: Fathers, take time to build relationships with your children. Less TV time, more talking and listening is critical, and eating together makes a huge difference. Even two or three meals together a week will substantially curtail drug use, sexual activity and violent acts.

Incidentally, 71% of teens report they have an excellent or very good relationship with their mother, while only 58% have that relationship with their father. Twice as many teens say it's easier to talk to Mom than Dad about drugs, and twice as many teens who never use marijuana credit Mom with that decision. Teens are three times more likely to rely solely on Mom than on Dad when they have important decisions to make. Message: Dad needs to get more involved, but it's the two-parent families that have the best chance of keeping their kids off drugs.

Other research indicates that if we start the day with our children properly and end the day properly, the time in between is going to be better. Getting up just 10 minutes earlier, and slowly and lovingly awakening the children, is infinitely better than the last-minute routines that involve fast (or no) breakfasts, short tempers and the stress and anxiety that accompany a rushing household. Those extra minutes give the family a more leisurely breakfast and time to be kind and affectionate with one another. At bedtime, you turn the TV off and listen to countless ridiculous questions, designed primarily to delay bedtime. After a few minutes of silliness, the frivolous talk generally ends, and that's when your child reveals what is on his or her heart, and bonding takes place.

Good news! Twenty-three percent of teens now say drugs are their biggest problem, down from 29% in 1998, and 35% in 1997. Kids who attend schools where drugs are available are at twice the risk of substance abuse as teens attending a drug-free school, nearly three times as likely to smoke cigarettes, three times more likely to have tried pot, and twice as likely to know a teen who uses cocaine or heroin.

Interestingly enough, 75% of students in Catholic and other religious schools say their school is drug-free, compared to 40% of public school students. Joseph Califano, then-CASA president and former HEW secretary, says, "Parent power is also key to drug-free schools. When parents feel as strongly about drug-infested schools as they feel about asbestos-infected schools, we'll have drug-free schools in America."

I agree, but it still gets back to parents and their relationships with their kids. The examples they set, and whether or not they smoke and drink, have a strong bearing on their kids' drug use. That's an awesome responsibility, but I'm confident that parents who are reading this would "do anything" to keep their kids out of the drug jungle. Get involved, Mom and Dad, and I'll see you, and the kids, at the top!

To find out more about Zig Ziglar and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: ddimitrova at Pixabay