Dr. Phil - July 28, 2010 - Dangerous Fads - Part 2

PART 2 of 4

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[stewielove101]

I notice a lot of my friends who do drugs and drink have really strict parents. To be honest I've never gotten grounded and my parents are the farthest thing from strict yet I would never smoke, drink or do drugs and have never kissed a guy and I'm 16. This isn't always the case, though.

[melaniegracee]

She actually seems really intelligent to me...

[shiftyjake]

@Heralde8 (3) And finally (I promise), I never claimed that kids turn to drugs just because their parents wouldn't let them. You'd have to be a pretty crappy parent to get your kid drunk. But then again, my first drug experience was when my dad let me try just one sip of his beer. It was so bad, I didn't drink beer again til I was 25. I don't care why people try drugs for the first time. I just want them to be responsible about it (and about everything else they do, really).

[shiftyjake]

@Heralde8 (2) Yes, kids do try drugs. But with each passing generation, fewer and fewer people choose to try them twice. Clearly, they're not abstaining. My generation is generally pretty well informed about drugs and sex, and we're the most responsible users yet.

[shiftyjake]

@Heralde8 (1) Not all drugs are harmful. And I can tell you why I tried drugs. Weed: curiosity; cigarettes: cool factor; alcohol: fun. Because I knew the difference between these milder drugs and, say, cocaine, I turned the coke down when it was offered to me (and it was).

My argument is that a parent can no more isolate their kid from curiosity, cool, or fun than they can stop the sun from rising. So education is key when the kid is inevitably offered the choice to have sex or take drugs.

[partyongarth]

Shes actually very intelligent and I feel bad that they want to keep her in rehab for another year. That would only make her dislike her parents even more and go "crazy" once she's a legal adult.

[Heralde8]

@shiftyjake The likelihood of violence does go up with addiction, or at best negligent accidents such as drunk drinking which often leads to death of innocent people.

My argument is that it's not enough just to teach kids that drugs are harmful. Kids do know this already, they just do it anyway. The "just educate them" method is flawed. We have to get to the root of why kids turn to drugs and it's not just because their parents wouldn't let them. It's rarely that simple.

[shiftyjake]

@Heralde8 I'd argue that most addiction isn't violent (and neither is violence always motivated by addiction). And it's not limited to kids... which is why teaching responsibility is so important - a kid takes those lessons into adulthood (and college, where he's probably gonna try all that stuff he was afraid to try when he was living at home).

Again, I don't understand your argument. Addiction is bad? Agreed. Violence is bad? Agreed.

[Heralde8]

@shiftyjake The average person's decisions won't result in violence and abuse. But those are often par for the course when it comes to drug addiction.

[shiftyjake]

@Heralde8 So? Your decisions do the same thing. So do mine and everyone else's.

What's your argument? That people have free will? Well, I guess we agree then!

[Heralde8]

@shiftyjake It is their decision but it's a decision that affects the innocent people around them.

[shiftyjake]

@Heralde8 Huh. How'd my comment get up there?

If someone knows the consequences and chooses to engage in X, then it's their decision. Once the kid's too big to pick up, there's little you can legally do to stop him from leaving the house, y'know? Just keep in mind that illegal drug use in the US has been dropping since the 70's, possibly making the "millennials" the most drug-responsible generation in US history -- and not because they're abstinent. They try it and decide they don't like it.