Parents: Here's Your Back to School Reading Assignment

Parenting during the high school years isn't easy!

On the once hand your teen will have to  function without you in the very near future, so you've gotta let go and give him/her autonomy. Your child may be in college in a year; he or she needs to learn how to function without you. There will be colds and flus, breakups, parties, missed buses... and mom or dad won't be there to help them through those daily challenges.

On the other hand, as they experiment with this newfound freedom one bad decision, e.g. driving drunk or using drugs can have serious, even life-ending, consequences. And with Internet activities and designer drugs it's hard to stay ahead of dangerous trends.

How many patents keep cough medicine  in an unlocked medicine cabinet?  How many wouldn't bat an eyelash if their 16 year old had a cold and self-medicated with cough medicine. Probably most.

Would you provide your child a drug so he/she could experience  visual and auditory hallucinations and out-of-body dissociative sensations? What if that drug also may cause confusion, rapid heart beat, vomiting, dizziness and loss of motor control if misused and taken in excessive doses. 

One in 10 youth ages 12 through 17 reported that they abused OTC cough medicine to get high.... and it's right in your medicine cabinet.

Here's what you need to know to prevent teen cough medicine abuse. It's a quick read, but it could save your teens life. Make this your summer reading assignment, and pass it along to any other parents of teens.