The Concealed in Plain Sight Room provides parents with clues from a teen’s bedroom to help them determine whether their child might be experimenting with or using drugs or alcohol. It’s natural to hope that what you’re seeing is merely harmless youth experimentation. But remember, growing brains are much more vulnerable to damage from alcohol and drugs (including marijuana) than ours. In addition, research confirms that the younger a person is when they start using an addictive substance, the more likely they are to become dependent on it.

Take a little time to get educated about commonly abused drugs and adolescent substance use trends so you can better assess your child’s risks. Some parents, for example, would be horrified if they came across heroin in their child’s possession but much less disturbed if they found a half-empty bottle of Vicodin — yet both are opioids and can be equally dangerous. And alcohol use is considered by some as almost a rite of passage, yet it kills more teens than all other drugs combined.

Add power to your parenting by being informed and then intervening if you think your child might be using drugs or alcohol. You’re likely to feel a whole range of emotions if you discover your teen's room has any one or more of these items — disappointment, worry, anger, sadness. Try to channel all the inner calm you possess when talking to your child. Yelling, demanding explanations or shaming will only close the door on dialogue and make answers that much harder to find. Anything you can do to delay or minimize your child’s introduction to drugs and alcohol will pay off later.

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