A Bit of Prevention

One downfall to living in our area is that there is apparently quite a bit of methamphetamine drugs floating around. A good thing though is that our community tries to do a lot to make people aware of this fact. Last week they held a meeting to discuss a new form of meth that is being pushed at grade school children. It is strawberry flavored and made to look like the little Valentine heart candies with the little sayings on them. Doesn't that just make you sick! We weren't able to attend that meeting but over 300 people did, which I think is an impressive turnout. Our local theater agreed to play the movie they showed that night, free of charge, every Thursday night until nobody comes anymore. I took the kids to see it tonight and it definitely left a deep impression on them. It was very powerful , very blunt, and a bit disturbing. Austin especially seemed effected by it, probably because he understood the most. We talked a lot afterward and I explained to him that although watching this movie made him feel a bit "icky", the knowledge it gave him would help protect him. Now he knows the facts and nobody will be able to convince him that it's harmless. He knows now that meth will put holes in your brain the first time you try it and that 95% of people become addicted at first use. There's nothing appealing about it when you know that! This is one aspect of parenthood that I don't really care for. I don't like having to teach my kids about the evils in the world. I wish they didn't have to know about drugs and child molesters and kidnappers and all those unpleasant things. I've learned though that as much as you want to, you shouldn't hide these things from your children. These threats are everywhere, even in Tiny Town, USA. By knowing about them they can become educated on how to keep themselves safe.