The new school year is just around the corner, and it’s the time of the year when everyone needs to re-adjust to new routines. For many moms, the return to school means stacks of new information, forms to sign, and various notices and pamphlets about parent/school organizations and meetings. As busy parents juggling careers and families, it is sometimes difficult to find extra time to devote to extra-curricular activities organized by schools and PTA groups. However, they represent a great opportunity for moms like you to take action and to fight over-the-counter medicine abuse.

While large events such as town hall meetings and community presentation are effective, they also take a lot of time and planning to organize and are not always a realistic option. There are, however, less time-intensive things that you can do to raise awareness of the dangers of medicine abuse to other parents and to educators.

For instance, the Stop Medicine Abuse web site has free brochures you can order and distribute to teachers and guidance counselors at your child’s school. You also can leave some in the attendance office for parents to look at when they sign their children out for appointments, or give a stack to be handed out at the first PTA meeting of the year. On your next lunch break you can make a quick phone call to the school’s administration office and recommend StopMedicineAbuse.org. Make sure to let them know about the tools on the site, which they can add to their substance abuse education curriculum.

Simple tasks like these do more than you know when it comes to spreading the message of prevention and awareness within your teen’s school. How have you talked about OTC cough medicine abuse in your teen’s school? Share your advice and stories on the Stop Medicine Abuse Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/stopmedicineabuse.