Finding time to talk to your kids about drug and alcohol abuse can be challenging. So it is important to make sure that the window of time you do find is as useful as possible. Before you talk to your kids, one of the best things to do is to speak with other parents who are in the same boat. As if trying to find a way to talk to your kids wasn't tricky enough, finding the best topics on your own can be just as difficult. The good news is that online communities are making the latter part easier. The Partnership for Drug-Free America developed a great online resource, with the help of Yahoo!, to get parents talking to each other about talking with their children. There is a great amount of information at Time to Talk, and there is an interactive forum at Yahoo! that allows direct communication between parents. As described in the September 27 issue of the New York Times:

“Time to Talk is focused on enhancing parents' knowledge. We're all busy, working crazy hours, and families are not all eating at the same time. You've got to sit down and think about what it means to communicate with kids today, and then take time to talk to them about the risks of abuse.”

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