With the end of the holiday season and the new year and decade here, all of us at Five Moms are thinking about our New Years resolutions. Did you make any this year? What about making a commitment to improving the lives of your families and those around you. Consider resolving to communicate better with your teens and create an open family environment where your teens feel comfortable talking to you about drugs. You, as a parent, can make a positive difference in your children’s lives. In fact, research shows that parents do influence their teens’ decisions about whether to abuse drugs or not. When it comes to talking with your teens about medicine abuse, here are a few tips that can help:

1. Educate Yourself – Know the facts about cough medicine abuse and share this information with others who are involved in your teens’ lives.
2. Communicate with your Children – As we’ve mentioned before, teens who have learned a lot about substance abuse in the home are up to 50 percent less likely to abuse drugs. Make a commitment to not only talk to your teens, but listen to them too!
3. Safeguard Medications – Take the time to get rid of the medications you don’t use and keep track of every medicine you do have.
4. Be More Involved – Get more involved in your kids’ lives and get to know their friends and their friends’ families, too.
5. Watch for Warning Signs – When you notice behavioral changes in your teens’ lives, make yourself available and encourage them to talk about what is going on.

As you make the commitment to communicate better and more often with your teens, simple steps like these will do more than you know. The main thing is that as parents we need to start talking, and there’s no better time than now! How will you incorporate preventing medicine abuse into your resolutions for the year? Share your thoughts and advice on our Stop Medicine Abuse Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/stopmedicineabuse.