Should You Drug Test Your Teenager?

Should You Drug Test Your Teenager?

This is such a controversial topic in today’s day and age. I know people can passionately make the argument either way and I believe deep down in their hearts they feel as though they were right.

I have seen people respond to this topic with anger and have watched teenagers make the argument that it is an invasion on their rights and privacy. It is something that sparks a lot of discussion and needs to be worked out in your own heart and minds if you are parent that suspects that their teen is using drugs.

I will show my hand in this article and say upfront that if you believe your teen is using drugs, and there are signs of this drug use, then you should no doubt be drug testing your teen. I think there are several reasons why.

One is that your home is not a democracy. I don’t give a flip what “professional” out there says about privacy of a child or how hard a teenager argues for the right as you as their parent to stay out of their lives. Let me say this right now…your home is not a democracy. There is no vote or inch of propriety within your walls that is off limits. Period!

If your child is harming themselves and bringing other people into their destructive habits, you have every right to know what they are doing, what they are using, who they are hanging out with, and who is supplying them with the drugs they are using.

You also have every right to go through their cell phone, dresser drawers, closet, and anywhere else they may be hiding harmful drugs from you. You are the parent and charged with caring for the well being of your child.

So if you have any inclination that your teenager is using drugs you have every right to drug test your teenager. WHY? Because unless you know and understand the drugs that they are using you can not get the correct help they may need.

Now I would also say that there are ways in which you approach the topic and administrate the drug testing and you are wise enough to know how to approach that. After eleven years of working with people I know there are instances when there is no doubt that the teenager is using. One they either tell you, or you smell it all the time, or they just are stoned out of their minds. You just know. Get them tested…

Then there are the moments where you are not sure and your teenager is just starting the road of getting high and they are in the beginning stages and first signs of a child who is using. I think you approach this a little bit different and begin with some real communication and see if your teenager comes clean with their behaviors. If that is the case you can begin the process of getting them help.

But either way if you are noticing that your teenager is getting high and using drugs you have ever right as a parent to know what is going on in the life of your teenager. Because I can promise you this, if you don’t address the issue when they are a teenager, you will be setting your child up for many failures when they become an adult.

To make my point here is a person talking about drugs and drug testing…and you tell me if this is the mindset you want to leave with your teenager as they grow older.

AK Says: …as for marijuana…lol thats not even a drug, but in my opinion shouldn’t be used until age 21 or 22, because that is when the brain has fully formed, and it wont matter as much if used then. Teens that smoke marijuana on a daily basis are messing themselves up in the long run, they simply cant handle it….its too advanced for them….marijuana should really be only for the mature and developed mind.

Seriously, I did not make that up. Even when well intended people try to make the argument that marijuana is ok, they still claim that it warps the brain.

If you are the parent of a teenager then you have every right to know exactly what they are engaged in while you are raising them.