Denver Post, The (CO)

Western forum

Testing your kids for drugs



Re: "Drug-test kits a big hit with parents," May 13 news story.

Thanks for your very informative story on the controversy over home drug testing for our children. However, I was puzzled by all the hand-wringing and nail-biting over whether it's good or bad for parents to practice home drug testing for adolescents and teens. The issue is simple. All parents know drugs of all kinds are available to our youth, and peer pressure and the urge to experiment with new thrills are powerful motivators. So, where's the quandary?



While I am reluctant to draw a direct analogy between managing employees and managing children in the home, in many ways the two practices are similar. It's all about clear communication of expectations, accountability, performance, regular followup and incentives.



For instance: You set a standard of zero tolerance for drugs. You communicate that standard to children in the home. You provide a system of measurement of performance. The children meet or do not meet that standard of performance. They are rewarded, or not, appropriately.



Too authoritarian? Hardly, especially given the high stakes. On the subject of drugs, there should be no democracy practiced in a home with adolescents and teens present.



Larry Valant, Castle Rock



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After using drug testing with my three children successfully for 11 years, I can say with assurance that the article on drug testing really missed the point. The point of giving your kids a drug test is to give your kids a tool to use against peer pressure.

If you tell your kids you will drug test them, and you periodically do test them, they feel protected and safe. They have a powerful tool to use when approached with the offer to try drugs. I know, because my sons have thanked me for being able to tell their friends, "No, I can't smoke that. My mom tests me."

Most kids don't want to get involved in drugs. They are well aware of the dangers. They simply don't have the skills on board to keep themselves strong in the midst of the pressure they receive from friends when approached with the offer.



The idea that drug testing should be turned over to the state in the form of drug testing at school is not what we need. It's my opinion that parents need to take more responsibility for their child's welfare, not less. Kids want and need tools to withstand the harsh winds that can blow them down. As parents, it's our job to give them these.



Andrea Barnes, Aurora



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For Bertha Madras, the White House deputy drug czar, to infer that parents are incapable of handling drug testing is not just wrong, it is insulting.



I worked in adolescent health care from 1969 to 1977. Drugs were a big issue then. It impressed me that the starting time for drugs was middle school, mostly seventh grade.



I have been a certified nurse midwife since 1978. I still see plenty of teens in my office with a drug issue. When do they start? They are still starting in middle school - mostly seventh grade.

So, when my kids entered seventh grade, they got new bikes and they got regular drug testing. To answer the charge, "You don't trust me," my husband and I responded, "Sure we do. We trust that you will have a wonderful adolescent experience that may include wrong choices. We will not be the last to find out. If you make those choices, we will be there for you."



Catch it early. Start testing in seventh grade. Simply make it routine. Let your kids know you are going to be on top of this. Give your kids the gift of saying, "No thanks, I'll get busted."

Evie Piele, Centennial



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A wise man once said, "Trust but verify." If a parent is suspicious of their child's behavior, they should be the parent. They should hold the kid accountable. They should set the standard and enforce it. Listening to the "experts" who say it destroys trust is what has our kids so screwed up now. Kids have no fear today. They have no respect. There is nothing wrong with the kid knowing who is the boss and what measures the boss will take to assert the authority. The parent is responsible to assert their authority as needed to prevent junior from screwing up.

Ray Hornsby, Arvada



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