Tough Questions about Drugs
“Hey Mr. D.! You were a hippie in college. You did drugs didn’t you?” Or… “Hey Mr. D.! You’re a musician. I heard you playing that jazz music. Come on Man, you smoked weed didn’t you?”
Boy! Those are some tough questions. Why? Because parents and teachers know we have a responsibility to point our kids in the direction of the law abiding way to health and happiness but we also remember our own more foolish or dangerous life choices. Parents have come to me and (in many varied forms) asked, “How do I talk to my kid about drugs (or sex) and not sound like a hypocrite when I think about some of the crazy stuff I did in my years of experimentation? How do I warn them of potential dangers without sounding foolish or hysterical? What do I say that will help me to gain or retain some respect or credibility?”
The Tightrope of Candor
Usually I’d have to speak to my kids after some whole school assembly warning our students about the dangers of drugs. The older kids would be talking about what was wrong with what had been said in the assembly and then it would dawn on the kids to ask me about my past. So I walked the tightrope of candor: