Family and its role in protecting children against drugs (review)

♦ Title of the book: Family and its role in protecting its children against drugs

♦ The author: Dr. Humayd ibn Khalil Ash-Shayjy.

♦ Publisher: Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs —Saudi Arabia— Vice-Ministry of Social Affairs — General Directorate of Social Development.

♦ Printing Year: 1426 AH.

The author began the book by saying:

Parents are the role models for their children, even if they do not do so deliberately. When parents have morals and exercise religion properly, they protect their children against deviant behavior and drug addiction. Moreover, the parents’ abstention from drugs and alcohol is an essential factor in protecting their children. Allah Almighty says: “And let those (executors and guardians) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own, if they had left weak offspring behind. So let them fear Allâh and speak right words.” [Surat An-Nisa: 9]. Then the author mentioned that the closer the children draw from the age of independence, the more pressure they get from their friends, and their influence on their beliefs, behavior and dress increases; however those pressures may encourage or prohibit alcohol and drugs.

The acceptance of children to their parents and the absence of any deviations in the parents lead to the children’s connection with parental personality, and to the stability of their beliefs and their abilities if they are pressed to take drugs.

The author stressed that parents can confirm this through:

Teaching children the dangers of alcohol and drugs, teaching them the principles of good health, good discipline, telling them about the prohibition of these drugs, setting limits to them and do not allow them to transgress them, and parents’ help to their children to acquire skills that increase their knowledge and raise their confidence in themselves.

We review for our dear readers some of the headlines mentioned in the book:

♦Talk to them about drugs:

If the father does not take the first step in preventing drugs, the possibility of proceeding with the experiment exist, and if they do not receive correct information from their parents, they shall receive them incorrectly from their friends.

♦ Teenager .. It is time for manhood:

Drug taking may be more than just an experiment, for instance: A shy person or the person who see himself not handsome shall be more confident under the effect of drugs and more acceptable to his friends. The pressure of bad friends may lead some to drug taking in order to be acceptable to them, or even to become a man just like them.

♦ Train your children for confrontation:

How do young people deal with these variables and motives? They depend mainly on the size of love, guidance, understanding, and support they gained from their parents. All these matters make their journey during adolescence calm, stable, and mature without experiencing drugs.

♦ How to talk to your children about drugs:

It is important to give them correct and precise information about drugs and alcohol. Here we have to stress a very important piece of information about drugs which is enough to answer all questions because drug dealers circulate that drugs give a feeling of joy, manhood, sex, and power. They claim it is easy to treat theses defects and there is no harm to take small quantity of them; all these claims need correct answer.

♦ The importance of having communication channels with children:

The most important pillar in protection against drugs is having communication channels with children through parents’ discussion to their problems, even if their exercise to their lives during adolescence is good.

Dr. Humayd Ash-Shayjy concluded his book with that the basic objective of prevention in the field of fighting drugs is to protect young people through strengthening their psychological defenses and supporting their values which will reduce the chances of having drugs or make it impossible; as people say: Prevention is better than cure.