Common Warning Signs
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Dramatic changes in style of clothes, hair, music
These outward signs of rebellion should be obvious to a parent. Has your child started listening to radically-different music such as heavy metal or punk rock? Is your kid coloring their hair some weird color just to fit in? Is your child dressing down to fit in with friends at school? All of these are outward signs that your child is succumbing to peer pressure and all these should serve as warning signs to you that your child is in danger of falling into the same kind of peer pressure when it comes to drugs.
Hanging out with a bad crowd
Your child might try and tell you that his/her friends are cool kids. But you need to take a close look at the kinds of kids your child is hanging out with. Chances are the way these friends behave is the way your child behaves when you're not around. Do some of your child's friends smoke cigarettes? If so, odds are your child is smoking too. Your child's friends are like a mirror for your son or daughter -- they look at themselves in that mirror and try to conform to what they see there. One of the best ways to get a good idea of what your child is like is to look at their closest friends.
Tardiness and/or truancies
You need to stay in touch with your child's school. Never assume that his/her school will be in touch with you if there is a problem. If your child is getting into drugs, odds are he/she will start ditching class from time to time. Kids who do this tend to take off during the middle of school and get stoned somewhere near the campus. Don't assume that their school will let you know about this kind of behavior.
Lack of motivation in school
Does you child simply seem not to care about how he/she does in school? Does your child seem to put very little effort into homework assignments? Does your child even come home from school to do his/her homework or is he/she just hanging out somewhere? Your child should show a healthy interest in school. If your child isn't, you need to be on the lookout for drugs! One of the first things that goes when your child is experimenting with drugs is your child's interest in school.
Isolating from family
Does your child act distant? When you ask your child what he/she has been up to, does your child give some vague reply? Does your child want to eat in their room all the time instead of with the family? Children are smart - they know that the easiest lie to tell is the one they can avoid having to tell. If you child doesn't tell you what he/she has been up to, there's a good chance your child is hiding something.
Changes in attitude and personality
Does it seem like your child is suddenly a completely different person with a new personality which you don't like one bit? Has your child suddenly developed a tough guy/girl attitude? If your child is experimenting with drugs, there's a good chance you'll be seeing these kinds of attitude changes. Often parents just see this as normal teenage behavior and write it off. Don't make this mistake…otherwise you might overlook one of the most obvious signs of your child's drug problem.
Changes in sleep patterns
These kinds of changes should be fairly obvious. Does your child stay up late (or even all night) frequently, refusing to get up in the morning at a decent time. Does your child sleep way too much or way too little. If your child isn't sleeping much, there's a good chance he/she is using . This is a frequent effect of this kind of stimulant.
Excessive use of foul or obscene language
Has your child suddenly developed a filthy mouth? This might indicate that your child is giving into peer pressure from friends and should be a warning sign to you. If your child is trying to fit in with friends by cussing, sooner or later your child will probably look for other ways to gain acceptance in his/her peer group. One of these ways is often drugs.
Eating way too much or way too little
Here's another obvious sign of drug experimentation that is often overlooked as normal teenage behavior. Does your child come home in the afternoon after hanging out with friends and devour everything in the refrigerator? If your child is smoking pot with his/her friends, it wouldn't be unusual for your child to eat a bit more food than normal. If your child skips quite a few consecutive meals, then speed use is a possibility.
Paranoia - everyone is out to get me
Does your son or daughter treat everybody as if they were the enemy? Do they tend to express the idea that everybody is out to get them? Do they seem overly paranoid to you? This is not normal teenage behavior; you need to understand that. This is one of the most common signs of drug abuse. It's one of those signs you don't have to look hard to see.
Dilated eyes - red eyes - glazed eyes
Do your son's or daughter's eyes look funny? Are the pupils real large or real small? Does your child wear sunglasses even at night and try and say they're just trying to look cool? A person's eyes show the effects of the drugs they're on. If you think your child is experimenting with drugs, watch his or her eyes. Are they red all the time? Glazed? If so, there's a real good chance your child is using drugs.
Sudden bursts of anger
Has your child developed a violent side? Is he or she prone to sudden, uncontrollable fits of anger? This doesn't have to mean physically violent (though that is often the case) but can also be a teen who is always yelling or threatening people. Any of these things should be a warning sign to you that your child could be experimenting with drugs.
Lies!
If your child is experimenting with drugs, he/she will be telling lots of lies to cover this up. Teens tend to be very good at covering things up. If you start wondering whether or not your child is telling you the truth there is a good chance that your instincts are right. Be persistent and learn what it is that they are trying to cover up. Drugs are an all-too-real possibility.
Excessive money spending or money disappearing
Drugs cost money. If your child keeps coming to you needing money, or if money keeps coming up missing from your purse or your wallet, you need to have a serious talk with your child. Especially if they always seem to need 20 dollars or 50 dollars—round amounts—since that is often the price drugs cost.
Talking too slow or too fast
If your child is smoking marijuana, he/she will probably speak to you very slowly when they talk to you (when they are using) since pot tends to put a child in a stupor. If your child is using stimulants such as speed, they will speak very fast and act very hyper. Look for changes in his/her pattern of speech. If one day he/she speaks normal and the next afternoon he/she is running a million miles per hour, drugs are a real possibility.
Dramatic mood swings
Does your child seems happy one day, then terribly depressed the next day? Do your child's emotions go up and down constantly? This is often confused with 'normal' teen behavior, but it can also be an obvious sign of drug abuse. Don't just write it off.