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Alcoholism and Drug
Addiction in Children
WHAT’S A PARENT TO
DO?
By MARVIN A. BLOCK,
M. D. Member, AMA Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
(inserserts)
| Respect for the
law is taught to most of us in our childhood. But here again, the
teaching which shapes a lasting attitude is that which is conveyed less
by words than by example. In homes where the law is flouted, there is
less likelihood that the upcoming generation will learn to respect it.
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Children who are
unhappy and insecure because of a home environment that is marred be
bickering and conflict often will resort to alcohol or drugs in order to
escape the problems that press in upon them, uncontrollably and through
no fault of their own. Alcohol or marijuana may supply, at least for a
time, a much needed feeling of comfort and sense of adequacy. ... |
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In school our children may learn, if they will,
how much there is to life, how many goals loom on its horizons
and what steps must be taken to attain them. But the far more
urgent challenge of teaching them how to met life and live it
(as that university student told me she'd found wanting) can
best be met by parents in the home. Here, where life itself
begins, and patterns of behavior are shaped, is the best
possible environment for the prevention of alcoholism and drug
dependence in children. It is therefore, to the improvement of
this immediate environment that adults throughout our society
are urged to turn their strictest and deepest attention. ... |
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