Talk to teens about drugs and alcohol

In Vegas this past week, a young athlete lost his life. The stepmother of the young man was distraught, of course, because of his accidental death, but also because he died of an overdose of hydrocodin, a painkiller. She said she had talked to him about drugs and alcohol. His friends confirm that he was "adamant against the use of alcohol and illegal drugs". He would refuse to be with friends who did use.

She was not aware of the threat of another killer. He, like many other teens, must have assumed that because the drugs are prescribed they are safe. She never covered the subject with him.

The Daily Citizen in White County wrote an article that claimed that kids who hear about the dangers of drugs and alcohol at home are up to 50% less likely to use. Yet only 32% of teens report their parents talk to them about the risks of drug use. This is from Partnership Attitude Tracking Studies (PATS).

WISE (White County Invested in Substance Abuse Eradication) through Pat Hambrick, Coordinator says that parents need to talk to their teens about stress management. "In the 2007 PATS, 73% of the teens said that coping with the pressures and stresses of school was the number one factor teens might choose to use drugs, with "the feeling cool" and "feeling better about themselves" being tied for second place. (Both of these issues are stressed in The Rabbit Trap.)

Parents underestimate the stress on their kids in school. And they also underestimate the pressures of family issues have on their kids. Parents also do not understand how their actions stand as a benchmark on their teens.

Self publishing

Just a note about self publishing. I self-published because I wanted to get the word out about the dangers of prescription drugs and I really did fall in love with Lexie. I have asked published friends, and a president of a publishing company (academic) if it will be harder to be published because I crossed the line of traditional methods. Both said it would increase my chances of being published traditionally.

This month's Writer Digest said the opposite. Of course, right? The average sales of a self-published book? 75. If you sell too many the publishers believe you could have gone through your audience. If you sell to few, well you are not really dedicated to
being an author or your book well it is not very good.

Just as in anything else....I think it is hard work and luck. I will keep you posted. By the way, I have sold more than the average.
But fewer than what they say would burn out my book.