Questions on Every Parent’s Mind

In her review of The Education–Drug Use Connection: How Successes and Failures in School Relate to Adolescent Smoking, Drinking, Drug Use, and Delinquency, Liz Sale writes,

As parents, many of us worry about the future of our teenagers. They might be getting good grades in middle school, and, for the most part, they don't get into trouble. But what if they start hanging around the "wrong" kids in high school? The ones who fight, skip school, drink, smoke, and use drugs? Will our kids act out, too? And if they do, how will it affect them as young adults? Can they succeed academically despite their "problem" behaviors in high school?

What is the relationship between academic success and substance use behaviors?

Read the Review

Cigarettes, Booze, Drugs, and the Honor Roll (?)
By Liz Sale
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(11)

Comments

[Randall Flanery]

The question of what happens if teens hang out with the wrong crowd is one that most parents worry about. The review and the book offer the somewhat reassuring view that children who suceed academically early in school are likely to survive substance use experimentation during high school. However, the same parental influences that foster early academic success, e.g. high involvement by parents, monitoring of homework, good attendance, also come into play regarding substance use. Parents who are involved, monitor their teens behavior and whereabouts, and especially who they are hanging out with will also be aware of peers who might be encouraging substance use. This happens in part because involved parents will attempt to influence who their child spends time with, which might account for the less than expected impact of substance use during adolescence.