What you have to do when talking to parents depends a lot on the attitude they have going in to it. It also depends a lot on the kind of relationship you have with your parents. You can only ever hope to rationalize it with them if you are both talking on a rational, adult level. Too many kids have a relationship with their parents which involves their parent simply being the ??boss?, the one who sets the rules, the one who deals out punishment. These parents are used to making decisions for their children as opposed to with their children. Your parents are going to have to have enough trust in you to respect the decision that you have made. If they don??t trust you, then showing them websites or documents or other ??proof? isn??t going to mean anything to them.

The first thing you need to do is change the atmosphere of the discussion toward one that works in your favor. You will never win a discussion that is happening within the context of a parent disciplining their child. You need to change the atmosphere in to one which allows for discussion, one where your parent is actually willing to listen to what you have to say. You do this by maintaining the moral high ground at all times. Chances are that they are going to start things off with the negative connotation of you as a ??drug user?, something which perhaps in their mind is permanently cemented as a ??bad thing?. Do not attack that at first. You can begin to shift the discussion by presenting reasonable requests that will only allow for a Yes answer from them. Example: ??Father, I would like this to be a mature discussion, devoid of emotion, and one which will allow us to come to a consensus on this issue; is that reasonable??. If they raise their voice, become emotional, or if they simply begin to stop listening to you, you need to point that out, again doing it in such a way that reinforces the fact that YOU are trying to have a mature discussion about the issue.

If it becomes an argument, you lose.

If it becomes emotional, you lose.

If you raise you voice or become aggressive in any way, you lose.

The fact of the matter is that if you keep your shit together, and present your argument calmly and reasonably, it will make it harder for them to simply ??punish? you then move on. If they are not willing to partake in a reasonable, mature discussion, then they become the ??bad guy?. Even if things don??t go your way initially, just remember to stay cool and let them know that you are only willing to talk if they are willing to listen.