Quote Originally Posted by afghooey
You have a lucky kid, Junkyard. I don't doubt that he'll respect you more in the long run for being open with him about subjects like this.
Thanks, afghooey. I remember the time I came to my dad about drugs, and you know what he told me?
He said, "If you ever get involved with drugs, I'll beat you!" That's it, no info, no talk.. ..just a threat of violence, lol! You know what I did? I gave him a big FUCK YOU and tried everything I could get my hands on just for spite. I ended up in jail a few times, and developed a bad powder addiction.

I regret it now because he (My dad) has disowned me, AND his grandson, but you learn from your mistakes, and from the mistakes of others. I swore to myself that I'd never be like my father, and that Id be a guide instead of a power tripping over zealous uninformed POS like my dad was.

My son called him the other day, and my dad wouldn't even talk to him. It was Christmas for Gods sake, and my dad, because of me wouldn't even allow my son the pleasure of wishing him a merry christmas.

Sad stuff, man!

I had some guidance from an older cousin of mine about weed and other drugs when I was about your son's age (maybe a little older), and I have to say if I hadn't had any sort of guidance outside of D.A.R.E. (ha ha), I quite possibly would have gone on to do harder drugs than weed, just out of the same curiosity that got me to try marijuana (IMO, the frame of mind comes before the drug, and the gateway theory is a crock). Thanks to having a dependable mentor and places like Erowid, I've been able to educate myself and make responsible decisions about what I put into my body.
I had absoluely no guidence whatsoever, and you see what I did, lo! I think it's important to be a teacher, and lead instead allowing kids to simply discover. Children need guidence pure and simple, they need someone open minded and honest, too. I worked with troubled kids for several years, and learned a great deal during this time. We had atleast one 3 hour class every week where they would teach us to utilize trust, and compassion, and tolerance.

These kids were beaten by their parents, and abused in ways you couldn't imagine. It would take years sometimes just to get a trust relationship established with them, and when they finally came to grips with reality, started trusting adults again, we'd ship them off to go live on their own, or in some foster home with complete strangers. I loved that job, but I couldn't handle it when these kids were shipped off somewhere else. It broke my heart, ghooey! I ended up quiting the job, and I started driving a cab, lol!

The point I'm trying to make, is it wasn't until my later years that I myself was guided, and that I learned about developing trust foundations. Trust is an amazing thing when utilized appropriatly. I think parents should consider this before their children get old enough to ask the hard questions.

I totally agree with you that parents should be honest with their kids, and not brush them off or lie to them to keep them from trying pot, or anything for that matter. Even if you lie to your child with 100% good intentions, when they find out (and chances are they will) they'll probably lose a considerable amount of respect for you, and possibly do worse things just to spite you, or to find out by experimentation whether they've been lied to about other things.

^^You nailed it afghooey!^^ Even so, I'm not ready to let my kid know that I smoke MJ. When he's older, after he's done his fair share of research, and is able to keep things quite, Ill confess, but until then, it's hush hush.


Junk~