1 in 5 Parents Think What They Say Has Little Influence on Their Child’s Substance Use

Parents play an important role in preventing substance use among youths. Because of this, prevention campaigns encourage parents to talk to their children about substance use. However, according to the 2004 to 2011 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 1 in 5 (22.3 percent) parents of teens aged 12 to 17 thought that what they said would have little influence on whether their child used drugs. Nearly 1 in 10 parents of teens (9.1 percent) said they did not talk to their child about the dangers of using alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs in the past year. Nonetheless, among the parents who had not talked to their child, the majority (67.7 percent) thought what they say would influence whether their child uses drugs.

acesse: http://www.samhsa.gov/data//2K13/Spotlight/Spot081-Parents.pdf