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lncluded in God's purpose for
humankind is the way of life God
intends humans to follow. That way
of life is outlined
in
the Ten Com–
mandments.
lt
doesn' t include a
drug-oriented life-style. Children
should be taught this.
Armed Against Drugs
Fortified with the teaching that a
great Creator God does indeed exist,
come to the conclusion that they
care about the child's drug ingestion
- that is, they consider on either
moral or social or health grounds
that they don't want tbeir child
smoking grass or getting drunk -
then they very clearly have to start
about the age of two or three, teach–
ing children very firrnly.
lt
isn't
something a child is to make up his
own mind about any more than he
is to make up bis own mind about
touching a hot stove, drinking lye,
or standing in front of a locomotive.
At a very early age, certainly up to
the age of ten or twelve, he has to be
told, and absolutely.
If at sorne point he asks for a
good reason, fine, give him the rea–
son, but the age of decision does not
occur at age five or six. lt may occur
at twelve or fourteen, but only after
you're sure what the decision is go–
ing to be.
1 think the third set of features are
those which have to do with trying
to create a family atmosphere, hav–
ing all those things which we know
are characteristic of solid families -
love and humor and tolerance and
strength anda kind ofsense ofjoy.
Parents over the years have be–
come increasingly permissive be–
cause they've been told this is a
good thing to do. 1 think perhaps
they should examine sorne of the
costs of permissiveness. The data is
such to suggest that more parental
involvement and control in early de–
cision making, and more direct
guidance - I don't mean tyranny -
is worthwhile.
PlAIN TRUTH December 1973
that that God has given mankind a
purpose for life, and has ordained
that man follow the Ten Command–
ments as a way of life, children will
be better armed to fight against ever
becoming involved in today's men–
acing, beckoning drug world.
Couple that kind of teaching with
a right parental example, not only
in the area of drug use, but also in
all areas of living, plus plenty of
Q.
Is it true tbat a child would really
like to have bis parents give
him
guidance?
BLUM:
I should ask us how would
we feel if we were small and weak,
set loose in a large forest filled with
frightening animals and no way to
find water or food and someone says,
"l'mdoing this for your sake because
I want you to enjoy freedom"? Let's
say that the personwho said that to us
is an experienced woodsman with a
compass and knowledge of the terri–
tory, a big guy, armed, but he says,
"We're equal." A child is in tbe same
position. Sure, a child has to have
guides.
lt
is a frightening life other–
wise.
Q.
How mucb education about
drugs should parents see that tbeir
children have, and how much should
they know about drugs themselves?
BLUM:
We're now doing studies on
tbe evaluation of education in the
schools. 1am, myself, rather skeptical
about information giving. lf we look
at the studies, a very important work
by Piaget on the moral development
of a child, we realize for the early
years, decisions are not made on the
basis of information with regard to
abstract things - such as whether
he's going to take drugs. That's part
ofthe moral context ofthe family and
involves social approval.
Consequently, 1 would guess that
information given as such has a
small role to play until, certainly,
the rnid-teen years. The parents'
own information levels, 1 would
hope, would be reasonably in–
formed so that they would not be
parental guidance and lots
of love, and your children
will be much less likely to
grow up to write a distorted
version of the 23rd Psalm
like the girl who wrote "King
Heroin." Nor will they write
a diary like Eileen's. Their
diary will be a happy one.
Their 23rd Psalm will be the
real one.
o
anxious about things that they need
not be anxious about and alterna–
tively, so that they would be alert to
things that they should be watching.
1 would say, for instance, that
parents should know that cigarettes
cause cancer and that they should
do everything in their power to keep
their kids from smoking; and the
child's smoking behavior is partly
determined by the parent's smoking
behavior. They should know that
children reared in a home where al–
cohol is used in the borne as P" rt of
meals and so forth, wine anc beer
especially, have a very low r.sk of
alcoholism. So if there is any likeli–
hood that the child will drink, which
is true for about 95 percent of our
children, it is pmbably not so bad to
teach him how to drink moderately,
in the context of family eating and
pleasure.
Q.
In other words, parental example
is crucial.
BLUM:
Parental example is a critica!
feature. Parental exampie also
means controlling the peers, not
allowing children to select friends
who are disapproved. lf they have
exerted an example in their own
farnily,
if
they have standards of be–
havior which the child takes over as
his own, the child is unlikely to
choose peers who are questionable.
But that does not mean that the par–
ents can avoid screening. They have
to screen every important friend.
They have to know what their kids
are doing, and they have to put a lot
of energy into it. So peer control is
equally important.
o
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