Five Ways Parents Can Reduce Teen Risk

The risk that teens will smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs increases sharply if they are highly stressed, frequently bored or have substantial amounts of spending money, according to a survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. What can parents do?

According to CASA, here are five things that parents can do to reduce the risk that their teens will smoke, drink or drug:

• Be sensitive to the stress in your children's lives and help them cope.
• Understand when and why your children are bored and help relieve their boredom.
• Limit the amount of money your children have to spend and monitor how that money is spent.
• Know who your children's friends are.
• Be engaged in your children's lives: help them with their homework, attend their sports events, participate in activities together, and talk to them about drugs.

More: Teen Pitfalls - Stress, Boredom, Extra Money