Alcohol, Drugs & Your Kids

A Message from the Founder of The Right Start to College Parents

Having sent my two sons to college a few years back, I know some of what you are feeling as you prepare to send the most precious thing in your life off to what will surely be the start of adulthood. This moment is what you and your sons and daughters have been working toward and dreaming about. High school years had highs and lows and were fraught with challenges. The college adventure has one major difference: you aren’t going with them! That is a huge game changer for everyone concerned.

I know that you think they are ready and they think they are ready, but somewhere in the back of both their minds and yours are a few questions.

Your Questions:

• Will they make new friends quickly and will they be the right ones?
• Will they work hard and achieve as you expect them to?
• Will a professor, coach or someone at their school take a special interest, inspire and mentor them?
• Will they meet the love of their life and will you be happy with their choice?
• Will they stand up to eventual peer pressure and make good choices about drug use and alcohol abuse?
• Will they find their way through a maze of opportunities and emerge prepared to take on the world outside academia?

Their Questions:

• Will I be accepted and invited to the party? Will they think I’m cool? Am I cool?
• Will college be much harder than I expect and will I be able to keep up?
• Can I work hard and still have fun?
• Who can I turn to for help if I need it?
• Will I meet someone to date and what will the expectations of college dating include?
• I know I will be expected to use drugs and abuse alcohol but will I be able to find a way out? What excuse can I give that won’t make me seem like a goodie goodie?
• Will I be able to make it all the way through and get a good job while having the time of my life?

Your questions and theirs are pretty much the same. What will your child decide to do when push come to shove?

Oh my goodness! What if they need me and I am not there?

Oh my goodness! Where are mom and dad when I need them?

No matter how confident everyone is there are always underlying questions when facing anything new. I think most of these questions will be answered at least in part during that all important freshman year. The right start is always critical in anything attempted and it may be more important in college than at any other time. That is exactly the idea behind The Right Start! This collegiate substance abuse protection program uses real accountability supported by the most powerful science of its kind in the world to answer the one question that has direct influence on all the other questions.

Real accountability works 99% of the time without taking away free will. If someone who cares about you will know for certain if you make a bad choice, we all, young and old, simply make a good decision the vast majority of the time. This program also provides a bit of insurance for the huge investment of heart and treasure made when sending a student off to college. The Right Start provides invaluable information and peace of mind to parents and a defense against peer pressure to participate in behaviors that have derailed many a promising freshman year and future.

Where was The Right Start when my boys were in college? Had we had a college drug use and alcohol abuse protection program, Suzanne, both of our boys and I would have slept so much better all four years. I can imagine young college freshmen at their first collegiate party being passed a joint or a drink with everyone looking on with anticipation. With the knowledge that you will know if they make the wrong decision they simply make a good decision and decline the offer. They may even blame their decision on you and The Right Start. In doing so you have provided a socially acceptable excuse that leads to a good decision and that is what you are looking for. I can even see a classmate asking your freshman where to get The Right Start so he could use that same out.

I don’t think our students need more than a little help on occasion to make good decisions about college drug use and alcohol abuse. The Right Start has the power to stop a bad choice that could endanger their health, align them with the wrong group of friends, rob them of their bright futures or even take their lives. You and only you get the confidential information and can then have a private conversation in your own home about any issues or celebrate the right start to a great college experience.

I repeatedly hear parents confess “If I had only known.” This was the origin of The Right Start, our college substance abuse prevention program. Now there is a way to have the confidential information needed to step in and solve any addiction or dependency problems before they become a lifelong issue. Please tell your friends about this powerful health, future, family and life saving program.

God Bless!

Dr. George B. Elder
Founder of Right Start and Secure Test Results