Category Archives: Cause & Effect

As the mother of a six-year-old, I worry about the future.  I worry what will happen when my husband and I are not around to ensure Dominic is safe from anything and everything that could happen to him.  But as he gets older, I know we can’t always be there, so I need to make sure that we are having that open dialogue about being aware of his surroundings and other people.

I saw a short film recently called If Only, presented by The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation and Millennium Health as a part of the Drop Them Off campaign.  The film depicts the dangers of teens using and abusing prescription drugs they are sharing with each other that are either prescribed directly to them, or prescribed to their parents.

After seeing the short but poingant film, I realized that taking precautions are just the start.  Although the film is directed towards teens, it made me realize that I need have this conversation early.  I know my parents spoke to me about a few things when my sister and I were young, things that they wanted to caution us of what’s out there.  But in this new world of social media, easy access and fast information, Dominic could see something or hear something at any moment, without our ability to control or interpret the message.

Dominic knows that he takes his vitamins twice a day to ensure he stays healthy.  He also knows that occasionally he needs to take medication when he is ill or if he has an injury.  He also sees me and my husband take medications that are prescribed directly to us to “help” us in some way, even if he doesn’t know the exact reason why…but can I be sure he knows absolutely that taking medication from others is not safe?  What if someone tells him, “I take it all the time, it won’t harm you”?

Prescription drugs are dangerously easy to acquire and share, which is why my husband and I take care to place medications out of our son’s reach and properly dispose of medications and medical supplies, such expired medicines or my mother’s insulin syringes.  But as Dominic gets older, I realize that we need to take even more care to properly lock up our prescription medications, as well as over-the-counter ones like analgesics and allergy medications.

As parents, we can start this dialogue early.  We need to remember to talk to our kids, and be open with them.  My husband and I see how much we influence Dominic in the things he says and his reactions to situations.  We know he’s listening, so we take the time to sit down and discuss situations immediately as they happen, then we check his understanding by asking him probing questions or have him interpret his understanding.  Children absorb information like sponges, and the more we arm them with the correct information, the better off they are in making more of the right decisions, as well as having the confidence to voice their concerns.

Click here to register to view and download the powerful short film, If Only.

FTC Disclosure:  I am an employee of Millennium Health.  Although I am an employee of Millennium Health, I was not compensated for this post, I was not asked to post about this subject (I am posting this as a concerned parent), and the opinions in this post are strictly my own.