Kids and Compressed Air–They’ll Huff and Puff, and Then What?

Parents, you may already be aware of the latest deadly household implement kids are using to get high. It’s the compressed air used for cleaning computer keyboards.

I got an e-mail forward a while back about the son of a narcotics agent who died with the nozzle in his mouth. He was 12. He’d been taught better. His dad had a trained drug dog who lived with the family and drug prevention was a huge part of their lives.

Just yesterday I heard about some pre-teen girls in my area who are using this stuff. Kids tell on each other for sure. The problem is you can’t tell if the ones telling are doing too. I was as guilty as any other parent of the “not- my-kid” thinking. “My kid tells me everything. My kid knows better and I’m sure he’s not doing anything like that.” That kind of thinking will get you and your kid into big trouble.

As soon as you start hearing about the friends doing things they shouldn’t be doing, the friends should go. I don’t buy the philosophy that you can’t pick your kids’ friends. My parents picked mine. If they didn’t approve of a person who seemed wild or wasn’t properly supervised, that person was out of my life. My parents sure made it look easy.

When I got to that point with my son, I let guilt overrule common sense. I doubted myself, thought I was being too harsh and too judgmental. My son’s choice of friends, and choices in general, have cost him his freedom and, at times, his sanity–most assuredly his happiness.

Trust me the signs are there early enough. Sullen attitudes, lack of interest in anything productive or worthwhile, staying up all night and sleeping all day. Since when are kids allowed to be up communicating with others until 3am on a regular basis? In my day (oh my God, no I did not just use that phrase) that time frame was reserved for slumber parties, and not weekly ones. Now it’s commonplace.

These kids are never, ever alone. How are they supposed to develop individual personalities when they are never by themselves? Every weekend it’s sleepover time. And, the way I hear it, the word sleep should just be removed. None of that’s going on. The rest of the time, it’s MySpace and instant messaging until all hours. After a while, surely, they all just sort of blend into a herd–without character and clueless to their own moral compass.

Without being too preachy, I feel the need to remind other parents to pay close attention, maintain or regain control, and don’t be persuaded the wrong way by manipulative children. They are ALL masters at it. I let it happen and I wish I hadn’t.