My friend Tim and I were having lunch together when he began telling me about a trend he’s been noticing among his athletes in recent years.
“Whenever they tell me they smoke pot, I know they won’t last the season.”
Tim has been coaching wrestling for the last two decades, and he has five kids of his own.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s sad,” he continued. “It’s not like most of these guys are some kind of junkies. Many of them are pretty good athletes. But as soon as they start smoking weed, they just lose all desire to finish anything. It’s just a matter of time before they quit. Happens every time.”
Whenever I have a student who is fascinated by drugs and thinks marijuana is “no big deal,” I love to introduce them to friends who have battled addiction and let them listen to their stories, stories of pain and sorrow that began with, “I thought it would be no big deal…”
So don’t be afraid of the conversation. Don’t get sucked up in arguments about whether cannabinoids may be useful for treating grandma’s symptoms. Simply reply:
“We could talk about what’s good for helping grandma feel better after her chemo treatments, or we could talk about the effects of THC on the teen brain. Which do you think is more relevant to you?”
And don’t be afraid to grab articles like this one or the ones I linked, read a paragraph after dinner and ask questions about what you read.
Or if you don’t like coming up with questions on your own, grab a resource like my new book on the subject which has ready-made discussion questions at the end of every chapter, and discuss it with your son over breakfast.
When is the last time you had this conversation with your kids?
When is the last time you invited your son to breakfast?
What are you waiting for?
This article originally appeared here.
Jonathan McKee is the author of over 20 books including the brand new The Guy’s Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices;If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller – The Guy’s Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for parents on his website TheSource4Parents.com. Jonathan, his wife, Lori, and their three kids live in California.
