DARE Parenting 101

Last night while Laura had clients at the massage clinic, my youngest was happily playing by himself with a plethora of toys leaving me to watch a little tube with the 9 & 11 year olds. While scanning the channels, I came across "Intervention" on the A&E network.

I like the show, but I thought it might be a bit much for the kids. However, this show was about a kid just out of high school who had seemingly been through the whole range of emotions growing up: Dad was an alcoholic and not in the picture, rowdy uncontrollable kid, high school jock, and now meth addict. I decided to go ahead and watch it with the kids and discuss it during commercial break. It was impressive to see them get what was going on. They could actually see what the kid was not just doing to himself, but the effect it had on the family as well.

As a "prude" who hasn't even smoked a cigarette in my life, let alone anything illegal, I worry about my kids making the right choices growing up. Programs like DARE are a wonderful thing and a necessity to hopefully show kids the dangers out there. However, there was something about the Intervention show that really seemed to hit home with them. Seeing how a young life was being ruined along with their family made an impact on them that I hope they take with them for a long time.

Not all Cable TV is evil I guess....