As a Certified Prevention Specialist for Wasco County, I am often asked at what age should a parent start talking to their child about the risks of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. My answer to that question has dramatically changed over the last several years and it has to do with a combination of 6 letters . . . SEL and ACEs.
SEL stands for Social Emotional Learning and ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. These two acronyms are receiving attention individually but YouthThink believes that the real power is in connecting them through awareness, education, and action.
When you team SEL and ACEs together there is the potential to create a magical word known as RESILIENCE. I love this word and love to think of it as the “bounce back effect.” But what does this all have to do with my original question, when do you start talking to your child about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs? My answer, the sooner the better but don’t stay focused on talking about risky substances and instead focus on building resiliency within yourself and child.
[For more of this story, written by Debby Jones, go to http://traumainformedoregon.or...od-experiences-aces/]
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