Home Team - Activities to develop youth and build strong families.

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PURPOSE: To help the children understand that drugs can be used in both beneficial and harmful ways.

 

Materials:

 

Prescriptions, and over the counter drugs in your home.

Instructions:

 

1. Go on a medicine hunt in your house. Find all the medicines and put them on a table.

 

2. Discuss

• How many medicines did you find in your home?
• What are some of the medicines that you found?
• Did you find any medicines that weren’t carefully sealed? If so, what did you and the adult that was helping you do about it?
• Did you find any medicines in places where small children could find them? If so, what did you do about it?

 

Drugs are used in many ways and for many reasons. Talk about some of the ways people use them.

• As medicine to fight illness or control some medical conditions
• In alcoholic drinks
• In cigarettes or other smoking materials

When drugs are used as medicine, we take them to make us feel better. For example, we use them to fight germs that make us sick. Talk about good ways we use drugs.

• To reduce fever and make us feel more comfortable when we have colds or flu
• To fight infection when we get a bad cut in an accident
• To control diabetes or epilepsy

Have you ever taken medicine for a fever, sore throat, or an upset stomach? Where did your medicine come from? (The answer should be a discount or grocery store or a pharmacy.)

Has anyone ever had surgery? What was the reason? (Answer might include appendix or tonsils removed.)

Were you asleep when you had surgery? If you were, a licensed physician gave you a drug that let you sleep through the whole operation. That’s an example of a good use for drugs.

 

 Sometimes, even when a drug is properly prescribe’~i, there may be some risks. Has anyone ever had an allergic reaction to a medicine? Or do you know someone who has had an allergic reaction?

What happened? What was the medicine that caused the reaction?

If no one has an example, mention a fairly common reaction, like hives caused by penicillin.

It’s important to know if you have a drug allergy. You may even want to wear a bracelet that would tell anyone who treats you in an emergency not to give you that drug.

People can be harmed by taking an overdose of a prescribed medicine. That’s why you should keep a careful record of when you take medication so you won’t accidentally take an extra dose.

Some drugs can act like a poison if you combine them with other drugs, like alcohol. Discuss some ways that drugs can be abused.

Answers may include these:

• You’re abusing drugs if you take someone else’s medicine.
• You’re abusing drugs if you take them without permission and supervision from your parents or your doctor.
• You’re abusing drugs if you mix them without being sure they aren’t harmful when they’re combined.
• You’re abusing drugs if you take illegal drugs.

People abuse drugs for many reason, and the drugs they abuse may be prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, or illegal drugs.

Bring out these points:

• Drugs make them feel good.
• They want to experiment.
• They want to escape from their problems.
• They feel grown-up when they take drugs.
• Their peers tell them everyone does it.
• They think it makes people think they’re cool.
• It’s easy to get drugs.
• It’s exciting to take the risk.

How do you feel about each of these statements? Do you think that these are the real reasons?

End the discussion by letting your child know that there are many different reasons people give for abusing drugs, but whatever the reason, it’s unhealthy.

3.    Make sure all the medicines are sealed, are up to date and are returned to a safe place.

 

 

 

Home Team - Activities to develop youth and build strong families.

Back

PURPOSE: To help the children understand that drugs can be used in both beneficial and harmful ways.

 

Materials:

 

Prescriptions, and over the counter drugs in your home.

Instructions:

 

1. Go on a medicine hunt in your house. Find all the medicines and put them on a table.

 

2. Discuss

• How many medicines did you find in your home?
• What are some of the medicines that you found?
• Did you find any medicines that weren’t carefully sealed? If so, what did you and the adult that was helping you do about it?
• Did you find any medicines in places where small children could find them? If so, what did you do about it?

 

Drugs are used in many ways and for many reasons. Talk about some of the ways people use them.

• As medicine to fight illness or control some medical conditions
• In alcoholic drinks
• In cigarettes or other smoking materials

When drugs are used as medicine, we take them to make us feel better. For example, we use them to fight germs that make us sick. Talk about good ways we use drugs.

• To reduce fever and make us feel more comfortable when we have colds or flu
• To fight infection when we get a bad cut in an accident
• To control diabetes or epilepsy

Have you ever taken medicine for a fever, sore throat, or an upset stomach? Where did your medicine come from? (The answer should be a discount or grocery store or a pharmacy.)

Has anyone ever had surgery? What was the reason? (Answer might include appendix or tonsils removed.)

Were you asleep when you had surgery? If you were, a licensed physician gave you a drug that let you sleep through the whole operation. That’s an example of a good use for drugs.

 

 Sometimes, even when a drug is properly prescribe’~i, there may be some risks. Has anyone ever had an allergic reaction to a medicine? Or do you know someone who has had an allergic reaction?

What happened? What was the medicine that caused the reaction?

If no one has an example, mention a fairly common reaction, like hives caused by penicillin.

It’s important to know if you have a drug allergy. You may even want to wear a bracelet that would tell anyone who treats you in an emergency not to give you that drug.

People can be harmed by taking an overdose of a prescribed medicine. That’s why you should keep a careful record of when you take medication so you won’t accidentally take an extra dose.

Some drugs can act like a poison if you combine them with other drugs, like alcohol. Discuss some ways that drugs can be abused.

Answers may include these:

• You’re abusing drugs if you take someone else’s medicine.
• You’re abusing drugs if you take them without permission and supervision from your parents or your doctor.
• You’re abusing drugs if you mix them without being sure they aren’t harmful when they’re combined.
• You’re abusing drugs if you take illegal drugs.

People abuse drugs for many reason, and the drugs they abuse may be prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, or illegal drugs.

Bring out these points:

• Drugs make them feel good.
• They want to experiment.
• They want to escape from their problems.
• They feel grown-up when they take drugs.
• Their peers tell them everyone does it.
• They think it makes people think they’re cool.
• It’s easy to get drugs.
• It’s exciting to take the risk.

How do you feel about each of these statements? Do you think that these are the real reasons?

End the discussion by letting your child know that there are many different reasons people give for abusing drugs, but whatever the reason, it’s unhealthy.

3.    Make sure all the medicines are sealed, are up to date and are returned to a safe place.