I'm going to share a bit of parenting advice from my own father that worked wonders: he threatened my life. Seriously. "If you ever touch drugs or a drop of al

I'm going to share a bit of parenting advice from my own father that worked wonders: he threatened my life. Seriously. "If you ever touch drugs or a drop of alcohol I will take your life with my own two hands." He stared into my eyes and said that with a ferocity I didn't dare challenge (if I recall I was in the 10-11 range). I didn't touch a thing until college and despite a brief "binge" phase then, I still don't do much of anything save for the rare occasion (in my 30's now). In short: don't think so helplessly. You can have a serious impact on your kids avoidance of negative stuff. Especially if you explain "why."