Was thinking about way later in life when I will hopefully be a parent and this question popped into my head...

...how do you deal with drugs and alcohol concerning your child when he or she is at that stage and age in their life?

Do you let him know about the potential dangers and consequences and effects, but at the same time making sure he knows how to act properly around them when in the company of others, or alone? (No one wants to be "that guy" who is cleaner and obviously better than everyone around him at a party and lets everyone know that he is and why what they're doing is wrong and they're throwing their lives and money down the drain et cetera, you get the idea).

Do you take the freer approach and let him find out about these things on his own without a lot of jurisdiction or guidance on the subject?

Do you do your best to surround him through school(s) and neighborhood with those who you feel have similar morals to you, and live their lives along similar principles that you do, so he is exposed to things that you deem to be just dandy?

Do you sit him down for "the talk" and possibly experiment? (I know a few friends who experimented with alcohol in the company of a parent so they could test it out, see what it does, and potentially get a feel for what their "limit" is).

Here's what I tentatively think would be the route I would take when presented with this situation: I would inform my child of the potential dangers and consequences of drugs, but at the same time also be sure that he knows how to properly act and generally how to be a good human being in the presence of drugs and alcohol in the company of others (reflecting what I said in my first point about not being "that guy"). I would learn as much as I possibly could about as many drugs as possible before even attempting to lecture him on this topic if the situation arose. I would be sure that he knows of their effects and of exactly what he is getting into every time he chooses to drink or do a drug(s) either by himself or in the company of others. I can't really make decisions for him by that point in his life, and I would hope that I have instilled values in him that help him make life choices that he won't regret later on in his life. Whether that means not drinking or doing drugs, or doing a bit of each, or what have you, it is up to him by that point, but I would hope that I could provide enough guidance for him to make a decision that he feels comfortable with, regardless of what he does, based off of values, morals, and principles that I instilled in him and helped him carve out and discover for himself over the course of his life up to that point.

What say you, reddit (any parents?)

I would love comments, both positive and negative, on my thinking! This topic has been bubbling in my head for about 45 minutes now, so I thought I'd throw this out there.

Thanks for reading!