Sniffing markers...

Look up a fellow named Nes8Bit ... that will tell you all you need to know about the dangers of sniffing markers. ;)

I would say that the first thing to be doing is getting on to the teacher(s) or whomever at the school and suggest they need to teach these kids a few things. Whilst your obvious concern is for your son, it seems like such education could benefit more than just him [smile]

In retrospect, they were a bit corny, but my school (around the same sort of age) showed us a load of "edutainment" type videos teaching us that drugs were bad (etc..)

Probably best to do it in a way that your son is gonna get in trouble with his friends though.

Cheers,
Jack

You'd better off searching for information on "Glue sniffing".

How it feels about being high? Tell him he might see things that are not there, which can be very scary or sometimes pleasant(Witholding him some of the pleasantries might be a good idea. Point out it can be pleasant, but place emphasis on it being dangerous).

Till him that in 3rd world countries a lot children do it, and that they usually not get much older than 20 years, that it can cause brain damage, which makes him forget things, such as who his parents were, or how much fun he had the past day with his friends.

Don't make it sound like absolute horror, as it will draw his attention.

Toolmaker

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Original post by jollyjeffers In retrospect, they were a bit corny, but my school (around the same sort of age) showed us a load of "edutainment" type videos teaching us that drugs were bad (etc..)

Requiem for a Dream might have more effect...

One problem with the talks I had at school was that they basically just said "Drugs are bad. Don't do them." Had they actually gone into detail about what they did to you, they might have been more effective. The talk on STDs used this tactic - full colour photographic close-up slides of the various ailments just before lunch. Charming.

Try showing him a TV documentary about glue sniffing children in Sao Paolo and how these kids turn out brain damaged with only 10 years age.

I dunno about the dangers of markers but it should be about the same as glue if you consume a lot of markers :)

Tell him to stick with shrooms. Better and faster high...

OK, I wouldn't actually know that, but can you actually get high from sniffing markers? I didn't know it was possible. I though one would pass out from all the sniffing and sniffig before they could ever hope to get high.

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Original post by ktuluorion Look up a fellow named Nes8Bit ... that will tell you all you need to know about the dangers of sniffing markers. ;)

[grin]

The truth is, even if we give you the best link on the internet about the dangers of sniffing markers, relaying these facts to your son may (and usually) hit a communication gap. When a group of his friends are bagging him because he is the only one that won’t do it, it's the impulse reaction then that will make him do it. That's the fun of peer pressure.

Really, the best thing you can do is make sure your son does not hang around with the kids who are doing it. I lived with a girl for a few years who was a really nice person (Jenny), but I could always tell there was that small lack of self confidence. Literally in the space of two days, one of the girls she worked with (who was one of the hottest chicks I have seen) started getting her into taking Ecstasy, weed, drinking like crazy, snorting coke and everything else. Jenny was in such a state of 'I just so want to be like this really cool girl' she was willing to do anything to be like her. I tried talking to her many times, but it never helped.

I even did the same thing with a guy friend who I (wrongly) looked up to during school before I wised up, which is why I smoked for a few years. My sister (about 15 at the time) went through the same phase, where someone who seemed ultra cool did things like the people your son knew were doing, but she has now wised up also. During the time that you are wanting to be like these cool people you know, there is nothing your parents can say to you that can change your mind, you just have to figure it out on your own.

I would suggest restricting your son from hanging around with these people, but ONLY if you give him a reason he understands. If you say ‘do not hang out with because I say so’ it may push him to rebel and hang out with them more. If you give him a reason he understands as to why hanging out with these people, as apposed to sniffing markers, is a silly thing to do, I think he will respond a lot more.

I really do believe that the friends and the people you spend time with in school really do shape your outlook on life.

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Original post by jollyjeffers I would say that the first thing to be doing is getting on to the teacher(s) or whomever at the school and suggest they need to teach these kids a few things.[...]

I don't know about the part of the country Houdini is in, but around here students are taught about such things. The problem is that the 'drug education'(with 'drugs' covering both illegal substances and substance abuse) is basically nothing but falsehood-based FUD propoganda, and IME when the students discover this, they think that because they were misinformed, everything they've heard about 'drugs' (including the fact that they often have very negative effects) is false, which IME leads them to be more willing to try drugs than they otherwise would have been.

Be careful about checking your facts when educating your child about 'drugs'. Look up the facts before you use something you 'know' as a reason to avoid 'drugs', and make sure you didn't find 1 study that agrees with you by ignoring thousands of others that do not. While most 'drugs' are harmful (as are many legal substances when used 'correctly'), some that are illegal are not, and you'll need to find other reasons (one of which might be 'respecting the law' or somesuch) to denounce those 'drugs'.

It looks like you're already doing this, and beyond the above advice I can't really offer any help. Sorry =-/

leaglize it!!

Substitute water-based markers.

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Original post by Extrarius While most 'drugs' are harmful (as are many legal substances when used 'correctly'), some that are illegal are not

Nothing is harmless. Some drugs are less harmful than people are lead to believe, but you should precisely state what you mean under these circumstances. Even so, it's a good idea to obey the law as it usually makes life a bit easier.

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Original post by furby100 Quote: Original post by Extrarius While most 'drugs' are harmful (as are many legal substances when used 'correctly'), some that are illegal are not Nothing is harmless. Some drugs are less harmful than people are lead to believe, but you should precisely state what you mean under these circumstances. Even so, it's a good idea to obey the law as it usually makes life a bit easier.

Agreed. Even if an illegal drug isn't harmful in the traditional sense, getting kicked out of school, losing your job, or tossed in jail are pretty bad side effects of all illegal drugs.

I think that letting the teacher know is a great idea. You should try to stop this now. (Depending on where you live) He will be in jr. High next year, and if stuff like this isn't stopped, or he isn't taught why it is bad then he may get into worse drugs(and thats no good).

Inhalants

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Original post by furby100 [...]Nothing is harmless. Some drugs are less harmful than people are lead to believe, but you should precisely state what you mean under these circumstances. Even so, it's a good idea to obey the law as it usually makes life a bit easier.

I didn't say harmless, I said not harmful. To me, the connotation is different between the two. To clarify what I meant, I meant merely that according to limited research I've read, use of certain illegal substance is no more harmful than legal substances. Many legal substances (such as 'over the counter' medication) can be very dangerous if abused (used in improper amounts), just as the illegal substances I'm talking about might be. Used carefully in limited amounts, though, some illegal substances do not appear to have lasting, significant, harmful affects according to the limited meaningfull research (meaning studies using proper scientific methods) that has been done.

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Original post by the_dannobot [...]Agreed. Even if an illegal drug isn't harmful in the traditional sense, getting kicked out of school, losing your job, or tossed in jail are pretty bad side effects of all illegal drugs.

None of those are side effects of taking the drug. They're all caused directly by the law itself. Reguardless, those would be very good examples of 'other reasons' that I mentioned.

another term you can look up is "huffing".

As for their "age", 12 seems about on-mark for something like this to come up. At least, when I was 12 I knew some kids that were marker sniffing, and that was 10... erh, 11 now, bday this thursday... years ago.

colored pencils...

I'm in highschool, and know that these things go on. Really the best thing you can do is brainwash your child that he is the best, which will help because when he sees his friends doing this, he will say "oh of course, this is why they are inferior to me."

Also, hook him up with something like programming, and devote him to academics. Trust me when I say that in the majority of cases, the best of the best at a school don't do stupid stuff like sniff markers, and hanging around them only brings about positive influences.

I can't emphaisize how true this is: "Parents: the anti-drug."

it honestly won't matter what you say to him, it's all about the enviroment he's raised in and he's friends. If his friends see it as cool thiers not a damn thing you can do to change his mind. My dad encouraged me to experiment drugs, but he told me to do it in a safe enviroment. He explained to me that I can get hurt doing drugs, and that I need to do it somewhere I can't hurt my self or others.

Teach him the difference between being cool, and doing what everyone else does. What is he interested in? Sport? Computers? Engineering stuff? Tell him about some of the famous people in the field that he's interested in, and explain how they couldn't have got where they are by doing stupid stuff like sniffing markers.

Do tell him why it's bad, but don't stress the point too much - he'll believe you, but when the peer pressure hits full strength, that won't help unless you exaggerate it so much that he's overly fearful of doing that stuff (and obviously you shouldn't exaggerate this stuff). Instead, concentrate on making him understand that sniffing markers is just plain stupid, and inspiring in him the will-power to withstand any peer pressure.

You've gotta be careful how you do all this stuff of course - if you put pressure on in the wrong place, he'll understand why you're saying what you're saying, but he'll also be thinking "what does he know? everyone's doing it - if I say no, everyone'll think I'm a wuss". You somehow have to lead him to the point where he cares more about his health and his future than about pleasing others.

John B