Stefon Humphrey, alcohol and other drug coordinator for the Brooklyn School District in Lovejoy, Illinois, talks about how young children often are negatively influenced by the actions and attitudes of family members who indulge in ATOD use. Excerpted from the audio series Voices: The Midwest Audio Network for Drug-Free Schools and Communities, volume #1 (Midwest Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities, 1991).
"Kindergarten students are very influenced by older students. Well of course they see their parents or uncles and aunts doing the actual drugs, so they're coming to school not knowing that these are things that you're not to experiment with, and they're saying things like 'well, my mother smokes marijuana' or 'my brother does this', and they seem to think that it's okay because of course their family is not shielding them from those things, and most of the kids just don't know this yet. We don't want them to think that oh that's okay, that's okay for society to do, so therefore I can do it. We don't want them to get the wrong impression."
Date posted: 1996