You Have a Right to Snoop

As a parent, you have an obligation to be vigilant if you believe your teen is abusing drugs or alcohol.

As the parent of a teen, you have every right to be concerned about your child’s potential drug use. After all, you care about your son or daughter and don’t want to see them making the types of mistakes which could limit their potential and cause them to wind up in drug and alcohol rehab. All of which leads to an important question: should you snoop on your kids?

Some parents believe that their children deserve the same amount of privacy that they have; others think that they should only snoop and look in their room and other places if they have reason to suspect their child is using drugs or alcohol and might be on the road to addiction treatment.

However, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America takes a different view. They feel that parents need to change their mindsets on the subject: instead of thinking of it as “snooping” they should be thinking that they are helping their children make smart choices in order to stay out of an addiction treatment program. Trying to respect the privacy of your child could come at the risk of their health and well-being — especially when it comes to experimentation with drugs and alcohol which could turn into a serious problem that requires drug rehab if not caught early.

If your son or daughter is exhibiting the warning signs of drug or alcohol abuse, it’s important to be proactive and not wait until the problem requires help in an addiction program. These warning signs could include disciplinary problems, poor school performance, a change in social groups or withdrawing from the family. Many teens will try to restrict access to their rooms and personal space — that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a right to know what’s going on.

You can choose to conduct your searches in private or let your son or daughter know what is going on. Either way, you should be prepared to talk to your child about why you are concerned about their behavior and your concerns about drug and alcohol use. Unfortunately, drug rehab centers are filled with teens whose parents didn’t care enough to find out what they were doing behind closed doors.