SPEAKER 1

9.1. She encourages parents to speak to their children about drugs because
A. otherwise children may be falsely accused.
B. children should know their parents will help them in need.
C. children may feel alienated.
D. conversation is easier before any problems arise.

9.2. During conversation with their child parents should
A. allow the child to speak.
B. not make any comments at all.
C. evaluate everything the child says.
D. talk for a long time.

SPEAKER 2
9.3. Teenagers who refrain from taking drugs do so because they are afraid of
A. going to jail.
B. getting thrown out of school.
C. letting their parents down.
D. talking to their parents.

SPEAKER 3
9.4. If parents don’t want their children to take drugs, they
A. should follow others’ example.
B. shouldn’t be physically weak.
C. should be spiritually weak.
D. shouldn’t do it themselves.

SPEAKER 4
9.5. The speaker used to
A. take various drugs in the ‘60s.
B. have problems with drinking.
C. give lessons to his children.
D. be sensitive to hypocrisy.

9.6. Nowadays he
A. disapproves of penalising marijuana users.
B. fights against liquor and tobacco lobbies.
C. prefers smoking to alcohol.
D. strongly supports marijuana users.

ANNOUNCER:

With the number of teenagers using marijuana on the rise, we asked some well-known experts and parents to answer the question, „What do you tell children about smoking marijuana?”

SPEAKER NO 1:
Joycelyn Elders – former U.S. Surgeon General. Trust me, nothing jolts a parent’s nervous system more than the thought that his or her child may be using drugs. Even when suspicious, parents are often afraid to ask. Will we alienate our children by accusing them falsely? Yet if we don’t speak to them, how will they know that we are beside them if they need our help? Make your first communication with your child about drugs a good one because you may not get another chance. Make an appointment. Let your child talk. Listen for a long time. Then when you do comment, don’t be judgmental. If your child indicates that he or she is using drugs or might consider doing so, take several deep breaths. Remember, your goal is not to change your child’s behavior because that is impossible. Your goal is to encourage and guide your child into changing his or her own behavior.

SPEAKER NO 2:
Stephen Daniels, Partnership for a Drug-Free America. What we have seen in our annual national research, which surveys more than 10,000 teens and parents, is that the No. 1 risk kids see in drugs is not dying or going to jail or getting thrown out of school. The No. 1 risk for kids – and this has been consistent for 10 years – is disappointing their mothers and fathers. Parents will find that hard to believe because they think, „It goes in one ear and out the other ear.” What I’m saying is not feel-good advice. Kids who report having parents who talk to them frequently have lower experimentation rates with drugs.

SPEAKER NO 3:
Frances Graham, Evangelist and mother of three sons and a daughter. I think all of us know drugs are physically harmful, but there is another side to that notion because we are spiritual beings. Drugs are spiritually destructive. People who use drugs are weakened physically and they are weakened spiritually. It’s hard if parents are taking drugs themselves or getting drunk. Kids respond, „If you do it, why can’t we?” Parents must set the example. That’s what’s missing, the will to set an example.

SPEAKER NO 4:
Tom Hayden, California State Senator and father of two children. I didn’t smoke much marijuana in the ’60s. My addiction was alcohol, which was approved by the same Establishment that was bent on criminalizing marijuana. My kids saw that, and they developed an acute sensitivity to hypocrisy. It took me many years to stop drinking and live without such addictions. When I did, that was a better lesson than any words I could have preached to them. But this experience hardly makes me a neo-Puritan supporter of the continuing war against marijuana users. It’s despicable to criminalize and imprison thousands for marijuana possession, while the liquor and tobacco lobbies are destroying so many lives.

Adapted from www.time.com