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Becky Dyer

Mother of 6-year-old
Deputy Sheriff/Former D.A.R.E. Officer
Hutchinson, Kansas

I have the great opportunity to speak with kids on a daily basis about the dangers of drug abuse. But so often it's hard to reach the parents, so when I heard about the campaign, I realized this is more of an educational awareness campaign for parents, I definitely wanted to get involved.

 Probably the lack of knowledge that parents have that this abuse actually occurs. I know I was rather surprised of the number of kids that were doing this.

 So, that's been a big surprise that, you know, a lot of parents know about the illegal drugs, but they didn't know what signs to look for, how to even talk to their kids about the abuse, so that's been a big surprise to me.

 So, talk to your kids. You need to educate yourself first and then share that knowledge with your teenagers, even talk to grandmas and grandpas about this kind of abuse. But talking to your kids is so important, because they look up to you. You talk to them them they're 50% less likely to use drugs at all. So that is a huge step to preventing cough medicine abuse in your own home.

 No, our online website has been successful. I would say just keep doing what we're doing. Try to get more involved locally, in our own communities. Sponsor more town hall meetings.

 Just keep spreading that word because even though the actual activity, from studies, is not rising, but it's also really not lowering either. So we know that's still occurring. We hear about it every once in a while on the news.

 I think this is a behavior that definitely flies under under the radar, and it's not detected by law enforcement or parents. So just keep educating our neighbors, our friends that we go to church with, PTO groups.

 Just keep spreading that word, because the more and more everyone is educated and is aware, then eventually this problem will no longer exist.

As a former D.A.R.E. and school resource officer in Reno County, Kansas, I am out every day in my community—particularly at schools—working to prevent substance abuse. When I heard about the Five Moms Campaign, I was inspired to raise awareness about this problem among teenagers. Cough medicine abuse is something people don’t really know about or ever think would be a problem, and I want parents to know that it can be just as dangerous and prominent as other drugs.

There was one other inspiration that made me decide to be a part of the Five Moms Campaign: my adopted son. My son is six, and has had a difficult life full of changes. He is a little behind in learning and is just starting to make progress. I will do everything in my power to make sure that as he grows older, he is able to catch up in school and graduate without any setbacks, especially something like cough medicine abuse.

As I watch my son grow, so do the dreams I have for him. And, those dreams don’t include doing drugs. To help build those dreams, I try to spend as much quality time with my son as possible. We enjoy swimming, camping, playing at the park, and taking walks in the summertime. And as he gets older, having conversations about the dangers of cough medicine abuse and other drug abuse will certainly be a part of our “fun” time together.

Working as a school resource officer, I have the opportunity to teach kids about the dangers of drugs. It’s a great feeling to know that at the end of the day, I might have convinced at least one kid that it’s not worth destroying his or her life with drugs. But my influence can only go so far. Parents have to do their part at home for the message to really get through.

This campaign is my opportunity to reach out to parents. You can make sure that what your child learns from D.A.R.E. and other programs doesn’t stay at school. And make sure that what you learn about cough medicine abuse doesn’t stay with you. Share it with your kids. There are many worries in today’s world that we can’t control. But this—cough medicine abuse—is something that you can help protect your children from. It’s something you can control.