Monitor Your Kids Internet Use
Many web sites and online communities promote the abuse of dextromethorphan-containing cough medicines. Social networking sites such as MySpace, YouTube, LiveJournal, and Facebook are filled with detailed instructions, user conversations, and videos of kids abusing cough medicine. Users blog and post videos about specific plans to abuse cough medicine, and even describe the effects. Through these outlets and others, kids can compare notes and exchange approaches to abusing these products. There also are a number of sites that provide detailed instructions on how to abuse cough medicine.
In the case of raw dextromethorphan, the frightening reality is that kids can log on to a host of sites, purchase large amounts of the pure ingredient with only a credit card and a shipping address, and receive the drug in its unfinished form at their doorstep—your doorstep. The people who allow these sales are a new breed of Internet predator, out to make money, with no consideration of the dangers their sites pose to our kids. There simply is no good reason to allow teens or anyone else to have this raw ingredient.
Tips to monitor your kids online.
- Make sure that your children are never online without your permission.
- Be clear with your kids about your rules on Internet use at home and outside of the home.
- Place your computer in an area of the house where you can easily supervise their Internet activity.
- Ask your children about who they talk to and what activities they do online.
- Use parental filters to block access to questionable sites.
- Build an open and trusting relationship with your kids about their online use.
