This is an interview with Kim Box of Parent Pathway.
Parent Pathway has recently released their documentary, Collision Course. Be sure to watch Collision Course and share it with your family.
Please introduce yourself for readers that don’t know you.
I am the Co-founder and President of Parent Pathway, LLC. I am passionate about awareness and prevention of teen substance abuse and addiction. I am also passionate about helping parents who have a child or any loved one who is struggling with substance abuse.
It affects so many young people who begin with recreational ‘partying’ with their friends and end up with the disease of addiction. This is one disease that is completely preventable; young people and their parents need to know the consequence of substance abuse.
Tell us about Parent Pathway and why did you start the website?
Parent Pathway has been created for parents by parents to find a place to get answers, a sense of community, and hope for their loved ones and themselves. We realized the need for this service by seeing what was happening in our communities and families and we also realized that it was difficult to get information to help parents in their time of need.
When you realize that your child has gone past the point of experimental substance use and into a serious problem with drugs and alcohol it is difficult to know what to do. It is not a situation that many parents feel compelled to share with their friends and family, it can be very lonely and filled with fear.
My partners and I decided that we would create a website to help parents navigate through this difficult situation with their loved one. Our goal is that they find the website and instantly realize that they are not alone and others are here to help.
What is Meetings in a Box? Who would benefit from these meetings?
Meetings in a Box are a guide to have a meeting with a group of parents or to do as an individual to help support them through their journey of a loved one struggling with addiction. Each Meeting in a Box is a topic with a description, relevant quotes, music, books and then an exercise to explore the topic and learn how to work through it.
An example of some of the topics are; Denial, Hope, Fear, Boundaries, Gratitude, Trust, and many more. These are topics are typical for overcoming co-dependent and enabling behaviors as well as taking care of ourselves. Meetings in a Box is a very innovative service to help parents cope and move forward in their journey.
What are some of the common drugs that seem to be abused in the Sacramento area?
I believe the Sacramento area is very similar to many other areas. We have seen an extreme surge in prescription drug abuse. Pain killers like Oxycontin, Vicodin, Norco and many others are very expensive on the street which leads those addicted to these opiate based drugs to use heroin because it is much less expensive and the same high.
Alcohol continues to be a huge issue. We are seeing young people binge drinking in middle school, high school and college leading to death in some cases. Even with awareness around drinking and driving, there are still high numbers of young people abusing alcohol and suffering the consequences which can ultimately lead to alcoholism.
You also speak to parent groups in your area. What is your message for parents and how can they help prevent their children from becoming addicted to drugs?
Our message is simply that abusing drugs and alcohol at a young age can have immediate and long term consequences. The adolescent brain continues to develop until the age of 25. By using substances, you are altering the chemistry of the brain and have a very high probability of developing the disease of addiction of which there is no cure.
Ninety percent of all adults who have the disease of addiction began abusing substances before the age of 18. After the age of 18 the probability of the disease of addiction is one in 25. Parents need to understand this and help their child stay safe and away from abusing substances.
We encourage parents to get educated on how substance abuse affects their child and encourage them to talk early and often to their children so they can make good choices. We encourage parents to keep prescription drugs locked up to prevent easy access.
Where do you go from here? What are your dreams for the future?
Our goal is to get as much visibility to Parent Pathway so that parents can get the help and support they need. It is such a difficult situation to discover your child has a serious problem with drugs and alcohol.
We want parents to easily find our site and know there are others that have traveled this path and will be there to support them. My ultimate dream is that there is enough awareness and education to parents and young teens that we turn this growing epidemic of addiction around and see it rapidly decline.
That would result in not having a need for Parent Pathway. But until then, we will be there help parents navigate through their journey.
Are you a parent who is concerned about your teen? What can we do to prevent teen substance abuse? If you have any questions or if there is something I can help you with, please feel free to contact me through the contact form. I would love to hear from you.
