Keeping Family’s Futures Bright; Diaphanous Jewels for 2013

Most perfectly, spontaneously and innocently stated by supporter, lovely Jena King, “keeping family’s futures bright” is her description of who Angels at Risk is and what Angels at Risk does.

A most diaphanous jewel.

Angels at Risk in 2013, is continuing its gracious mission and platform, which is based upon a statement as eloquent as Jena’s. Drug and alcohol prevention early on is truly and simply to keep family’s futures bright.

Baby proofing your home in the beginning of a child’s life is something everybody knows that parents and families need to do to keep their child and their family, safe as can be (cited by a sweet Brentwood School mom). We read children’s stories like “Goodnight Moon” and “Run away Bunny” and we read fairytales like “Peter Pan” and the “Wizard of Oz. Then we watch animated movies like “ET” and “StarWars” together as a family, kids and parents, to create a continuum and perspective of hope and love as everyone grows up. Drug and alcohol prevention and education is as simple and as important as that. When you keep your child safe the whole family gets to be safe. When drugs and alcohol intrudes in a child’s life, it intrudes on the family’s heart. Everybody gets hurt and love goes away.

Nobody remembers that drug and alcohol prevention is just part of the continuum of protecting and teaching all of our families and kids how to live their lives.

Starting the New Year, here are some of our most awesome drug and alcohol protective, prevention philosophies, our wish is to shine a light onto these 6 concepts below to help kids and families stay close and together:

1. Communication (Talking)
2. Connection (Time together)
3. Curfew (Time management/safety)
4. Drug Testing (Basic safety net for kids)
5. Social Media (Dangerous: 66% of teenagers reported that drug related content on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter made them want to use drugs. (cited by lead researcher at UCLA, Tran, in a study done by The Psychiatric Times)
6. Family Factor Fortunes (Viewing this as a family issue, when parents help kids, they always help themselves)

Life is a school.

Drug and alcohol use, in the beginning, should be as important as the original encounter of baby proofing and every other story along the way. People should not be fearful because there is always a rainbow at the end of every chapter. 

In closing, it would be the coolest thing if we truly believed and lived by the following quote taken from the Angels at Risk mission statement of prevention education “a happy child is a happy family and a happy family is a happy community. Every positive step that each of us takes contributes to us all.”

“Keeping family's futures bright”, A most diaphanous jewel.

By Susie Spain, Founder