Apparently cheeky or cheesy PSAs are no longer enough ammo in helping parents keep their kids off of drugs: they're resorting to hiring K-9 units of their own. A New Jersey company called Sniff Dogs rents out retired, trained drug-sniffing dogs to parents suspicious that their kids might be involved in drugs.
The dogs rent for $200 an hour and can detect heroin, cocaine, meth, and ecstasy — not to mention pot-residue on clothes even if the drug was smoked two nights before. That knowledge alone might be enough to spark sparking up teens into doing their own laundry.
To see the conflict behind the good intentions, read more.
One parent hired the pups as a precautionary measure. She said, "Most kids will deny it and then where do you turn? Not knowing is worrisome. It's nice to know you can have something you can turn to." The dogs didn't uncover any dope on their visit.
Now that technology has vastly expanded the kid-tracking capabilities of parents (including GPS-embedded clothes) the increased surveillance brings up issues of trust. One psychologist says, "There are major repercussions for this type of intervention. When parents do this, it erodes trust and goodwill." Is wagering trust over safety a good bet? Can tools like this help more than they hurt?
Les Nereides
Cheer
Balenciaga
This seems horribly wrong to me. I know that there are times that children lie to their parents and some kids do hide serious drug habits, but if you have to resort to $200 an hour dogs or other tracking devices, your money would be better spent getting your whole family into serious therapy right away. You've got ugly trust and communication issues.
1Sorry but untill you are out of my house you are subject to the rules, and if a parent suspects a child of doing drugs, that kid is just going to have to deal with it untill the parent is satisfied with the results, if you arent guilty? than no problem if you are? than deal with the consequences of lying and doing drugs.
i think the dog thing is brilliant.
And for the expert who warned against this action eroding trust and goodwill? he can give me money to send my kid into rehab after i "trusted" them not to do drugs.
2Let me add that calling out the dogs isnt going to be a first reaction, its probably a last ditch effort to clear things up when a parent feels they have done all they can and still suspect the drug use.
3Once, my mom picked me up from school to go to a chiropractic appointment and instead drove me to the hospital to get a UA to test for drugs. Apparently my mood had been a little off the weeks leading up to that day and she just wanted to make sure given the people I was hanging out with didn't have the greatest reputation. Of course, the test results came back negative, and she apologized, but I didn't have a problem with it. Guilty by association was my only naive moments.
Anyways, drug dog? Seriously? Test the child for drugs... I'm sure a dog could have sniffed resin or smoke or whatever from my clothes, but that doesn't mean I was doing it.
4Caterpillar, I am with you on this one. Being a parent, I wouldn't be calling in a drug-sniffing dog as a first check. This would be something that would be a last-ditch effort if I saw LOTS of other signs of drug use. And I would like to point out the "expert" that trust and goodwill is a two-way street. If a kid is lying to their parents, are they deserving of trust? A parent's job is to protect their children and steer them on the right path as much as they can. If a child has a drug problem this is a great tool to uncover that and then you can move on to getting them the help they need.
5Unless the parent is renting that dog everyother day then i think its okay. Like I would do this if my kids were older and they were definetly hiding something from me. Of course I dont how my kids are going to be at an older age. Hopefully we will have good communitcation skills. But i agree with CG, my house my rules...whatever it may be!
If they were to have any type of drug..I'd rather them be mad at me then not knowing whats going on in their life.
6Haha hmmm well I guess kids can still be alcoholics...
7yes jessie there is still hope.
8$200 is worth keeping my child safe. Once you have a drug problem, like an eating disorder, you have to deal with it for life. Too many studies show that the younger you start drinking, smoking (though I would hope they would never smoke cigarettes/tobacco), or doing illegal drugs, the more likely you are to become addicted. Now when they're 18 and they want to smoke a little pot or have a drink after work, they can knock themselves out. At that point they are responsible for their drug use.
9I had a drug problem in my early 20's I dont have it now. But then again it wasnt an addictive drug.
IF they are 18, and still in my house (hopefully not) or i am paying for thier education? still my problem.
10By deal with it for life I mean most people have to practice abstinence from it if they have a problem. I don't think all drugs are bad in moderation. I don't have a particularly sensitive system so I've never liked drugs the way other people did. I'd rather eat a cupcake than get high, but if I would like to have a glass of wine with my son/daughter in the future and if they had a substance abuse problem that probably wouldn't be possible.
I went away to college, I think it is a good experience. Even if I'm paying for their education I would still respect that they are an adult now. IMO you have to let your kids make decisions for themselves at some point. I won't always be around to make the right or smart decisions for them. At least in college there is room for error (for some, not for me I am on my own as far as parents). Hopefully they would pay heed to what I've taught them, if not they have to learn sooner or later there are consequences for their actions.
11Hopefully by that time, in the future there will be collars with cameras on them, where if I see them making bad choices i can just push a button and ZAP! they get a jolt....
12argh I rather spent 200 bucks on shoes..another reason why my womb is so far ready from being hospitable for a fetus/
13I think renting a drug dog is a great idea. As a poster pointed out earlier, this isn't going to be the first thing you do if you suspect your child is doing drugs. More than likely you will have already seen several signs and caught your kids in a dozen or so lies before you'd rent the dog. Once you know for sure, you can take the steps you need to take to get your child help.
14Although I think it's a dumb idea personally if that's the way that they want to parent then so be it. I'm from the school that the parent determines how they should parent a child ( As long as there isn't abuse) and that it's really none of my business.
15I think this is a good idea. If you have the money to use, that is. And it would be, in a sense, less embarrassing for the child. If the dogs were brought in while they weren't home, and they found nothing, then the parents could feel at ease and the child wouldn't be embarrassed. I'm not saying it wouldn't hurt their trust but i'm just trying to see how it can be positive:) Taking them for a drug test when they are innocent might cause them to rebel with the mentality that 'well if you assume I'm doing it then I might as well.' or something.
Okay thats a far stretch, i'll stop now:P
16Overall, I don't think its a horrible idea, but agree that it shouldn't be the first thing you do if you suspect your child of using drugs.
I'm sorry, but I think it's insane, just like I think the GPS tracking is insane, and a lot of other things that parents do these days. A precautionary measure?! Are you freaking serious? What about, I don't know, talking to your kids as a precautionary measure before you resort to turning your house into a police state. Also, whatever happened to the good old-fashioned going through their room when they're at school?
Whatever, I'm not having kids anyway, but it just seems crazy and sooooo extreme. If my parents had treated me that way I probably would have rebelled so much more than I did, which makes it completely counterproductive. It's like those kids with super-strict parents who end being the ones to get their stomachs pumped freshman year of college.
17tls, if you had kids, you wouldnt think this was insane.
and how about before they get to the point of having stomachs pumped, which is drastic right? do something harmless like letting a dog sniff their underwear drawer.
18As a parent, it is your responsibility to keep your kids safe. By all means, talk to the kids when they are little about drugs. Do everything you can to have an open, trusting, relationship. But altimately, every young adult will begin making their own decisions and no matter what you've told them they may chose to do drugs. If you can catch them earlier rather than later, you just might be able to get them help before they are being rushed to the hospital to have their stomach pumped.
19Yeah, you talk to your kids. You ask them about drugs. You educate them about drugs. I would venture that I am not the only one here who did drugs as a teen. My mom and dad both talked, asked and educated. They let me know exactly how dangerous they thought they were. Every time they asked, I lied. I smoked weed for the first time because I was mad at my mother, and I knew she wouldn't like it. Even when caught red-handed with the stuff, I lied. When did this whole "children need their privacy" and "children should be able to make their own choices and learn from them" thing happen? Children have parents because they won't make good choices without the guidance and oversight of someone who has life experiences and knows the consequences of good and bad choices. Children should learn from history. Their parents' and their world's. If your kid is doing drugs, he/she is going to lie about it. Parents have the responsibility of keeping their kids safe from the world and from themselves. I don't care if my kids feel like I have "totally invaded their privacy." I'm going to protect them whether they get p*ssed at me for a couple of weeks or not. Also, if there are no drugs, then you talk to them and explain why you did it. You apologize. You tell them you are proud of them. You encourage a more open dialogue for the future.
20or you handle it however you see fit because they're your kids and it's nobody's business.
21Actually, CaterpillarGirl, I don't think I would, because to me it's so intrusive and would just wreck a relationship with one's children. And I agree, get them before they end up getting in real trouble, but to me, it's not harmless to have a dog come in and sniff around their room. It's one of the most extreme and intrusive tactics I've heard of. If someone did this to me, whatever their intentions, it would destroy any chance of an open happy relationship. My parents talked to me, and while I got in some trouble as a teenager, they let me make my own mistakes, never resorted to extreme measures, and I turned out well, we have a good relationship, and I really respect that they allowed me to find my own way.
22I have a kid CG, old enough to be getting into drugs - and I still think the dogs and GPS are awful ideas that strongly suggest you've made serious mistakes as a parent if you think you have to resort to them.
23Also, the kids I'm talking about that go nuts when they get to college, and I knew several of them, weren't kids that had preexisting problems. They were kids who'd grown up in incredibly strict households that were never allowed to make any mistakes and thus never allowed to learn to handle being on their own.
24well steph, you and I are on polar opposite ends of every spectrum imaginable, I wouldnt doubt parenting would be any different!
25I've got to assume this is the final straw for parents. I mean can you imagine just having a drug sniffing dog show up at your house at random? I think this is a great tool for parents who "know" something is going on, but can't get the truth out of their teen directly, or whose teen may be a master at hiding things.
Used as an every day tool though? No. As to the trust issue, if it comes to the point where you NEED a dog, the trust is pretty much shot already.
26tls, i think as a non-parent, you might get the idea that we all want to be friends with our kids. as awesome as that might be, you have to be a parent first. if that means we have to ground, snoop, lecture, rent a dog, etc and 'ruin' a relationship with them in order to make our point, so be it. i love my child too much to want to be buddies with her all the time. i'm here to guide and teach her, make sure she's ready for the big, bad world, etc. maybe after her brain develops fully, we can be buddies.
"I'd rather eat a cupcake than get high" - hilarious. me, too.
hey, i wonder if a neighborhood full of parents can pitch in and rent the dog together... hmmmm.
27* or 'wreck'
28Steph, I hope you are lucky enough that your kid never gets into drugs. But even if you do everything right, it could still happen. And when it does, you do whatever you can to correct the situation. If that means bringing in the dogs, so be it.
29I've dealt with other family members and their problems without resorting to dogs and other hysterical tactics, I would do the same for my kid. Acting like an idiot never helps anything.
30Bringing in a dog is acting like an idiot?
31Not sure what the law says about seizing a house when drugs are found inside, but I wouldn't want to find out. I'd lease the doggy.
Anybody know the law on that? I'm sick and lazy today.
ChooChoo, I used to work for the Dept. of Justice in Asset Forfeiture. The gov't can only seize and forfeit property that is shown to be gotten from illegal, felonious activity. So, they would have to tie the home in some way to being paid for (or partially paid for) by drug sale proceeds. If it is just your kid's stash found inside, that wouldn't happen.
32People are different, every parent has a different parenting style and each child will respond to communication styles and disciplinary styles differently. You have to make the determination as to what is best for your child and your family. For some people, this dog idea would work great and would have a good result. For others, it may produce a totally opposite result, it just depends. I don't really think we can classify someone who would utilize this as a tool an "idiot" just as I don't think we could do the same for someone who wouldn't. I am just glad that there are so many options out there for parents today, no matter what they decide!
33CHOOCHOO - I'm pretty sure that I can speak intelligently about this even though I'm not a parent myself. The fact is that I was a teenager with parents at one point, and I felt the way that my parents handled the problems that they ran into was the right way. They didn't coddle me, they didn't try to be my friend before being my parent, but they didn't resort to police tactics either. I can tell you, for sure, that if my parents had either tracked me or hired a drug dog, we wouldn't have a good relationship today. You can do A LOT before you become your own personal SWAT team. I resent the idea that just because I haven't given birth doesn't mean that I don't understand.
34Cho, you are SO right. It's not to say that this dog is the ONLY WAY TO GO. Are there better ways to solve a drug problem with your kid? Sure! OF course there are! But if you have done absolutely EVERYTHING else in your power, and this is the last resort you have, I can't believe you wouldn't take it. I don't believe it. And I think if you think YOU believe it, you're lying to yourself.
Again, you can be a "perfect" parent, do everything "right" and sometimes, no matter what you do, the kids just go the wrong way. That's when you as a PARENT (Not a "buddy" as Choo said) do everything you can.
Think of it as the equivalent of letting the cops arrest your child for shoplifting a pack of gum. Again, probably not your FIRST attempt to correct the problem, but definitely an effective one.
35I should say the "you" in my post is a generic "you", and not pointing the finger at anyone.
36Thanks, lush. I think it'd be more fun to have a dog bouncing around the room instead of a red and white flashing outside while the neighbors gathered and gossiped.
37"I don't believe it. And I think if you think YOU believe it, you're lying to yourself."
Nope, not lying to myself, just speaking from my own experience. If you've gotten to the point where you think you need a drug dog, chances are you already know what you'll find, and hard evidence isn't going to do anything to make the problem "better." Honestly, if it's gotten that bad, why isn't the kid in therapy already? I mean, what exactly happens when you hire a drug dog and find something? What's the next step?
And while I don't agree with it even as a last resort, the people quoted used it as a preventive measure. Like, BEFORE anything bad happened.
38tls, like lush said, every parent is different, as is every child. there are very pleasing kids all the way up to ADHD/ODD kids, who resent any kind of authority and will do the exact opposite of any good advice. it's great that you found your own way, but some kids aren't smart enough to do that and don't make it. as a parent, if i act like an idiot and wind up saving my kid from a fatal mistake, i can live with the label.
39Alright then, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I just hope that if I ever do choose to have children, I'll keep in mind that, while as a parent I'm responsible for their well-being, they're also independent human being that deserve some respect, which I think this tactic completely ignores.
40*oops, "beings" not "being"
41Tls, this was a very VERY good point
"f you've gotten to the point where you think you need a drug dog, chances are you already know what you'll find, and hard evidence isn't going to do anything to make the problem "better." Honestly, if it's gotten that bad, why isn't the kid in therapy already?"
And is absolutely right. BUT, answer me this. Say you've done the therapy, say a COUPLE of times, but you have a pretty good idea that they're using again. You know for a fact that this kid is good at "fooling" drug tests. You also know if caught again, they will go to jail. Wouldn't you as a parent rather head that off with a dog so that you can go to the therapist with your child and present them with good solid proof? Because without it, the child WILL lie to a therapist. When they get that far in they have no conscious. It's about staying high.
Now, some parents might just let the child go to jail, figure that might finally teach them the lesson. That would be their choice, but for the parent that doesn't, wouldn't this route be the way to go?
I live in an area where there are LOTS of drug problems. It's not just kids. It's the adults too. I knew a woman, she was a single mother of 5 kids. She and I were VERY good friends. We worked together, our kids hung out together, our families were always together. Then she met a man. I Had a bad feeling about this guy from the beginning. She lost her job, lost her kids, lost her house, lost EVERYTHING, and right up to the end was saying she wasn't on drugs. She died of an overdose. I would have liked to have had a dog.
42no "conscience" not conscious
43oh, that sucks, mykie.
44Oh, Mykie, that is awful!
45"Because without it, the child WILL lie to a therapist. When they get that far in they have no conscious. It's about staying high."
This is definitely true, but if the child truly has gotten clean several times and started using again, I'm not sure how bringing in a drug dog to search for evidence is going to make this the time that it actually works and the problem gets better. At that point, then no, therapy probably isn't good enough and I'm guessing rehab is the next step. It doesn't, however, change my view that the drug dogs are better left to the police, just like GPS tracking and other techniques generally seen on CSI. A drug test is just as effective and, in my opinion, less invasive should it have gotten to the point where actual evidence is necessary (for example, hair testing can't generally be faked like a urine test can, if that's the concern).
46tls, I am curious about something. How different is taking a kid for a surprise drug test and hiring the drug sniffing dog? I think both actions signal that you don't trust that your child is telling you the truth and both can be seen as invasions of privacy. I don't see much difference between the two. I am interested in your opinion on this.
47tls, you do make very good points. I don't necessarily agree with you, but I appreciate your clear points.
48And Choo and Lush, it does suck, it was one of the worst times of my life watching her go down and being completely powerless to stop it.
49Between drug testing and dog sniffing - in truth, I have problems with both, and I find both to be invasive, but a drug test seems (strangely, I know) less invasive, maybe because the tactic just seems less extreme to me. Most importantly, I wouldn't surprise my kid with it. I'd warn him/her ahead of time that if the problem continued it would come to that, so that it would ultimately be up to my kid to make the choice as to whether it would need to come to that point. I guess that's the biggest difference for me - it would, for me, allow my child to have some "say" in the process.
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