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ALTDAP Family Plan: talking with your children about drugs | ALTDAP

ALTDAP Family Plan · For parents and guardians

Start the conversation at home

Prevention works best when it starts early, from a parent who is calm and honest. You do not need to be an expert. You need to be the adult who stays calm, listens and keeps talking.

Emergency? If a person cannot be woken, is struggling to breathe, is having a seizure, has chest pain, or you fear for their life: Get medical help at once: take the person to the nearest hospital or clinic now, or call one close to you and ask them to send help. Stay with them. If you cannot reach local help quickly, also call 112. It is free, though it may not connect in every area.

Your plan, in four steps

1
Read the guide
About ten minutes: what to say by age, early signs, and what to do if something happens tonight.
2
Try one conversation this week
Pick one first sentence for your child's age. Short and calm is enough.
3
Keep going
One short talk a week for four weeks, or four activities to do with a child aged 8 to 12.
4
Check in after 30 days
An optional reminder asks how it went. Nothing is kept about your child.

Prefer WhatsApp? Get the Family Plan in your chat (it opens a chat with ALTDAP with the word FAMILY ready to send).

Why start at home

In Nigeria, people who use cannabis start at 19 on average (Drug Use in Nigeria 2018). The years before that are the years you are closest to your child, and where calm talks at home can help most.
Children hear about drugs from friends, school and phones whether or not we speak. Hearing it first from a parent who is calm and honest is protective.
Starting early is not teaching a child to use drugs, just as early talks about their body do not teach them to be careless. It gives them words, limits and a safe person.
You do not need to be an expert. You need to be the adult who stays calm, listens and keeps talking.

What to say, by age

Ages 6 to 9

At this age children learn from what they see and what you say plainly. You are building trust and a simple rule: some things are medicine, and only a trusted adult gives medicine.

First sentences you can use

Medicine helps our body when a doctor, a nurse or a grown-up we trust gives it to us.
If someone you do not know offers you something to eat, drink or swallow, say no and come and tell me. You will never be in trouble for telling me.
Some things can look like sweets or drinks and still hurt a body. We check with a grown-up first.

Keep going

Praise the child when they check with you, even over small things.
Use real moments: a pharmacy visit, a cough syrup bottle, a story on the news.
Keep the tone light. A short, calm talk is better than one long serious one.

Try to avoid

Do not use frightening stories or show frightening pictures.
Do not use shame words such as bad child or dirty.

Ages 10 to 12

Children this age are curious, and they start to hear things from friends, school and phones. They want straight answers and they notice when adults are not honest.

First sentences you can use

I want to talk with you about drugs, the same way I would talk about anything that can affect your health. What have you heard about them?

Every home is different

Use the language your child is most at home in, which may be your mother tongue, English or Pidgin. The words matter less than the calm, the listening and the keeping on talking.

A shared compound or extended family

Many adults and children live under one roof or in one compound. Several people guide the child, and messages can get mixed.

Agree one short family message with the adults who help raise the child, so the child does not hear different rules from different people.
Choose one adult the child finds easiest to talk to, and tell the child who that is.
Hold the talk away from the crowd. Privacy makes honesty easier.

A single parent, or a parent working long hours

There is little time and you may be tired. Short and regular beats long and rare.

Use ten minutes you already have: the walk to school, cooking, the evening meal, a phone call.
Ask one question a day, such as what was the hardest part of today, and listen to the answer.
If you cannot be there, name a trusted adult who can, so the child always has someone.

A grandparent or relative raising the child

You carry experience and authority, and the world the child lives in has changed, including phones, new substances and what friends say.

Ask the child what they hear about drugs. Their answer tells you what to correct.

Early signs, and how to start

These are not proof of anything. Many are ordinary growing-up changes, stress or tiredness. A change that is sudden, lasts weeks and affects several areas deserves a calm conversation, not an accusation.

Sudden drop in school attendance or marks
Marked change in friends, or secrecy about where they go
Changes in sleep, appetite or energy that last
Withdrawing from family, losing interest in things they loved
Money going missing, or new belongings you cannot explain
Strong mood changes, or a new strong smell on clothes or breath

Start with what you saw and how you feel, and ask a question: I have noticed you seem tired and quiet this month. I care about you. What is going on?

If something has happened tonight

If a person cannot be woken, is struggling to breathe, is having a seizure, has chest pain, or you fear for their life: Get medical help at once: take the person to the nearest hospital or clinic now, or call one close to you and ask them to send help. Stay with them. If you cannot reach local help quickly, also call 112. It is free, though it may not connect in every area.

Stay calm and stay with them. Safety first, questions later.
Do not punish, shout or shame tonight. A frightened child hides the next problem.
Ask what they took only if it will not delay getting help. Tell the health worker what you know.
Afterwards, once everyone is safe, arrange to see a health worker or a counsellor you trust, and speak with your child about what happened with care.

Your own part

Notice how you react when you are worried. If your first reaction is anger, decide now what you will do instead.
Children copy what we do. Our own habits with alcohol, tablets and smoking are part of what we teach.
If you are struggling yourself, with stress, alcohol or something else, getting support is part of protecting your family. You can talk privately on ALTDAP's WhatsApp line, or with ALTDAP AI if you are 16 or over.

Show the faith note

Keep going

Four weeks, one talk a week

Listen, say your family's rule, practise a way out, then notice and thank.

Four activities for ages 8 to 12

Ten minutes each, done together: safe people, medicine or not, say no then tell, big feelings.

LaunchPad for your 12 to 15 year old

No school programme? Set it up at home as the responsible adult, and stay in charge.

A one-page card

Print it, or copy a short version for WhatsApp, for the other adults who help raise your child.

Lead a 20-minute session

For a church, mosque, school or parents' group, with what to say and do at each step.

What other parents told us

What parents said about this plan, and what we changed because of it.

What your child can learn on ALTDAP

LaunchPad is ALTDAP's free programme for young people. Its first track teaches the same things you are teaching at home: the truth about drugs, how to say no, and how to ask for help. Children aged 12 to 15 take it through their school, or at home with you as the responsible adult. Ask your child what they learned, and listen.

Set up LaunchPad at home See LaunchPad

What is kept, and what is counted

ALTDAP does not ask for your children's names and keeps nothing about any child on this page. If you share anything with us it is about you, as a parent, and it is yours to stop at any time. We count, without names, how many parents read the guide and try a conversation, so we can see whether it helps and make it better. Nothing is ever sold or used for advertising.

Create a free parent account to keep this guide and get updates.

Your plan, in four steps

Why start at home

What to say, by age

Ages 6 to 9

Ages 10 to 12

Every home is different

Early signs, and how to start

If something has happened tonight

Your own part

Keep going

What is kept, and what is counted

Ages 13 to 17