BLOG: Talk to your kids today about medication safety

Talking to your kids about medicine can be tricky. But it’s an important conversation to have so they know how to use medicine safely and responsibly.

This is especially vital nowadays, as prescription medications become trendy dangerous recreational drugs.

So start open communication with your children at a young age. This will make it easier for your child to approach you with questions later on. Explain the importance of medication to your children, as well as the benefits and dangers if misused.

Always make sure lock your medications in a cabinet and take any unused or expired medication to the nearest drop box for safe disposal. If your kids spend a lot of time with other relatives, tell them to do the same. Drop box locations can be found via Children's Services Council's free app, SafeMap. Click here to download it for iOS or click here for Android. 

If you co-parent, communicate with the other parent or caregivers. Remember to tell them when you have given a medication dose, so overmedication doesn’t happen.

Always read the drug facts label before giving your child medicine. Be aware of the active ingredients in the medication, especially if your child takes more than one medication or a medicine that combines ingredients. If two or more medications have the same active ingredients, it may lead your child to have an accidental overdose.  

Time to talk but not sure how to get started? Here are some easy ways to discuss medication safety with your kids:

• Tell your kids not to take medication without permission from you or another trusted adult.
• Let your children know it’s important not to take any medicine that’s not prescribed to them and only to take the amount of medicine the doctor has ordered. 
• Make sure kids take the prescribed medicine dose by measuring it with the proper device it comes with – not a kitchen spoon!
• If your children take medication for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), explain that it helps with concentration and that it doesn’t make them any different than other children.
• Talk to your children about peer pressure. Explain what is and warn them that some of their friends may try to convince them to use their prescribed medication. Instruct your children to tell their friends it’s not OK for anyone to use medication not prescribed to them because it could make them sick or possibly overdose. And let your children know it is OK for them to say “No,” and that doing something wrong doesn’t make them cool.
• Emphasize that buying medication from someone is wrong and illegal. Reinforce again they should only take medicine that is prescribed specifically to them by a doctor.