Healthy and helpful ways for you to stay drug and alcohol free:

• Make friends with kids who don't smoke, drink or use drugs...Your friends have a lot of influence over you, both good and bad, so pick them carefully.
• Make your own decisions. That's an important part of becoming an adult. It's hard enough to make choices when you're straight – why make it harder by drinking or using drugs?
• It's important not to care what others think about you: what's important is what you think of yourself.
• Don't try to please everyone...you can never do it, so make taking care of yourself your No. 1 priority, rather than pleasing everybody else.
• Talk to your parents about things that bother you. Surveys show that kids who spend time with their families, keep communications open, eat dinner and attend religious services together are less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs.
• Get involved in after-school activities such as sports, clubs or community service. Just hanging out with friends after school or being bored can lead to doing things that will hurt you, like smoking, drinking or using drugs.

© 1996, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University