Call It My Pre-Intervention

I did something the other night that probably won’t earn me any Mother of the Year awards.

One kid was in his room, the other was downstairs. I was in my room, folding laundry and watching Intervention on A&E.

This isn’t a show I watch often. I find it depressing. Somewhat like Hoarders.

But, because I like the other A&E shows like Criminal Minds & CSI, more often than not, when you turn on the TV, it’s already on A&E.

Such was the case that night, and how I happened to be sucked into Intervention.


A few minutes into the show, Adam walks into the room.

I immediately reached for the remote, as Intervention isn’t something I make a habit of watching with my almost 10 yr old.

I wasn’t quick enough.

Just as I’m about to change the channel, Adam hops up on the bed, looks at the young guy on the TV and asks, ‘What’s that, Mom?’

It was again one of those moments where my brain split in two.

One side said, ‘Tell him, 'nevermind what it is', he’s too young to know, and change the channel’

The other said, ‘Take this opportunity and use this show as a learning tool!’



We've already had the drugs and alcohol discussion.

You know, the basics.

Drugs are bad for you. They can slowly kill your mind and body, completely destroy families, and once you start, it's one of the hardest things in the world to stop.

And of course, they can kill you.


Suddenly, my mind flashed back to that 80's commercial. The first one to really draw the worlds attention to the fact recreational drugs were no longer socially acceptable.

Surely you remember it.





That one commercial won numerous awards and honours, and made an impact.

Today, we have kids (and adults of course) on a little show called Intervention.

Would he make an impact?


I've learned that you can talk, lecture and preach to some kids, and they just get it.

Others, like Adam, are more visual learners, and need to see it to believe it, to really understand the impact of the point you're trying to make.

I can only hope neither of my boys ever end up as drug users.

But in the end, all I can do is warn them, and teach them, and hope they get it.


I slowly turned my head away from the TV, looked Adam in the eye and said, 'that my dear, is heroine, a type of drug.'

At the same time, the junkie was trying to find a vein in his arm. That brought about the next obvious question from my boy's curious mind.

"UGH! WHY is he trying to put that needle in his arm?'

I simply said there were different ways to 'take' drugs, and this was one of them. I also made sure to point out how horrible and sore his arms looked.

A few minutes later, it showed the young addict almost passed out, mumbling incoherently.

Adam asked, 'Why's he acting like that? He's not making sense!'

Alright, Mom, time to make your point ... 'Because, THAT'S what happens to your brain when you use drugs!'

'Is he dead?'

OK, time to drive it home ... 'Not yet. Not THIS time. Next time, he may not be so lucky.'

And then, the Mom in me just HAD to throw out, 'Don't you EVER get into that crap, Adam!'

Thankfully, he came back with the words I've committed to memory, and will hold him to forever, 'NO WAY, Mom! I'm never doing drugs!'



And so goes my drug conversation with my soon to be 10 yr old.

I understand some may think ten is too young for this type of visual introduction to the drug world. That I shouldn't have let my kid watch the 15 min or so of Intervention with me, that he did.

Hence, the Mother of the Year comment at the beginning of this post.

The way I see it, he's already aware that drugs exist, he's heard about the older kids 'smoking drugs' down at the skate park.

The scary part is, 'older' isn't really all that much older!

From something as simple as a news report on the radio, he knows 'grown ups' partake in the illegal activity too, even though they shouldn't.


I can't hide him from it.

So, if I can turn him off the whole idea early, remove the mystery and maybe even scare the crap out of him when it comes to just saying NO ... then I'm going to do it.

I'd rather discuss it now, than end up with Candy Finnigan on A&E later.

Call it my pre-intervention.

K.