Sniffer dogs for hire to anxious parents
OK.. Now as a parent, I do worry about what my kids are getting up to and want to ensure that they are "on the straight and narrow"..
But is this taking it too far ? Would you utilize such a service ?
Worried parents can now hire out drug sniffer dogs to search their children's bedrooms.
Organisers of the Dogs Finding Drugs project say their highly trained dogs can detect even the tiniest whiff of drugs within seconds.
The $200-an-hour dogs can detect marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines, as well as prescription drugs with trace amounts of those narcotics.
Anne Wills, who runs the non-profit organisation says parents are clamouring for the service and she expects business to "explode."
"I know that when my kids were growing up, every once in a while I'd have liked to know what they were doing," she said.
"Bottom line is, parents need to use every resource available to protect their kids from drugs and their home,"
"This is just another new and creative way to attack the problem."
But Elizabeth Robertson, the National Institute on Drug Abuse's chief of prevention research, doubts whether sniffer dogs are the best way forward for anxious parents.
"Given everything we know about substance abuse prevention, what you want to do with your kids is build trust and communication," she says. "This seems like a tactic that would disrupt trust."
Source: Ananova
If parents do not worry about thier kids, then whoelse will perform parents role in moulding their future? I agree that narcotic business is quite filthy and children are vulnerable to such narcotics. Invariably parents will track thier kids closely and adopt preventive measures. However, the parents should not let it go until such extreme point where they have no other alternatives but to opt for such services. It will strain the trustworthiness between parents and children.
a pound of cure! We are so concerned about losing the trust but never concerned about probable lost of life or future of our beloved children due to drugs!
How do parents know they have hired a real sniffer dog? What a great way to make a fast buck ;)
whyte, yes, true. I think if one is in a country where drug problems with teens and even kids are prevalent, one may desert to desperate measures.
Let's work on and hope never to be in such a situation .
If a kid is really into drugs then there are other obvious telltale signs, you don't really need to bring in sniffer dogs for it.
as a daughter,if I've been hiding something bad from my parents,of course it would be as hard as hell for me to admit & if they take such step to know what's going on me, will i can't hate them by doing so, they are my parents they have the right to do that,as long as it's for my own sake. If I'm not hiding anything then they will take such step and find out nothing at least those sniffer dogs helped me to have their trust again after doubting me..:)
It won't break anything.I'd still love my parent. I would feel loved and cared about.
I agree with Fathimah on this. Sometimes, despite being good parents and having the trust of your children, they may fall in with "the wrong crowd". And that can become very dangerous. And let's face it, getting drugs is not hard to do, sadly.
why not take this step if this is only the best choice you have after trying to do everything u can to help your child..?
This is a matter of life for your child..it's not a lack of trust for me..though you are having doubts,u still trust your child,this is just a confirmation whether they are hiding something or no.
Brit, being a mother I understand how parents can be worried. But there are other ways to confirm like directly confronting the children or seeking professional counselling etc. May be this step would help in extreme cases, but still it would end up spoiling whatever is left in parent child relation I think.
I doubt whether I would take such steps..
However, let's say that you are seeing signs or are worried. Then discreetly using these dogs could either confirm your suspicions or put your mind at rest.
It is how you approach things after this that matters...
0nly on extreme situation..i agree with u..
people r so worried about parents breaking trust yet children almost always do things that are breaking the trust of their parents..
what? Parents can't break that trust and children can?
what's the problem? And if they will only see the good intention, it maybe welcome. It's how you raised your children. If you raised them properly, nothing to worry. But if their is already a suspicion of wrongdoing and parents don't act, who's to blame later on?
This option is only an option on extreme situation, not on a regular basis! IMHO!
Just shows how parent and children relationship has changed...it would display total lack of trust, no way.
If you are doubting your child and he/she is not admitting anything then i guess this is the way to help them out..It's not a matter of distrust for me.. If your child seems to be doing somethng behind your back & u did everything to let him/her admit it but he/she never admits (who will admit anyway),so u've got no choice. no parents would love to stop trusting their children,but if the situation is worst then this is the best way to help the kids.Parents raised their kids,people will surely say that "if they are confident that they raised them well then why worry" but hello? You're child isn't staying at home 24/7..They are also influenced at school. There's nothing wrong as a parent to make sure that you're child is on the right track. & as parents I guess they have the right to know this instead of waiting the police catch their son/daughter and tell themselves : "oh i can't beleive my child is doing this,I should have known this beforehand.blah blah blah" & what other options the parents could do? cry and blame themselves?
Let's be practical..
it would be a big help..
at this point I can't obviously imagine my daughter ever doing drugs hence its not something I can ponder over for myself but I cannot judge parents who do go through such desperate measures. See I know of families where despite parents assuming they share wonderful close relationships with their kids, and also assume their kids to be God fearing and moralistic etc, finding out horrible things about what their kids had actually been upto. Many times when teenagers get themselves into such evils they also become masters at hiding their vices from parents and those around. And if a parent feels with a conviction that their kids might be hiding terrible truths from them, and that merely interrogating them will not do,then they might have to go through such measures to ensure their kids safety. Lets face it..times are not getting any better. So its up to each parent to do what they believe is best as long as it saves the kids!
Actually some parents do hire private detectives to spy on their kids. It is a booming business in one Indian state where young girls stay out whole night during the festival of Navratri (9 days, twice a year)..
Parents accidentally finding stuff in their kids' rooms while cleaning is something totally different though even that causes resentment but then the kid reacts to cover up for his/her embarrassment, putting sniffer dogs in there is similar to treating them like criminals. I will never do this to my kids.
A difficult one. Parents do worry about children and there must be a market for this type of service.
brit, i feel its a common practice for parents to sometimes clean the rooms of the kids. this is acceptable to all kids.
while cleaning, if the parents accidentally find any stuff which is objectionable, they can talk to their kids..
however, bringing sniffer dogs on a regular basis just for this purpose would definitely not liked by the kids.
just imagine how would the kids feel if they were not into drugs and the parents were suspecting them of being drug abusers.
What next... have them followed by private detectives? We complain about the Big Brother approach of governments, and here it is being introduced into the home. Children are going to grow up with a lot of resentment with this type of activity.
Don't parents "search" the kids' room when cleaning ?
What if you find a Playboy or something under the bed or birth control pills.
Would that damage the trust ?
I don't think so. The real art would be how you would use the information and address the situation.
Would you agree ?
WK and me have written the same thing at the same time..:)
not a great idea at all..
such practices resulting out of distrust on children will further take them away from their parents.
further, i wont pay 20 dollars for this, not to think about 200 dollars an hour.
Brit building trust with the kids is the way to go, these measures will just alienate the kids from their parents.
As a mother, I could seriously consider this...
As a daughter, no way!!!
Drugs are a major problem now. So, wouldn't it be better to find out and tackle the issue ?
Finally somebody trustworthy to suspect on own lovedones..
Oh no.. I would have freaked out if my parents tried anything like this... I agree, this will just disrupt trust
it could help a lot!