Parents Want to Protect their Child
As a parent or caregiver, you want to know you are doing everything possible to protect your child from peer pressure, mental health struggles, and substance use. Parents play the most important role in prevention because children and teens are more likely to make healthy choices when they feel comfortable talking openly at home.
Research shows that when parents talk with their teens about drugs and alcohol early and often, teens are significantly less likely to experiment with substances.
It is important that your child knows you are informed about current trends in teen substance use so they do not rely on peers or social media for information.
We are here to help.
Talking with your child about drugs or alcohol is not always easy. Many parents worry about saying the wrong thing or creating conflict. Yet open and ongoing conversations are one of the strongest protective factors in preventing substance use.
Do not underestimate your influence. Research consistently shows that parents and caregivers have more influence than peers when it comes to preventing risky behaviors. When families learn about prevention together, teens gain the knowledge and confidence they need to make healthy decisions.
Teen Brain: Perfect Storm for Addiction Risk
The Teen Brain: A Perfect Storm for Addiction — and a Window for Prevention
The adolescent brain is more vulnerable to addiction than at any other time in life. Understanding this unique stage of brain development can help families protect teens during the years when their future health is most at risk.
Understanding the Teen Brain: A Critical Window for Prevention
During adolescence and throughout the teen years, the brain goes through powerful developmental changes that only occur during this stage of life. During this time, teens are naturally wired for novelty, excitement, and risk-taking, which can make them strongly attracted to trying new things.
Most adults can remember feeling somewhat invincible as teenagers and taking chances they might never take today.
However, no other period in life creates a stronger biological vulnerability to addiction than the adolescent years. When drugs or alcohol enter the picture, it can create what experts often call the “perfect storm” for addiction.
While completely avoiding experimentation is ideal, even delaying first use significantly lowers the risk of addiction. Research consistently shows that the earlier substance use begins, the greater the risk of developing addiction later in life.
Children of one or more parents who struggle with addiction have about a 50% increased risk of developing addiction themselves.
The good news is that knowledge is powerful prevention.
When families learn together about how the teen brain works, teens begin to understand why their choices matter and how protecting their brain today helps keep their future goals within reach. Here are Five Things to Know Now
Two Actions Parents Can Take to Protect Their Child
1. Teen Brain: Train It NOW!
Take this engaging online training together with your child. The program explains the teen brain in a fun, interactive way that makes prevention understandable for both parents and youth.
2. Watch a PBS Special on the Teen Brain Together
Viewing and discussing a documentary together can open the door to meaningful conversations about brain development, decision-making, and avoiding substance use.
One Powerful Experience for You and Your Child
Why should you and your child attend Reality Tour? Family history and experiences in early childhood are intimately linked. This means parents are the most powerful prevention tool!
- Reality Tour is one powerful experience that will open dialogue with your child for years to come. It only requires a few hours in an evening or weekend and is affordable for families to attend.
- Reality Tour is an inclusive substance abuse prevention program, developed for parents by parents. It connects multiple community-based organizations to reduce risk factors for teen drug use.
- You and your child will learn coping skills together and hear real experiences from law enforcement and individuals in recovery.
- Know you are doing all you can to protect and build trust with your child. Reality Tour jumpstarts the discussion at home and makes talking about behavioral health easier.
Reality Tour Substance Abuse Prevention Outcomes
Survey: Youth 90 days after attending Reality Tour
Bring Reality Tour to Your Home
FAQs
Reality Tour is a community-based drug prevention system designed as a single event to engage parents, but it’s also a vehicle that networks community resources to enhance prevention on multi-levels. Held in the evening or weekend so parents WILL attend, the system puts parent and child on the same page. Reality Tour® is not scare tactics, per our University of Pittsburgh researcher’s documentation. A needs assessment survey of parents in 2002 revealed their desire for prevention programs to include the possible, ultimate consequences of experimentation.
Reality Tour is delivered in 3 parts:
1. The Consequences
- Narrated scenes of life
- Emotional learning for lasting recall
- Appropriate for youth ages 10-17 with a parent
2. The Coping Skills
- Recognize 1st signs of use
- Personal goals for drug prevention developed
- Refusal skills engagement
- Home prevention launch materials
- Enduring impact on teen brain
3. The Interviews
- Law officer relates local trends
- Youth in recovery de-glamourizes use
Yes, pre-registration is required. This helps volunteers prepare in advance. Some locations charge $5 per person to attend, others may waive the fee. The fee is always waived for families on free or reduced lunch programs. To register visit our location page.
Reality Tour runs approximately 2 hours. It is most often held in the evenings or on a weekend so parents can attend.
The cost for the license the program model is an affordable $3,500 with an annual renewal fee of $500. CANDLE, Inc. can help you partner with other community organizations to help raise money for the license.
Reality Tour is appropriate for children age 10 to 17. A parent or guardian must attend with their child.
YES, parent(s) or guardians must attend with THEIR child. We say this experience is as important as your child’s wedding or graduation! The dialogue that continues beyond Reality Tour is a key factor in prevention.
No, parents cannot bring their friend’s children. Children must attend with their parent or legal guardian.
You can register for Reality Tour by going to our locations page. Reality Tour is replicated in several states. Find the Tour nearest you, download and mail registration form with payment to the address listed, or register online if available. The cost to license the program model is an affordable $3,500 with an annual renewal fee of $500.
About the Author
Norma Norris is the founder of CANDLE, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping families and communities prevent youth substance use through education and early intervention. With more than 20 years of prevention experience, she developed the nationally recognized Reality Tour program and other educational initiatives designed to help families understand the real risks of substance use before experimentation begins.
Recognizing early that parents needed clearer guidance to navigate today’s rapidly changing substance use environment, Norris created prevention programs that educate both parents and youth together. Her work focuses on closing the gap between what parents believe is happening in their child’s world and the realities teens face today.
She developed a replicable prevention model designed to help schools and communities educate families about the developing teen brain, peer pressure, and decision-making before experimentation is even considered. This approach equips parents with practical tools to start meaningful conversations and guide their children safely through adolescence. On this website there is abundant information on how to get the volunteer-driven Reality Tour started in your community.
Through school partnerships, community programs, and online learning, Norris’s prevention work has helped thousands of families better understand today’s risks and the powerful role parents play as one of the most important protective factors in preventing teen substance use. Her work continues to serve as a trusted prevention education resource for families, schools, and communities seeking practical guidance in navigating today’s environment.