Linzy Hildreth has come up with a way for parents to help steer their kids away from drugs and alcohol.
"I am urging ALL parents to randomly and frequently drug test their teenagers," Linzy proclaims on a new Web site, www.drugtestyourteen.com.
If that isn't enough to send some teenage heads spinning, certainly this will: Linzy herself is a teen.
And for the last four years, she has been complying with her mom's request to stick out her tongue or go into the bathroom and fill up a cup after she has been hanging out with friends.
Mom then uses a lab test to see whether the saliva or urine reveals the consumption of drugs or alcohol.
"I can look back and see that there were times I hated my mom for doing it," Linzy said. "But I thank her for it now."
Not only does the 17-year-old praise her mom, she suggested that the two of them take it a step further by urging other parents to do the same thing.
And Linzy's mom, Kim, who was laid off 11 months ago after working 20 years for a lab that produced drug-testing kits, thought it was a great idea. Together, she and Linzy created the Web site, and now they're ready to make waves, and maybe even some money.
"Parents have no idea how prevalent drugs are today and how tempting it can be to use drugs just because the people you are around are getting high, and they make it look fun," Linzy explains on the Web site.
'A reason to say no'
"Kids tell other kids that they will forget about their problems if they are high and just have fun. Give your teens a reason to say no that their peers will understand, 'My parents drug test me.'"
The home-testing kits range from $6 for saliva strips that can detect tobacco or alcohol use to $22 for a more comprehensive test that checks for the presence of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine or amphetamines.
Some drugstores sell similar tests, Mrs. Hildreth said. I asked her whether parents can afford this idea given how much kids go out these days, which is just about every weekend.
"If you're using it as a deterrent," she said, "you do it three or four times a year, just to know." She also brought up another good point. "You talk about the expense. How expensive is rehab or a wrecked car? One car wreck pays for thousands of these tests."
It's impossible to deny that drug use is a serious problem among teens or that underage drinking is commonplace across the country.
"Studies show that while only 18 percent of parents believe that their teens have tried drugs, 53 percent of teens admit use of drugs," Linzy points out. "By drug testing at home, parents are not only confronting the problem but also are doing something about it."
Mrs. Hildreth said she has tested that theory in her own home. Linzy has never been a problem. But her younger sister, Delaney, started smoking and drinking before she turned 13, which is when Mom started drug-testing her, too.
"I started smoking when I was 12," said Delaney, now 15. "And that leads you to the friend who drinks, and that leads you to the friend who smokes pot and that leads you to the friends who do coke and speed. It's a chain."
Temptation at the ready
The sad thing is that Delaney said finding drugs or alcohol was never difficult, not even at such a young age.
"No, it was not hard to find," she said. "I paid for one bag of marijuana in my life. I never had to pay for anything because someone always had it."
The Hildreths used to live in Mesquite but now reside in Farmers Branch. Linzy is a senior and she's being home-schooled until she graduates next spring.
Delaney attends a public school in Dallas, and she's a sophomore. She quit smoking pot and drinking more than a year ago, she said, and she has seen her grades and her popularity rise.
"I will never use drugs again," she declared.
Her mother's tough love and unconventional monitoring helped get her back on track, she said.
"Some of my friends say, 'How can you live in a house like that?' And I say, 'I don't have anything to be afraid of.' "
Mrs. Hildreth and her daughters think that too many kids are pulling the wool over their parents' eyes and that the drug tests can help curb the deception.
"It beats asking them, 'Are you on drugs? Have you been drinking?' " Mrs. Hildreth explained, noting that the tests don't lie.
"It's just another tool that parents can put in their toolbox," she said.
Our Press Release
For More Information,
Contact: Linzy Hildreth
Drug Test Your Teen
(214) 797-TEST
E-mail: info@drugtestyourteen.com
www.drugtestyourteen.com
For Immediate Release
TEEN URGES ALL PARENTS TO DRUG TEST THEIR KIDS
Dallas, TX.- Why are so many parents afraid to confront the problem of their teenagers possible drug use? Does this kind of testing promote distrust and cause friction between parents and teens? If a home drug testing policy is implemented early enough, will it deter drug use? "Parents need to know if their children are using drugs, but most don't like to imagine that it could be 'their child' using drugs." says Linzy Hildreth, a 17 year-old North Dallas girl who believes the pluses greatly outweigh the minuses when it comes to drug testing teens. "Studies show that while only 18% of parents believe that their teens have tried drugs, 53% of teens admit use of drugs. By drug testing at home, parents are not only confronting the problem but also are doing something about it." To help parents and teens, Linzy has created a website (www.drugtestyourteen.com) where parents can learn more about teen drug use, get information on how to talk with their teens, and can even purchase drug tests-- all in the privacy of their homes.
Most would agree that no topic is more frightening to parents than teen drug abuse. Each year thousands of lives are lost or ruined by this nationwide epidemic. Linzy contends that when teens and pre-teens use drugs, they will usually deny it to their parents. On the other hand, the same parents who say they want to know everything going on in their kid's lives often avoid such subjects as teen sexual behavior, underage drinking and drug abuse- hoping these issues will simply ' go away'. The fact is- they don't- and putting on blinders to these issues will never resolve them. Now that the technology is available for parents to get honest answers, she believes they should not be afraid to take advantage of it. Teens may object to being tested, saying that their parents don't "trust" them. This is understandable, but a teen that has overcome the peer pressure to use drugs should be proud and anxious to prove it to their parents. Executives, professional athletes, truck drivers, and policemen have to prove that they are drug-free. Why not teenagers? Fearing drugs and their effects on her friends inspired her to approach her laboratory professional mom with the idea of offering easily used and inexpensive drug, alcohol, and tobacco tests to parents of teens.
Linzy has already known kids who have been involved in terrible car wrecks, been expelled from school, received jail terms, and even died as a direct result of drug and alcohol abuse. Even her own little sister became involved in the 'drug scene' at the age of 12! She says adults would be amazed if they knew how easily teens can obtain drugs and how many actually use them, even some of the so-called 'goody-goody' kids that no one would ever suspect are using drugs. John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, speaking about teens who use drugs said "If our schools and parents were to utilize recognized, successful intervention techniques, including drug testing, we would be able to identify these youth and get them the counseling and treatment they need to turn away from drug use".
Linzy is convinced that these tests give kids another reason to 'say no', one that their peers will understand. These tests are extremely accurate, FDA approved, and parents can see the results in just minutes. They are easily performed at home using a small amount of saliva or urine. With their home tests, there is no more wondering if your teens are drinking and driving. If a parent suspects alcohol use, they can know in just minutes by swabbing the inside of the mouth. The street drug test screens for THC (marijuana, pot, hash), Cocaine (coke, crack), Opiates (heroin, oxycontin, morphine, opium), Amphetamines (speed, uppers), Methamphetamines/mdma (ice, ecstasy, crank, crystal), and Benzodiazepines ( t-bars, valium, librium, xanax)- all of the common drugs of abuse today. Tests for nicotine are also available, so that you can know for sure that your kids aren't smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes and alcohol really are gateway drugs.
When parents have drug tests in their home, it opens the lines of communication, and helps parents and kids to start talking freely about the problem. Linzy hopes that everyone will make their household policy "NO DRUGS" and let their kids prove it. She believes testing is a better way than smelling their kids breath, checking their eyes, looking through their clothes, or listening in on their phone conversations. Parents won't have to sneakily invade their teen's privacy, because everything about drug testing puts the subject out in the open.
Their company is called Drug Test Your Teen. Visit them on the web at www.drugtestyourteen.com, or call 214-797-TEST.
Click here to order now
