Stop Your Children From Buying Prescription Drugs Online

Buying Drugs Online

Internet drug dealers sell drugs to children by advertising it as candy. Kids can easily buy addictive prescription, street or over-the-counter drugs online. All they need is access to a parent’s credit card that may be stored on the computer. Access to drugs over the Internet is a fairly new phenomenon and laws and regulations have yet to catch up with it. But even with laws in place, parents need to make sure their kids are safe from online drug dealers and sites that sell prescription drugs.

Facts parents should know:

• Most of the prescription drugs abused by teens come from family medicine cabinets and from friends;
• 6 out of 10 teens who have abused prescription painkillers did so before age 15;
• 4 out of 10 teens believe getting high on prescription pills is not dangerous because they are doctor prescribed;

Prescription drug abuse is more common than you think. In fact, prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in the United States. In New Hampshire 20% of teens have abused prescription drugs. And over the last ten years prescription drug abuse in New Hampshire has risen 200%. According to the NH Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, in 2009 more NH citizens died from drug overdoses (164) than car accidents (110).

Do You Know What Your Kids Are Doing Online?

It's hard enough raising responsible kids without having to worry about what they're doing behind our backs. Without a doubt, the Internet is a prolific 21st century marvel when it comes to accessing information and the advancement of learning for children. These benefits come at a price, however. The Net is also the largest playground ever for kids to encounter all sorts of temptation. SurveilStar allows you to block entire categories of websites (such as pornography, gambling sites, time-wasting sites) so that you can control your kids web surfing activity to keep them focused where they should be.

Potential dangers of buying prescription drugs online

Buying drugs from an Internet-based business that does not provide a street address and telephone number may pose serious health risks because consumers have no way of knowing where these companies are located, where they get their drugs, what is in their drugs, or how to reach them if there is a problem. Buying drugs on the Internet may also pose financial risks: the product may not be shipped at all, or if it is coming from another country, it could be stopped and refused entry at the border by Canadian authorities.

If you order from these sites, you may get counterfeit drugs that may contain the incorrect dose, the wrong ingredients, dangerous additives, or no active ingredients at all, which could result in potentially serious health risks. Even if these drugs do not harm you directly or immediately, your condition may get worse without effective treatment.

What can happen when teens misuse prescription drugs?

1. Physical and dangerous side effects can occur like, changes in breathing that can lead to death.

2. Repeated use can lead to addiction. The body adapts to the presence of the prescription drug and withdrawal symptoms can occur when use is reduced abruptly.

3. Severe symptoms when use is stopped include: restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, and involuntary leg movements.

4. You will notice negative changes in your teen’s social, emotional and family life.

How do parents recognize prescription drug abuse?

• Your teen has drugs (like pills) for unlikely reasons;
• You notice prescription drugs are missing;
• Your teen visits websites where he or she can purchase drugs or learn about drug use;
• You notice changes in your teen’s social behavior;

How Can Parents Protect Teens?

If your kids have purchased drugs illegally via the Internet, or if you suspect they are trolling Web sites tempting them to do so, here are some options for parents to action:

Tips for Parents

Option 1: Talk to your kids. Explain what's wrong with buying medications illegally, in terms they can understand. Tell them in no uncertain terms that you strictly forbid them to buy drugs on the Internet. Be specific about the consequences (your choice here), and make it clear that disciplinary actions will be enforced on the very first violation.

Option 2: If you suspect or find out that option 1 isn't working, move the computer out of the kids' bedrooms and into common spaces (living room, kitchen, etc.). Tell them that the computer will remain in a common area for a set period of time, so that you can monitor their Web use.

Option 3: If options 1 and 2 aren't working, check the computer's browser history. Yes, this is spying. But if you believe your child is really involved in an illegal activity, you have an obligation to investigate. 

Option 4:If options 1, 2, and 3 fail, install Surveilstar parental control software or Internet filters. SurveilStar Parental Control Software is a reliable solution to safeguard your children's' Internet experience and maximize the efficiency of the time they spend on the computer. This software basically works by restricting and permitting access to certain websites, as well as to monitor Internet browsing habits and activities. With this parental control software, you can stop your kids purchasing prescription drugs online.

In spite of these actions, as a 16-year-old boy who always surf on internet pointed out, "If there's a will, there is still most definitely a way." Still, you need to do the right thing. Perhaps your kids will thank you later. Either way, raising children and teens to act responsibly and enforcing appropriate behavior, are the toughest tasks you will ever take on.

Stop This Behavior with Surveilstar Parental Control Software

As a parent, it is necessary to warn your child against the evil of purchasing prescription drugs online. All you have to do as a parent is either hide or lock up medications that you take regularly, or dispose of excess medication that you no longer need daily. Blocking the other avenue—online pharmacies—requires our assistance. By computer monitoring software like SurveilStar which is a parental control software on to your local computer, you can eliminate not only the temptation to purchase online prescription pills, but also the ability. If your child knows you are monitoring their online activities, they may be inclined to cease making such purchases on their own. If not, you can block the websites where they access these drugs.

To start an all-out strategic battle to protect your kids from online dangers, while still letting them safely enjoy the games and resources that are available on the Internet, SurveilStar is the perfect solution that can be used for filtering web site content and monitoring the web sites my kids are viewing on the Internet:

Surveilstar - Advanced Website Content Filtering

SurveilStar is an effective, easy-to-use web filtering software program that will protect your kids from the sites that you don’t want them to see while allowing them to access the many benefits offered online. So with this parental control software, you can make sure your kids away from the website which sell prescription drugs online. SurveilStar’s content filtering module perpetually scans web pages, in real-time, for blocked words and terms that you set. Whenever a blocked word is encountered, the webpage is instantly shut down before your children can view the restricted content, so that you don't have to worry about your kids viewing inappropriate web sites. It also protects against viruses, spyware, adware, malware, and even system hijack attempts.

Keep Your Eyes on Kids' Online Activity

In addition to active parental supervision, there is a new class of software to monitor children's computer activities. For you can't watch your kids all the time that they're on the computer, but it's helpful to have the ability to track their Internet activity with Parental Control Software when you're not around, as well as other types of computer usage such as IM chats and email.

Besides installing Parental Control Software on your local computer, keeping the lines of communication open is always good for building trust in a parent-child relationship, so consider using our computer monitoring software Surveilstar Parental Control Software as a supplement to your parenting tactics that are already in place.