It's inevitable that your child will be offered a cigarette, an alcoholic drink, or an illegal drug. You can help your child resist peer pressure and find an effective way to refuse. With practice, each child can find his or her own ways to say "no." Each child must be comfortable with the way they say no, and younger and older children will have different ways of saying no. Frequently practice with your child several situations in which they should say "no." 

For example, here's one scenario: you're visiting your aunt and uncle for the weekend and while in the backyard with your 18-year-old cousin, he lights up a cigarette and offers you one. What will you say and do?

Let your child tell you how he or she would respond to the situation. If he or she has difficulty, you may want to suggest and talk about some of the following responses:

Other suggestions could include the following:

For more information, visit National PTA's Common Sense mini-website at
www.pta.org/commonsense/4_family/423_sayingno.html