Program Description  

Project 7th Grade is a fully-funded, innovative drug prevention program designed to reduce drug use among middle school students through education and proactive prevention. Project 7th Grade is offered to parents of middle school children through a partnership between notMYkid, a non-profit organization and First Check Diagnostics LLC, home drug testing company.

Project 7th Grade works nationally with school districts, law enforcement representatives, community organizations, and the media to bring this drug prevention program to parents and communities across the country. Project 7th Grade includes a presentation to parents of middle school students to inform them about today’s drug-related issues, and to provide guidance about how to use a drug test kit as a drug prevention tool. In addition, at the conclusion of the presentation each family is given a complimentary First Check drug test kit.

WHY 7th GRADE?

Most parents want to protect their children from negative influences that occur on a daily basis. Children are continually exposed to messages about the supposed acceptability of drug use through television, the Internet, movies and radio. There is no other time in a person’s life when peer pressure is greater than during adolescence. Most kids try marijuana before the age of 14, and drug use triples between 6th and 8th grade. However, the middle school years are also an age when kids still listen to their parents, and their parents play a central role in their lives. Project 7th Grade strives to provide parents with the knowledge and tools to take proactive drug prevention measures on behalf of their children.

DRUG PREVENTION

Drug testing kits can serve as a drug prevention tool in the following ways:

Private – Having a kit in the home fosters two-way communication between parent and child. Using the kit as a discussion tool, the child become involved in the discussion while you and your family are assured complete confidentiality.

Proactive – If your child is aware that you have a drug test kit in your home, he or she may be less likely to use drugs because there is a greater risk of being caught. Periodic and random testing will reinforce this message.

Prevention – By having a drug test kit at home, you’ve given your child an acceptable excuse to say no if the situation arises where friends ask he or she to try drugs. You are giving your child an acceptable reason to decline the offer: “I can’t use drugs. My parents may drug test me when I get home.”

WHAT ABOUT TRUST?

A parent’s first reaction to drug testing their kids may be a strong concern about jeopardizing the trust they feel they have with their child. Trust is something that is earned over time. From the time children are young, parents establish rules and verify that the rules are followed.

For example, parents check their child’s report cards starting in kindergarten to make sure their child is successful academically. As a child grows, parents continue to review their child’s report cards, even when their child tells them what to expect. Kids don’t have an issue about their parents reviewing their report cards in middle school or high school because it’s a verification method that started when they were young.

For an adolescent, new rules such as curfews are set. The first few late nights, parents stay up to be sure their child is home at the established time. Over time, after a child has repeatedly honored their curfew, parents may extend the curfew or may ask their child to wake them when he or she gets home. Parents trust their child, but continue to verify that their child is following the curfew.

Drug testing can be thought of as a report card or a verification method that shows how successfully a child is saying no to drugs. Parents can monitor their child’s success with resisting drug use by using the First Check Drug Test kit in the privacy of their own home.

Trust that a child is making good decisions about saying no to drugs during adolescence will be earned over time, and parents will continue to verify that their child is healthy and drug free. Home drug testing is a confidential, accurate and inexpensive prevention tool.

FIRST CHECK DIAGNOSTICS LLC

First Check is one of the few home drug test kits that is FDA approved for over the counter home use, 99.9% accurate and easy to use. It is available at all major drug store retailers.

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