First, establish and maintain good communication with your child. This involves setting aside a few minutes each day to talk with a child about problems or challenges that might have arisen during the day and how they were handled; validating a child's feelings; practicing active listening; and soliciting a child's input for family decisions. Second, get involved in your child's life. This includes spending at least 15 minutes daily in a "child-directed" activity selected by the child, engaging in an extended special activity with the child each week, supporting the child's interests and activities, consistently and immediately recognizing and praising good behavior, and using meal times to share information and discuss current affairs. Third, make clear rules and enforce them consistently with appropriate consequences for violations. This effort should include regular discussions about why using tobacco and illegal drugs and underage drinking are prohibited. The emphasis should be on the harms this can cause the child. Fourth, be a positive role model, which means not engaging in illegal, unhealthy, or dangerous drug use, and pointing out examples of harmful behavior linked to substance use or abuse. Fifth, teach your child to choose friends wisely. This includes suggesting ways to resist peer pressure to use harmful substances, helping the child feel comfortable in social situations without resorting to drugs and alcohol as crutches, and teaching the child to analyze media messages that glamorize alcohol use. Sixth, monitor your child's activities by getting to know his/her friends and their parents; knowing where the child is going, with whom, and to do what; having regular times to check in when away from home; and making sure the child's activities are dominated by positive, drug-free activities. A listing of Federal and private-sector resources