If you think you don't need to discuss drug use with your kids, you're not alone: according to a recent survey from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, many parents have a "don't ask, don't tell" approach when it comes to drugs. Nearly half the middle- and high-school kids surveyed said their parents had never talked to them about the dangers of drug use.

Read on to find out why and how you should talk to your kids about drugs, even if they haven't started school yet.

Why Do I Need to Talk to My Kid About Drugs?
Why should you talk to your kids about drugs even before they're likely to be exposed to them? Just as you inoculate your children against life-threatening illnesses like measles when they are small, you can "immunize" your children against drug use by giving them the facts before they are presented with the substance.

"If we as parents do not take the responsibility to educate our children about drugs, they are going to get the information from other people, and that information may not be right," explains Lisa Elliott, PhD, a children's behavioral health specialist. "Often, without that information, because of peer influence and the desire to fit in, kids will just go ahead and experiment, and they have no idea what they're doing."