How to Search a Teen's Room for Drugs
When a parent suspects a child is doing drugs, there is often a mix of anger, confusion and sadness. It's extremely important to remain as calm as possible and approach the situation carefully. In order to protect your child's safety, you may come to the point where it is necessary to search a teen's room for drugs, with or without a teen's knowledge.
Instructions
Prepare for your child to be angry if he suspects you have searched his room. As paranoia is a common side effect of many drugs popular among teenagers, your teen may already be worrying that you are spying on him or will find out about his problem. It's likely that he may notice that someone has entered his room and moved his belongings, so be ready to deal with a possible confrontation about the search. Wait until you know that your teen will be out of the house for an extended period of time. The best time to do so is probably when she will be at school, though if your teen happens to skip school, a behavior that tends to accompany teen drug abuse, be aware of the possibility that she may unsuspectingly come home expecting you to be at work. If possible, wait to perform the search until you are certain you teen will be away from her room several uninterrupted hours, such as a work shift or a weekend vacation. Think about hiding places built into the structure of your house. Your teen is likely to be familiar with any special spots in his room where there are special compartments or openings, such as crawl spaces, attic doors, loose flooring or drop ceiling panels. These are places in your teen's room where drugs or drug paraphernalia might be hidden because he may think no one else in the household knows about them. Check everywhere in the room where drugs could be hidden, such as under the bed or mattress, behind bookcases and inside desk drawers. Look inside the battery compartments of any electronics in your teen's room, such as the TV, remote controls and portable CD players. Also check any pieces of furniture with hollow areas that could provide a hiding place for small stashes of drugs. Wait to confront your teen about your suspicions if you do not find any evidence. Though it may be necessary to bring up the issue regardless of whether or not you find drugs in your teen's room, breaking your teen's trust can also be dangerous and can cause her to isolate herself even further from you. Discussing potential drug abuse is a topic that must be handled very delicately.