This is the second in a series of blogs about parent-child connectedness.

Recent research from eight African countries surveyed adolescents to learn rates of different high-risk behaviors, including sex at an early age.

Researchers discovered that 27.3% had experienced sexual debut before age 15. Boys and girls with sexual debut at younger than age 15 were more likely to report alcohol, tobacco and drug use, truancy, poor parental- or guardian-connectedness, sedentary behavior, having been in a physical fight and receiving a serious injury.

This series of posts is about drugs and young girls. 

We aren’t suggesting that anyone should ignore the issues of boys and drugs -- boys certainly have potential to abuse drugs at an early age. But too often people think of drugs as a boys-only problem. And it is important to recognize that drug use is also an issue with unique consequences among young girls.

So, maybe you have asked yourself “What can parents do?”

A report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy lists several suggestions. Research shows that parents are the most important influence in their daughters’ decisions about drug use. So here are some recommendations for parents of young girls:

Today's kids face a ton of risks. Their choices are tough, including issues like drugs and other substances, teenage pregnancy, and what to look at on the Internet. The temptations for kids can be overwhelming. So, parents keep asking themselves, "What can I do to help my child make smart choices?"

The answer? You can do quite a lot!

We hear people often say that their kids "just don’t listen.” But did you ever wonder why they might not be listening?

Take a personal inventory of the way you and your child interact. Does your family typically use any of the following approaches?

Resilience, in the field of health as it relates to youth, is the ability to face adversity and survive in spite of that adversity. Even more, it is the capacity to excel when things aren’t going well. Sounds confusing? Let’s clarify.

Some kids grow up under such terrible circumstances that you might think they'd have no chance at a normal life, yet they ultimately do very well as they grow up. Many children of alcoholics go on to live free of alcohol addiction. Many kids subjected to terrible childhood abuse do not become abusers in adulthood. Many youngsters who grow up in gang-infested inner cities go on to live productive lives free of drugs and violence.