NORTH ADAMS â If you are not talking to your kids about drugs, sex and alcohol, they inevitably will get their information elsewhere. That is what Wendy Penner, director of Prevention and Recovery at the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, wants parents to know. Kids pick up information about alcohol and sex everywhere, she says, including in advertising, media and their own social circles. âJust because theyâre not saying anything doesnât mean theyâre not forming beliefs,â Penner said. The good news, she says, is that parents can shape those beliefs just by having simple, regular conversations about how to make good decisions: Studies show that young people who openly communicate with their parents are less likely to engage in risky behaviors.