It’s impossible to make up for the loss of a loved on, but it is possible to make something good happen because of their death. And that’s what’s happening in the UK now because of the tragic death of Amy Winehouse. More people are checking into drug rehab centers than ever.

Some phones are ringing off the hook – people look at what happened to Amy and know they have to do something about themselves if they want to make sure the same doesn’t happen to them.

I believe this indicates some sort of change in the alcohol/drug climate. In years past, kids knew that celebrated musicians and artists took drugs, and that drugs killed them. Parents, in an effort to discourage their kids from taking drugs, would use these celebrities as examples – especially those the kids admired and wanted to emulate.

However, many kids had the viewpoint that what made these celebrity musicians great was the drugs. And the kids wanted to be great, too, so they also wanted to take drugs.

In some cases, the fact that those musicians were now dead didn’t seem to get through. Maybe the fact that they were young, still feeling invincible, and hadn’t had much experience with death in their family or with friends, made the death part of the situation somewhat unreal to them. As other kinds of danger are to many young people.

If Amy Winehouse’s death causes more people to seek out an alcohol or drug rehab program that can straighten them out, she can add that to her legacy.

Still, she’s gone. And her death is a lesson to parents all over the world – don’t let the same thing happen to your kids.

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