Dante was a sixteen year old high school sophomore who was manifesting numerous alcohol-related difficulties at school. For that reason, the principal informed him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor, before he would be allowed to come back to school.
Later that afternoon when Dante went home after school, he had to clarify his school suspension to his Mother and Father. His parents were “relatively old fashioned” and told Dante that getting thrown out of school was not a workable educational option. They explained to Dante that failing to graduate from high school would probably be like a lead weight around his feet that may hurt his educational achievement for the remainder of his life. Not only this, but Dante’s parents were quite unhappy that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his friends in the second.
His Mother and Father informed Dante that although he may be a teenager, he needs to understand fairly rapidly that drinking is the map to ill health, failure, pain, and financial problems.
It was evident that his Mom and Dad were completely in concurrence with Dante’s principal and told Dante that he had better come to the understanding that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist. After his chat with his parents, Dante at long last agreed to see Miss Johnson the next day. So Dante phoned the school and scheduled an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next afternoon.
The Therapist Asks Dante if He Comprehends Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Activities Caused Quite a Bit of Anxiety By the School Administrators
When Dante arrived at his scheduled appointment with Miss Johnson, she promptly reviewed all of the alcohol-related issues Dante had experienced and asked him if he understood why his recent alcohol-related actions gave the school administrators room for alarm.
Quite honestly, Dante was unsure why the principal suggested that he see a school therapist. As he stated to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional counselor about his drinking circumstances? Since just about all of his friends drink about as much as he does, fundamentally, drinking shouldn’t be such a big issue. Stated another way, if nearly everybody is drinking, why is this such a major problem?
Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink alcoholic beverages. He said that some of his older pals introduced him to drinking hard liquor when he was twelve or thirteen years old and getting ready to enter the seventh grade.
Miss Johnson informed Dante that while his classmates may indeed drink more than he does and that they may be a negative influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting kicked out of school due to alcohol-related fighting, delinquency, and absenteeism, not his pals. Moreover, Miss Johnson also emphasized the fact that Dante, and not his classmates, is the one who is failing and who is missing at least two days of school per week because of his alcohol related problems. Finally, Miss Johnson underscored the fact that due to his drinking behavior, Dante is getting into a dangerous cycle of alcohol abuse that can ultimately ruin his dreams, hopes, and aspirations.
In a word, Dante’s involvement with youth alcohol abuse was beginning to impede his ability to function as an accountable young man. As stated by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your buddies drink wine, beer, hard liquor, or wine coolers does not mean that it is the correct behavior for you.”
Dante Learns That In the Long Run He Must Take Responsibility For Himself In Order to Avoid Damaging, Destructive, Dangerous, and Unhealthy Situations Down the Road
Miss Johnson informed Dante that other people can without a doubt influence an individual in an unhealthy way, but that the person herself or himself has to in time take responsibility for herself or himself in order to stay away from dangerous, destructive, damaging, and unhealthy effects down the road.
Luckily, Miss Johnson was very organized for her discussion with Dante. She showed him reports and research studies she had highlighted that summarized various drinking statistics and facts that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Dante quite a lot of figures and reports that applied especially to teenagers.
As an illustration, Miss Johnson stressed the difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction and explained to Dante that individuals who continue to drink excessively frequently become alcoholic.
Miss Johnson also explained the concept of binge drinking which she defined as follows: ingesting five or more drinks in one sitting for males and consuming four or more drinks in one sitting for females.
The Therapist Presents Quite a Few Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Facts and Statistics
Then Miss Johnson listed various alcohol facts and the following eight alcohol abuse statistics:
1. The 25.9% of teen drinkers in the U.S. who are alcohol dependent and alcohol abusers drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all teenage drinkers.
2. Fifty percent of U.S. homicides are alcohol related.
3. In 2002, U.S. alcoholism facts and statistics revealed that 2.6 million binge drinkers were between the ages of 12 and 17.
4. It is estimated that more than 3 million adolescents in the United States between the ages of 14 to 17 are alcohol abusers or alcohol dependent.
5. In the U.S., more than 40% of those who start drinking at the age 14 or younger become alcoholic.
6. Very few of the more than 18 million U.S. alcohol abusers receive the alcohol rehab they need.
7. Adolescent drinking costs Americans nearly billion per year. If this cost were shared equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more than 0 million per district.
8. Alcohol-related issues are unevenly found among both juvenile and adult criminal offenders.
Dante Gets A Relevant Wake Up Call Regarding the Long Term and the Short Term Effects of Youth Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
After Miss Johnson went over the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency statistics and facts, it was clear that what Miss Johnson taught Dante was a wake up call for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only took the time to explain the short term and the long term consequences of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency, but she also made the effort to verify what she was saying with alcohol abuse and alcoholism facts and statistics that related to everyone in general, and especially to adolescents.
Undeniably, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante instantaneously realized why he should not be engaging in excessive and abusive drinking with or without his friends any longer. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the information she presented.
Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical examination and an alcohol appraisal for the alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction treatment he would probably need.
Dante thought about this for a minute and then agreed to get a comprehensive physical exam and to go through an extensive assessment of his drinking behavior so that he could start an alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency rehabilitation program in a reasonable time frame.