A Fretful High School Student Exhibits Quite a Few Alcohol-Related Problems, Gets Kicked Out of School, and Has to See the School Therapist

Dante was a eighteen year old high school senior who was manifesting several alcohol-related issues at school. Therefore, the principal told him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor, before he would be permitted to return to class.

Later that day when Dante went home after school, he had to go over his school expulsion with his Mom and Dad. His Mother and Father were “relatively conventional” and told Dante that getting thrown out of school was not a satisfactory educational option. They informed Dante that failing to graduate from high school would most probably be like a lead weight around his ankles that might inhibit his educational attainment for the rest of his adult life. What is more, Dante’s parents were quite troubled that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his friends in the second.

His parents told Dante that even though he may be a teen, he has to comprehend without much delay that drinking is the road to ill health, financial problems, pain, and failure.

It was clear that his Mother and Father were on the same page as Dante’s principal and told Dante that he had better make plans to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist. After his dialogue with his Mother and Father, Dante at 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 after school.

The Therapist Asks Dante if He Knows Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Behavior Caused Quite a Bit of Anxiety By the School Administrators

When Dante went to see Miss Johnson, she instantly examined all of the alcohol-related difficulties Dante had gotten into and asked him if he understood why his recent alcohol-related actions made the school administrators uneasy.

Quite honestly, Dante was unsure why the principal told him he had to see a school therapist. As he stated to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional counselor about his drinking circumstances? Since nearly all of his pals drink the same amount that he does, for all intents and purposes, drinking is no big issue. Stated more explicitly, if just about everyone is drinking, why is this such a major issue?

Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink. He said that some of his older friends introduced him to drinking hard liquor when he was twelve or thirteen years old and getting ready to enter the seventh grade.

Miss Johnson explained to Dante that while his pals may in fact drink as much as he does and that they may be a bad influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting removed from school due to alcohol-related absenteeism, fighting, and delinquency, not his classmates. What is more, Miss Johnson also emphasized the fact that Dante, and not his peers, is the one who is failing and who is missing almost two days of school per week due to his alcohol related problems. Lastly, Miss Johnson stressed the fact that due to his drinking circumstances, Dante is getting into a destructive cycle of excessive drinking that can eventually destroy his life.

In a word, Dante’s involvement with teenage alcohol abuse was beginning to foil his ability to act like an accountable young man. As conveyed by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your pals drink hard liquor, wine, wine coolers, or beer does not mean that it is the appropriate behavior for you.”

Dante Learns That Ultimately He Must Be Responsible For Himself In Order to Keep Away From Unhealthy, Damaging, Destructive, and Dangerous Consequences In the Future

Miss Johnson explained to Dante that other people can indeed influence an individual in an unhealthy manner, but that the person herself or himself has to at the end of the day claim responsibility for himself or herself in order to steer clear of destructive, unhealthy, damaging, and dangerous outcomes in the future.

Luckily, Miss Johnson was very well equipped for her scheduled meeting with Dante. She showed him research studies and reports she had underlined that outlined diverse drinking facts and statistics that targeted most people in general. Then she showed Dante a lot of information that applied especially to teens.

As an illustration, Miss Johnson underscored the difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse and informed Dante that people who continue to drink excessively regularly become addicted to alcohol.

Miss Johnson also explained the concept of binge drinking which she defined as follows: consuming four or more drinks in one sitting for females and drinking five or more drinks in one sitting for males.

The Counselor States Numerous Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Facts and Statistics

Then Miss Johnson articulated various alcohol facts and the following eight alcohol abuse statistics:

1. As demonstrated by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, there are 105,000 annual alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. because of inebriated drivers and related diseases, medical conditions, or injuries.

2. Roughly twenty-five percent of all U.S. people who are admitted to general hospitals have drinking problems or are undiagnosed people who are addicted to alcohol who are being treated for the results of their irresponsible drinking.

3. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are the third leading cause of preventable fatalities in the United States.

4. More than 7% of the population that is 18 years old and older — roughly 13.8 million Americans — has problems with drinking, including 8.1 million individuals who suffer from alcoholism.

5. 500,000 Americans who are dependent on alcohol are between the ages of 9 and 12.

6. As demonstrated by one U.S. research study of 18 to 24 year-old current drinkers who did not complete high school, nearly 60% began to drink before they were 16 years old.

7. Currently, about 14 million Americans, 1 in every 13 adults, are addicted to alcohol or are alcohol abusers.

8. As demonstrated by the research literature, non-alcoholic members of alcoholic’s families use ten times as much sick leave as families who do not display alcohol problems.

Dante Receives A Relevant Primer on the Facts About the Short Term and the Long Term Outcomes of Teenage Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

After Miss Johnson stated the aforementioned alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts and statistics, it was clear that what Miss Johnson disclosed to Dante was a real source of discovery for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only took the time to articulate the long term and the short term outcomes of alcoholism and alcohol abuse, but she also made the effort to support what she was saying with alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics and facts that related to people in general, and chiefly to teenagers.

Definitely, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante immediately grasped why he should not be engaging in abusive and hazardous drinking with or without his classmates anymore. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the information she reviewed.

Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical examination and an alcohol evaluation for the alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency rehabilitation he would probably need.

Dante thought about this for a minute and then agreed to get an extensive physical examination and to go through a thorough appraisal of his drinking condition so that he could start an alcohol rehab program right away.

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