An Impulsive High School Student Exhibits A Number of Alcohol-Related Difficulties, Gets Suspended From School, and Has to See the School Counselor
Dante was a seventeen year old high school senior who was manifesting quite a few alcohol-related problems at school. Therefore, the principal explained to him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist, before he would be permitted to return to class.
Later that afternoon when Dante went home after school, he had to go over his school expulsion with his Mom and Dad. His Mother and Father were “fairly old-fashioned” and informed Dante that getting suspended from school was not a tolerable educational game plan. They told Dante that failing to graduate from high school would probably be like a lead weight around his legs that could probably hurt his educational achievement for the remainder of his life. In addition, Dante’s Mom and Dad were extremely upset that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his friends in the second.
His Mother and Father informed Dante that even though he may be a teenager, he has to understand rather quickly that drinking is the route to failure, financial problems, ill health, and pain.
It was obvious that his parents were absolutely in accord with Dante’s principal and told Dante that he had better come to the understanding that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school psychologist. After his talk with his parents, Dante in due course agreed to see Miss Johnson the next school day. So Dante called the school and made an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next day during his sixth period class.
The Counselor Asks Dante if He Knows Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Activities Signaled Such Alarm By the School Administrators
When Dante went to see Miss Johnson, she immediately surveyed all of the alcohol-related difficulties Dante had experienced and asked him if he comprehended why his recent alcohol-related actions gave the school administrators room for alarm.
Quite sincerely, Dante questioned why the principal told him he had to see a school counselor. As he stated to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional therapist about his drinking situation? Since almost all of his friends drink the same amount that he does, for all intents and purposes, drinking shouldn’t be such a big deal. Stated more directly, if nearly everyone is drinking, why is this such a major concern?
Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink alcoholic beverages. He said that some of his older buddies introduced him to drinking wine 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 indeed 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 delinquency, absenteeism, and fighting, not his buddies. Moreover, Miss Johnson also emphasized the fact that Dante, and not his pals, is the one who is failing and who is missing almost two days of school every week because of his alcohol related issues. Lastly, Miss Johnson underlined the fact that due to his drinking circumstances, Dante is getting into a harmful cycle of excessive drinking that can at the end of the day wreck his dreams, hopes, and aspirations.
In a word, Dante’s involvement with teenage alcohol abuse was beginning to thwart his ability to act like an accountable young man. As stated by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your peers drink alcohol does not mean that it is the right thing to do for you.”
Dante Learns That Ultimately He Must Take Responsibility For Himself In Order to Prevent Destructive, Dangerous, Damaging, and Unhealthy Circumstances In the Foreseeable Future
Miss Johnson informed Dante that others can undoubtedly influence an individual in a negative manner, but that the person himself or herself has to at the end of the day be accountable for himself or herself in order to keep away from dangerous, destructive, unhealthy, and damaging effects in the future.
Luckily, Miss Johnson was very well equipped for her discussion with Dante. She showed him research studies and reports she had highlighted that summarized various drinking facts and statistics that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Dante quite a lot of information that applied chiefly to teens.
For instance, Miss Johnson explained the difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism and explained to Dante that drinkers who continue to drink excessively habitually become dependent on alcohol.
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 Psychologist Articulates More Than a Few Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse Statistics and Facts
Then Miss Johnson stated various alcohol facts and the following eight alcohol abuse statistics:
1. The 25.9% of teen drinkers in the U.S. who are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is ingested by all teen drinkers.
2. Fifty percent of United States murders are related to alcohol.
3. In 2002, U.S. alcohol dependency statistics and facts 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 U.S. between the ages of 14 to 17 are problem drinkers.
5. In the U.S., more than forty percent of those who begin drinking at the age 14 or younger become alcohol dependent.
6. Very few of the more than 18 million U.S. alcohol abusers receive the alcohol rehabilitation they require.
7. Teenage drinking costs Americans nearly $53 billion per year. If this cost were shared equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more than $120 million per district.
8. Alcohol-related problems are disproportionately found among both juvenile and adult criminal offenders.
Dante Receives A Meaningful Wake Up Call Concerning the Long Term and the Short Term Outcomes of Adolescent Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse
After Miss Johnson verbalized the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction facts and statistics, it was clear that what Miss Johnson made known to Dante was a real source of discovery for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only made the effort to explain the short term and the long term outcomes of alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse, but she also took the time to confirm what she was saying with alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency facts and statistics that related to everyone, and particularly to underage drinkers.
Indeed, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante at once understood why he should not be engaging in hazardous and abusive drinking with or without his peers any longer. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the material she went over.
Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical exam 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 an extensive physical examination and to go through a comprehensive appraisal of his drinking condition so that he could start an alcohol abuse or alcoholism treatment program promptly.
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