Dante was a eighteen year old high school senior who was displaying numerous alcohol-related problems at school. For that reason, the principal told him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist, 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 Mom and Dad were “relatively conservative” and informed Dante that getting removed from school was not a doable educational plan of action. They told Dante that failing to graduate from high school would more likely than not be like a lead weight around his ankles that might encumber his educational aspirations for the remainder of his adult life. In addition, Dante’s parents were quite letdown that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his peers in the second.

His Mom and Dad informed Dante that although he may be young, he has to comprehend fairly swiftly that drinking is the route to failure, pain, financial problems, and ill health.

It was apparent that his Mother and Father were absolutely in agreement with Dante’s principal and informed Dante that he had better come to the understanding that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist. After his dialogue with his Mother and Father, 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 after school.

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 went to see Miss Johnson, she at once examined all of the alcohol-related difficulties Dante had gotten into and asked him if he knew why his recent alcohol-related activities were such a cause for concern.

Quite truthfully, Dante was not sure why the principal told him he had to see a school psychologist. As he expressed to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional psychologist about his drinking behavior? Since just about all of his buddies drink about as much as he does, in essence, drinking shouldn’t be such a big thing. Stated more directly, if almost everyone is drinking, why is this such a big thing?

Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink. He said that some of his older buddies introduced him to drinking beer when he was twelve or thirteen years old and getting ready to enter junior high school.

Miss Johnson told Dante that while his classmates may in fact drink more than he does and that they may be an unhealthy influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting thrown out of school due to alcohol-related delinquency, absenteeism, and fighting, not his buddies. Not only this but Miss Johnson also stressed the fact that Dante, and not his classmates, is the one who is failing and who is missing one day of class per week due to his alcohol related difficulties. Finally, Miss Johnson underlined the fact that because of his drinking circumstances, Dante is getting into a harmful cycle of hazardous drinking that can in the long run wreck his aspirations, hopes, and dreams.

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

Dante Learns That In Due Course He Must Be Accountable For Himself In Order to Stay Away From Dangerous, Unhealthy, Damaging, and Destructive Circumstances Down the Road

Miss Johnson informed Dante that one’s classmates can without a doubt influence an individual in an unhealthy manner, but that the individual himself or herself has to in the long run take responsibility for herself or himself in order to prevent unhealthy, destructive, dangerous, and damaging outcomes in the foreseeable future.

Fortunately, Miss Johnson was extremely well equipped for her scheduled appointment with Dante. She showed him reports and research studies she had highlighted that listed various drinking statistics and facts that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Dante a lot of data that applied chiefly to adolescents.

For instance, Miss Johnson explained the difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction and informed Dante that individuals who continue to drink abusively more often than not become alcohol dependent.

Miss Johnson also discussed the concept of binge drinking that 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 Verbalizes Several Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Statistics and Facts

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

1. Alcohol is a contributing factor in nearly fifty percent of America’s accidental deaths, murders, and suicides.

2. Accidents related to alcohol are the leading cause of deaths among adolescents.

3. Each year in the U.S., approximately 5,000 youth under the age of 21 die because of underage drinking. This includes nearly 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes.

4. Research has demonstrated that U.S. teenagers who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teenagers who never ingest alcoholic beverages.

5. Almost 1,700 college students in the United States lose their lives annually–about 4.65 a day–as a consequence of injuries that are alcohol related.

6. In 2005, 2.1 million American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 asserted that they engage in drinking while driving.

7. The World Health Organization projects that roughly 76 million people throughout the world have alcohol-related disorders.

8. According to recent drug and alcohol abuse research findings, it has been discovered that around 53% of the adults in the U.S. have claimed that one or more of their close family members has a problem with alcohol.

Dante Gets A Much Needed Jolt of Reality Concerning the Long Term and the Short Term Effects of Underage Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency

After Miss Johnson conveyed the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcoholism facts and statistics, it was evident that what Miss Johnson made known to Dante was a wake up call for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only made the effort to give an explanation of the short term and the long term outcomes of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, but she also made the effort to authenticate what she was saying with alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency statistics and facts that related to everyone in general, and especially to underage drinkers.

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

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

Dante thought about this for a minute and then agreed to get a comprehensive physical and to go through a comprehensive appraisal of his drinking situation so that he could start an alcohol abuse or alcoholism rehab program in a practical time frame.

Tags

Related posts

• An Impetuous High School Student Exhibits A Number of Alcohol-Related Difficulties, Gets Thrown Out of School, and Has to See the School Psychologist (0)
• Youth Alcohol Abuse: A Significant Problem (0)
• When Hazardous and Excessive Drinking Results in Serious Health Problems (0)
• When Drinking Becomes Problematic (0)
• When Drinking Becomes a Problem That Requires Attention (0)