What I Learned About Drug Abuse and Alcohol Dependency in High School
When I was a sophomore in high school, I enrolled into a substance abuse class. At that time period, I did not realize that alcohol abuse in reality was a sub classification of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse, I read a lot about Alcoholic Anonymous, their meetings, how their programs have twelve steps, and how successful the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program has been for individuals throughout the world. I also learned a lot about alcohol rehab and the various alcohol rehab facilities that are frequently available to individuals who engage in abusive drinking.
Some of the harmful consequences correlated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class unquestionably alarmed me. The ruined lives and many problems experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. More to the point, I did not want to face the disaster and destruction that alcohol dependent individuals almost always encounter.
Reflect on this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What teenager wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that consuming alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teenager wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related difficulties before he or she becomes twenty-one?
What young person wants to deal with alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop drinking? Why would an individual engage in drinking to such an extent that it would cause serious issues in every area of his or her life? Drinking later in life after an individual has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a teenager want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that revolves around abusive drinking?
These issues were so significant that I discussed some of them in class throughout the school year. What was absolutely unbelievable to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the injurious results of abusive drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t care less about the truth and how these results can wreck their lives. For the first time in my life I started to grasp a saying that my grandfather used to articulate throughout my youth: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
