Dante was a seventeen year old high school senior who was manifesting more than a few 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 explain his school discharge to his parents. His Mom and Dad were “fairly conventional” and explained to Dante that getting discharged from school was not a satisfactory educational plan of action. They told Dante that failing to graduate from high school would most probably be like a lead weight around his feet that may hurt his educational attainment for the rest of his life. Furthermore, Dante’s Mother and Father were quite unhappy that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his buddies in the second.

They informed Dante that although he may be young, he has to realize fairly rapidly that drinking is the path to failure, financial problems, pain, and ill health.

It was clear that his Mother and Father were completely in accord with Dante’s principal and explained to 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 school day. So Dante called the school and made an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next afternoon after school.

The Psychologist Asks Dante if He Understands Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Actions Were Such a Cause For Concern By the School Administrators

When Dante got to his scheduled appointment with Miss Johnson, she immediately looked at all of the alcohol-related problems Dante had experienced and asked him if he understood why his recent alcohol-related activities gave the school administrators room for alarm.

Quite sincerely, Dante questioned why the principal informed him that he had to see a school therapist. As he stated to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional counselor about his drinking activities? Due to the fact that almost all of his classmates drink as much if not more than he does, drinking really is no big thing. Stated differently, if almost everyone 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 classmates introduced him to drinking wine coolers when he was twelve or thirteen years old and between the sixth and seventh grades.

Miss Johnson explained to Dante that while his pals may in fact drink more than he does and that they may be a bad influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting expelled from school due to alcohol-related delinquency, absenteeism, and fighting, not his buddies. Furthermore, Miss Johnson also underscored the fact that Dante, and not his classmates, 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 because of his drinking situation, Dante is getting into a destructive cycle of abusive drinking that can in time destroy his life.

In short, Dante’s involvement with youth alcohol abuse was beginning to short-circuit his ability to function as an accountable young man. As put into words by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your classmates drink wine, hard liquor, wine coolers, or beer does not mean that it is the correct behavior for you.”

Dante Learns That Eventually He Must Be Accountable For Himself In Order to Steer Clear of Dangerous, Destructive, Damaging, and Unhealthy Circumstances In the Future

Miss Johnson told Dante that one’s peers can undeniably influence an individual in a negative manner, but that the person himself or herself has to eventually be responsible for himself or herself in order to avoid damaging, unhealthy, destructive, and dangerous consequences in the foreseeable future.

Fortunately, Miss Johnson was very well prepared for her scheduled time with Dante. She showed him reports and research studies she had highlighted that summarized diverse drinking facts and statistics that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Dante a lot of data that applied particularly to underage drinkers.

As an illustration, Miss Johnson underscored the difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction and told Dante that people who continue to drink in an abusive manner commonly 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 Counselor Conveys Quite a Few Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction Facts and Statistics

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

1. The 25.9% of adolescent drinkers in the United States who are alcoholic and alcohol abusers drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all teen drinkers.

2. Fifty percent of U.S. homicides are related to alcohol.

3. In 2002, U.S. alcoholism statistics and facts showed that 2.6 million binge drinkers were between the ages of 12 and 17.

4. It is estimated that more than 3 million teens 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 alcoholic.

6. Very few of the more than 18 million U.S. alcohol abusers receive the alcohol rehabilitation they need.

7. Adolescent drinking costs Americans nearly billion annually. If each congressional district shared this cost equally, the amount would total more than 0 million per district.

8. Alcohol-related problems are unevenly found among both juvenile and adult criminal offenders.

Dante Receives An Important Jolt of Reality Regarding the Short Term and the Long Term Results of Teenage Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency

After Miss Johnson conveyed the aforementioned alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse facts and statistics, it was obvious 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 put in plain words the short term and the long term outcomes of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency, but she also took the time to substantiate what she was saying with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction statistics and facts that related to people in general, and chiefly to young people.

Certainly, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante promptly realized why he should not be engaging in abusive and excessive drinking with or without his classmates anymore. 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 examination and an alcohol assessment for the alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction rehabilitation he would probably need.

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

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Miss Benning was a health instructor at the best known private high school in the district. Even though she had been teaching for only two or three years, she had already secured a reputation as an instructor with educational methods that encouraged and inspired the pupils in her class to think and to learn.

For example, one Wednesday morning at 10:00 she addressed the pupils in her classroom and stated the following: “For the next few days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based viewpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most typical signs of alcoholism from a less general and more explicit viewpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will unquestionably establish that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted person, but the more signs that a drinker exhibits, the greater the possibility that he or she is an alcohol dependent person.”

Miss Benning then informed the the students that each pupil would be held responsible for examining three alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her results to the class via a six minute oral presentation.

The Students are Wound Up About Giving A Thorough Presentation to Their Fellow Students About The Signs of Alcoholism

After learning about the diverse signs of alcohol dependency for several days, the time had finally come for the oral presentations. It was instantaneously apparent that the students in her class were thrilled about the topic because the information that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the eagerness displayed by the students in her classroom regarding this subject was an understatement.

The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcohol dependency signs that were discussed and presented in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked her pupils to study the list and rank the top eight alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and informed her pupils that after she assesses the numbers, she will discuss her findings the next school day.

There was some real anticipation by the pupils while they were walking out of Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could find out the outcome of their in-class research.

The Students Contrast Their Answers With the Results From A Group of Alcohol Addiction Authorities

When the next school day finally arrived, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcoholism signs as per the students’ rankings. Next to these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then informed the students in her class that the numbers in the second column she added were the answers that were articulated by a council of alcohol dependency authorities.

Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to go over the information on the piece of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, concerns, or questions. Within 30 or 40 seconds, almost every pupil in the class raised her or his hand. It was noticeable that the pupils had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. For instance, just about every student disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the experts, to be precise, “Do you feel really sick when you quit drinking?”

The Principal Difference Between Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse

Miss Benning then explained to the students in her classroom why this answer was the most precise indicator of alcohol addiction. She pointed out that the principal difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.

Essentially this means that when an alcohol dependent person suddenly stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then explained to her pupils that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more explicitly, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the brain and from the body telling an alcoholic that something is terribly out of kilter and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of dangerous, painful, and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to a person’s death if the proper treatment is not promptly obtained.

Miss Benning then went over the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent person abruptly stops drinking.

The point that Miss Benning tried to underline was this: an individual who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol addiction signs that the students had ranked, but the one sign or symptom that few, if any, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To articulate this as clearly as possible, Miss Benning underscored the point that alcohol abusers, unlike people who are addicted to alcohol, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they quit drinking, they almost never go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Think They Have Uncovered An Incongruity With the Findings From The Team of Substance Abuse Professionals

The students also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the chemical dependency authorities, that is, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to get rid of a hangover or to steady your nerves?”

Miss Benning told the students in her classroom that this sign does not inevitably denote that the problem is alcohol addiction, but that it does highlight the need that alcohol dependent individuals have to drink in order to avoid alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol dependent individual, the pupils started to grasp the fundamental difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked her pupils to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is an alcoholic knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would get alcohol dependency treatment?”

After approximately three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ responses. While many students believed that around 75 to 85 percent of people who are addicted to alcohol would ask for alcohol rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol dependency signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students thought that this number would not be less than 55 percent.

The Pupils Were Surprised to Discover That Only 25% of Alcoholics in the U.S. Get Alcohol Dependency Rehab

To the surprise of most of the pupils, Miss Benning declared that according to different scientific studies, only 25% of the alcohol addicted individuals in the United States obtain alcohol dependency rehabilitation. This amazed most of the students because they reasoned that first-hand knowledge of the gruesome facts and statistics related to alcohol addiction would motivate the majority of the people who are alcohol dependent to ask for alcoholism rehab.

Miss Benning then stated that alcohol dependent individuals not only need alcohol everyday in order to function but they also need alcohol on a daily basis so they can avoid possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, the alcohol dependent individual’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. Indeed, because the craving for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol addicted individual, this is a thorny issue that is hard to negate.

A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating that the end of class had arrived. Based on the excitement displayed by the pupils when they were leaving the room, Miss Benning knew that she had stimulated and encouraged the pupils in her class to stop and think about a critical health and social problem that exists in our country.

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Dante was a sixteen year old high school junior who was manifesting quite a few alcohol-related issues at school. Therefore, the principal informed him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor, before he would be allowed to come back to class.

Later that day when Dante went home after school, he had to go over his school suspension with his Mother and Father. His Mom and Dad were “relatively old fashioned” and told Dante that dropping out of school was not an acceptable educational game plan. They informed Dante that failing to graduate from high school would probably be like a lead weight around his legs that could probably impair his educational aspirations for the rest of his adult life. What is more, Dante’s Mom and Dad were very distraught that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his pals in the second.

They told Dante that although he may be a teenager, he needs to comprehend rather quickly that drinking is the route to pain, failure, ill health, and financial problems.

It was clear that his Mother and Father were on the same page as Dante’s principal and explained to Dante that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school psychologist. After his dialogue with his Mom and Dad, Dante in the end agreed to see Miss Johnson the next day. So Dante phoned the school and scheduled an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next day during his sixth period class.

The Therapist Asks Dante if He Knows 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 immediately analyzed all of the alcohol-related problems Dante had experienced and asked him if he knew why his recent alcohol-related behavior caused quite a bit of anxiety by the school administrators.

Quite truthfully, 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 circumstances? Since almost all of his friends drink as much if not more than he does, in effect, drinking shouldn’t be such a big deal. 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 friends introduced him to drinking beer when he was twelve or thirteen years old and getting ready to enter the seventh grade.

Miss Johnson told Dante that while his buddies 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 discharged from school due to alcohol-related fighting, delinquency, and absenteeism, not his buddies. Furthermore, Miss Johnson also emphasized the fact that Dante, and not his classmates, is the one who is failing and who is missing one day of school every week due to his alcohol related issues. Lastly, Miss Johnson underscored the fact that due to his drinking circumstances, Dante is getting into a dangerous cycle of abusive drinking that can finally destroy his aspirations, hopes, and dreams.

In short, Dante’s involvement with youth alcohol abuse was starting to foil his ability to function as a responsible young man. As stated by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your buddies drink beer, wine coolers, wine, or hard liquor does not mean that it is the correct behavior for you.”

Dante Learns That In the End He Must Be Accountable For Himself In Order to Avoid Damaging, Unhealthy, Dangerous, and Destructive Circumstances In the Future

Miss Johnson explained to Dante that one’s peers can unquestionably influence an individual in an unhealthy way, but that the person herself or himself has to in the end be accountable for herself or himself in order to stay away from destructive, unhealthy, dangerous, and damaging outcomes in the future.

Fortunately, Miss Johnson was well prepared for her appointment with Dante. She showed him research studies and reports she had underlined that summarized diverse drinking facts and statistics that targeted most people in general. Then she showed Dante quite a lot of information that applied mainly to teenagers.

For example, Miss Johnson stressed the difference between alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse and informed Dante that individuals who continue to drink excessively frequently become alcoholic.

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

The Counselor Conveys More Than a Few Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Statistics and Facts

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

1. According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, there are 105,000 yearly alcohol-related deaths in the United States due to inebriated drivers and related diseases, medical conditions, or injuries.

2. Roughly one-fourth of all U.S. people who are admitted to general hospitals have alcohol-related problems or are undiagnosed individuals who are addicted to alcohol who are being treated for the results of their abusive drinking.

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

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

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

6. According to one U.S. study of 18 to 24 year-old current drinkers who did not complete high school, almost sixty percent began to drink before they were 16 years old.

7. Currently, almost 14 million Americans, 1 in every 13 adults, are alcoholic or abuse alcohol.

8. As revealed by the research literature, non-alcoholic members of alcoholic’s families use 10 times as much sick time as families who do not manifest alcohol problems.

Dante Gets A Relevant Wake Up Call Regarding the Long Term and the Short Term Outcomes of Underage Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

After Miss Johnson listed the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcoholism facts and statistics, it was obvious 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 go over the short term and the long term consequences of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, but she also took the time to demonstrate what she was saying with alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse statistics and facts that related to everyone in general, and chiefly to underage drinkers.

In actual fact, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante without pause understood why he should not be engaging in abusive and hazardous drinking with or without his pals anymore. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the materials she discussed.

Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical exam and an alcohol evaluation 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 thorough appraisal of his drinking behavior so that he could start an alcohol treatment program as soon as possible.

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Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most financially challenged co-ed high school in the state. Even though she had been teaching for only five years, she had already established a reputation as a person with educational approaches that motivated and encouraged her students to think and to learn.

For example, one Thursday morning at 11:00 she addressed the students in her class and said the following: “For the next few days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a more broad-based standpoint and we are also going to learn about some of the most common signs of alcoholism from a more detailed point of view.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will positively substantiate that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted individual, but the more signs that a person exhibits, the stronger the probability that he or she is an alcohol dependent person.”

Miss Benning then informed the class members that each student would be held responsible for examining four alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her findings to the rest of the class via a ten minute oral presentation.

The Students are Energized About Giving A Detailed Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About The Signs of Alcoholism

After learning about the diverse alcohol dependency signs for quite a few days, the time had arrived for the individual presentations. It was instantaneously obvious that the pupils in her class were wound up about the subject because the information that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest displayed by the pupils in her classroom regarding this subject could not be overstated.

The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcohol addiction signs that were presented and discussed in class and in the presentations. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to study the list and rank the top ten alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After about twenty minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and told her pupils that after she goes over the results, she will reveal her findings the next school day.

There was some real excitement by the pupils while they were exiting Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could learn about the outcome of their in-class research.

The Pupils Compare Their Numbers With the Results From A Council of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Professionals

When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top four alcohol addiction signs according to the pupils’ rankings. Next to these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then explained to her pupils that the numbers in the second column she added represented the answers that were stated by a board of alcoholism authorities.

Miss Benning asked her pupils to look over the information on the piece of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, concerns, or questions. Within a minute or two, virtually everyone in the class raised her or his hand. It was apparent that the pupils had some issues, questions, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. For example, almost every person in the classroom had an issue with the highest ranked answer given by the professionals, to be precise, “Do you feel really nauseous when you quit drinking?”

The Principal Difference Between Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcoholism and Not With Alcohol Abuse

Miss Benning then told the students in her classroom why this answer was the most clear-cut sign of alcohol addiction. She underscored the fact that the principal difference between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol addiction and not with alcohol abuse.

Primarily this means that when an alcohol addicted individual all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then told her pupils that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated more precisely, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling a person who is addicted to alcohol that something is terribly out of kilter and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of several dangerous, uncomfortable, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in an individual’s death if the appropriate therapy is not promptly received.

Miss Benning then discussed the multitude of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent individual abruptly quits drinking.

The fact that Miss Benning tried to underline was this: a person who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcoholism signs that the students had ranked, but the one symptom or sign that few, if any, alcohol abusers ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To articulate this as plainly as possible, Miss Benning pointed out that alcohol abusers, unlike individuals who are alcohol dependent, are not alcohol dependent and as a result, when they quit drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Believe They Have Discovered A Contradiction With the Findings From The Council of Substance Abuse Specialists

The students also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol addiction experts, that is, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?”

Miss Benning informed the students in her classroom that this sign does not automatically signify that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does underline the need that alcohol addicted individuals have to drink in order to prevent alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the individual who is addicted to alcohol, the students started to recognize the main difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.

To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is addicted to alcohol knew about every one of the alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would obtain alcoholism treatment?”

After roughly one or two minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ responses. While many students thought that around 70 to 80 percent of people who are alcohol dependent would ask for alcohol dependency rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs, most of the students figured that this number would not be less than 60 percent.

The Pupils Were Shocked to Find Out That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the U.S. Obtain Alcohol Addiction Treatment

To the surprise of most of the pupils, Miss Benning mentioned that according to the research literature, only 25% of the individuals who are alcohol dependent in the United States seek alcohol addiction rehabilitation. This surprised most of the pupils because they reasoned that exposure to the alarming facts and statistics correlated with alcohol dependency would motivate the majority of the alcohol addicted people to seek alcohol addiction treatment.

Miss Benning then stated that alcohol addicted individuals not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on a daily basis so they can prevent possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Apparently, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. In actual fact, because the need for alcohol is “reality” to the individual who is addicted to alcohol, this is a demanding issue that is hard to counteract.

A few minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Based on the buzz exhibited by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning recognized that she had stimulated and encouraged the students in her class to stop and think about a critical health and social problem that exists in our country.

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Dante was a sixteen year old high school sophomore who was manifesting numerous alcohol-related problems at school. Consequently, the principal told him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school psychologist, before he would be permitted to come back to school.

Later that day when Dante went home after school, he had to clarify his school suspension to his Mom and Dad. His Mom and Dad were “relatively conventional” and explained to Dante that getting thrown out of school was not a doable educational option. They told Dante that failing to graduate from high school would more likely than not be like a lead weight around his legs that could conceivably harm his educational aspirations for the rest of his life. What is more, Dante’s Mom and Dad were quite saddened that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his classmates in the second.

His Mom and Dad explained to Dante that even though he may be a teenager, he has to understand without much delay that drinking is the path to pain, financial problems, ill health, and failure.

It was obvious that his Mom and Dad were absolutely in agreement with Dante’s principal and explained to Dante that he had better come to the realization that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist. After his discussion with his Mother and Father, Dante at last agreed to see Miss Johnson the next day. So Dante called the school and made an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next day during his third period class.

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

When Dante arrived at his scheduled appointment with Miss Johnson, she instantaneously surveyed all of the alcohol-related problems Dante had gotten into and asked him if he understood why his recent alcohol-related actions caused quite a bit of anxiety by the school administrators.

Quite sincerely, 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 therapist about his drinking behavior? Because virtually all of his friends drink as much if not more than he does, fundamentally, drinking is no big thing. Stated more directly, if just about everybody is drinking, why is this such a major problem?

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

Miss Johnson informed Dante that while his friends 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 expelled from school due to alcohol-related delinquency, absenteeism, and fighting, not his peers. In addition, Miss Johnson also underscored the fact that Dante, and not his buddies, is the one who is failing and who is missing at least one day of class every week because of his alcohol related difficulties. Lastly, Miss Johnson underlined the fact that due to his drinking circumstances, Dante is getting into a dangerous cycle of hazardous drinking that can finally wreck his dreams, hopes, and aspirations.

In a word, Dante’s involvement with youth alcohol abuse was starting to thwart his ability to function as an accountable young man. As pronounced by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your friends drink wine coolers, beer, hard liquor, or wine does not mean that it is the correct behavior for you.”

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

Miss Johnson explained to Dante that one’s friends can undoubtedly influence a person in an unhealthy manner, but that the individual herself or himself has to in the end be responsible for himself or herself in order to stay away from destructive, dangerous, unhealthy, and damaging outcomes in the foreseeable future.

Luckily, Miss Johnson was well prepared for her scheduled appointment with Dante. She showed him research studies and reports she had highlighted that outlined different drinking statistics and facts that targeted most people in general. Then she showed Dante a lot of information that applied particularly to teenagers.

As an illustration, Miss Johnson stressed the difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse and explained to Dante that individuals who continue to drink in a hazardous manner more often than not become addicted to alcohol.

Miss Johnson also articulated 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 Counselor Presents Numerous Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency Facts and Statistics

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

1. As revealed by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, there are 105,000 yearly alcohol-related deaths in the United States due to inebriated drivers and related injuries, diseases, or medical conditions.

2. Approximately twenty-five percent of all U.S. people who are admitted to general hospitals have alcohol-related problems or are undiagnosed individuals who are alcohol dependent who are being treated for the effects of their hazardous drinking.

3. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are the third leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S..

4. More than seven percent of the population that is 18 years old and older — just about 13.8 million Americans — has drinking problems, including 8.1 million drinkers who suffer from alcoholism.

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

6. As revealed by one U.S. survey of 18 to 24 year-old current drinkers who did not complete high school, around 60 percent started to drink before they were sixteen years old.

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

8. As revealed 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 dependency or alcohol abuse.

Dante Gets A Relevant Jolt of Reality About the Short Term and the Long Term Outcomes of Teenage Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

After Miss Johnson articulated the aforementioned alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse statistics and facts, it was clear that what Miss Johnson revealed to Dante was a real source of revelation for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only took the time to give an explanation of the long term and the short term outcomes of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, but she also made the effort to demonstrate what she was saying with alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts and statistics that related to everyone in general, and mainly to teens.

Indeed, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante instantly realized why he should not be engaging in excessive and hazardous drinking with or without his peers 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 evaluation for the alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction rehab he would probably need.

Dante thought about this for few minutes and then agreed to get a complete physical examination and to go through a thorough assessment of his drinking behavior so that he could start an alcohol rehab program in a practical time frame.

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Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most underfinanced private high school in the region. Although she had been teaching for only five years, she had already gained a reputation as an educator with teaching approaches that motivated and stimulated pupils to learn and to think.

For instance, one Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 she addressed the pupils in her classroom and articulated the following: “For the next four or five days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general point of view and we are also going to learn about a number of the best known signs of alcoholism from a less general and more detailed point of view.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will absolutely establish that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted person, but the more signs that a drinker displays, the stronger the probability that he or she is an alcohol dependent individual.”

Miss Benning then explained to the class that each individual would be responsible for investigating three alcohol dependence signs and then presenting his or her results to the other members in the class via a thirty minute oral presentation.

The Students are Energized About Giving An In-Depth Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About Alcohol Dependency Signs

After learning about the diverse signs of alcoholism for several days, the time had come for the individual presentations. It was immediately noticeable that the students in her class were excited about the subject matter because the information that they presented was extraordinary. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest exhibited by the students in her class regarding this topic could not be overstated.

The day after all of the pupils completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper with a list of all the alcohol addiction signs that were presented and discussed in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the students in her classroom to study the list and rank the top six alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and told her students that after she assesses the results, she will reveal her findings the next school day.

There was a real buzz by the pupils while they were leaving Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive so that they could learn about the outcome of their in-class research.

The Students Match Their Results Against the Findings From A Board of Substance Abuse Experts

When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning handed out a sheet of paper that listed the top three alcoholism signs according to the pupils’ rankings. To the left of these results, she added another column that was labeled “correct answer.” She then informed her students that the numbers in the second column she added were the answers that were stated by a team of alcohol dependency specialists.

Miss Benning asked her students to go over the data on the piece of paper she handed out and then to raise their hand if they had any concerns, issues, or questions. Within a minute or two, almost every pupil in the classroom raised her or his hand. It was clear to see that the pupils had some issues, concerns, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the experts. As an illustration, just about every person in the class disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the specialists, to be precise, “Do you feel unusually ill when you stop drinking?”

The Central Difference Between Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Addiction That is Experienced With Alcohol Dependency and Not With Alcohol Abuse

Miss Benning then explained to the pupils in her class why this answer was the most precise sign of alcohol dependency. She underlined the fact that the key difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse is the physical dependency that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.

In effect this means that when an individual who is addicted to alcohol all of a sudden quits drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then told the students in her class that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the brain and by the body to the lack of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated more explicitly, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the brain and from the body telling an individual who is alcohol dependent that something is exceedingly wrong and needs to be fixed. These messages consist of a number of dangerous, uncomfortable, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can potentially result in a fatality if the appropriate therapy is not promptly received.

Miss Benning then listed the multitude of alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent person abruptly quits drinking.

The fact that Miss Benning tried to underline was this: a person who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol addiction signs that the students had ranked, but the one sign or symptom that few, if any, people who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To state this as precisely as possible, Miss Benning stressed the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted individuals, are not alcohol dependent and consequently, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Students Feel They Have Discovered An Abnormality With the Findings From The Group of Alcohol Addiction Experts

The students also disagreed with the second ranked answer given by the alcoholism experts, to be exact, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to get rid of a hangover or to steady your nerves?”

Miss Benning told the students in her class that this sign does not necessarily mean that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does stress the need that people who are alcohol dependent have to drink in order to stay away from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

After Miss Benning explained the significance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcoholic, the students started to understand the basic difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

To add a sense of closure to the topic, Miss Benning asked the students in her class to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is addicted to alcohol knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would obtain alcohol treatment?”

After approximately three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ answers. While many pupils believed that approximately 80 to 90 percent of alcohol addicted people would ask for alcoholism rehabilitation if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the students believed that this number would not be less than 65 percent.

The Students Were Amazed to Find Out That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Addicted to Alcohol in the U.S. Get Alcohol Rehabilitation

To the amazement of most of the pupils, Miss Benning mentioned that according to the research literature, only 25% of the alcohol dependent individuals in the United States get alcohol dependency treatment. This shocked most of the pupils because they thought that exposure to the appalling statistics and facts related to alcoholism would motivate the majority of the people who are addicted to alcohol to obtain alcohol addiction rehab.

Miss Benning then explained that alcohol dependent people not only need alcohol on an everyday basis in order to function but they also require alcohol on a daily basis so they can steer clear of possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Clearly, the alcoholic’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that the need for alcohol is “reality” to the alcoholic, this is a challenging issue that is hard to counteract.

A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Based on the excitement displayed by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning knew that she had encouraged and inspired the students in her classroom to stop and think about a significant health and social problem that exists in our culture.

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