What I Learned About Drug Abuse and Alcohol Dependency in High School

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I enrolled into a drug abuse class. At that age, I did not comprehend that alcohol abuse in reality was a sub category 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 people all over the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol rehabilitation and the various alcohol rehab clinics that are normally available to individuals who engage in excessive drinking.

Some of the detrimental consequences linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class without a doubt terrified me. The ruined lives and abundant problems experienced by most alcohol dependent people made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. In short, 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 person wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What adolescent wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that consuming alcohol becomes the object of one’s life? What teen wants to go to one of the local alcoholic rehabilitation centers to deal with alcohol-related difficulties before he or she becomes an adult?

What teenager wants to encounter alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to quit 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 a person has a career, a family, and develops personal responsibilities makes sense. But why would a young person want to sacrifice his or her education, employment, finances, and relationships for a life that focuses on excessive drinking?

These issues were so noteworthy that I talked about some of them in class during the school year. What was completely incredible to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the detrimental outcomes of irresponsible drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t be troubled with reality and how these outcomes can ruin their lives. For the first time in my life I started to appreciate a saying that my grandfather used to emphasize all through my adolesence: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.