Alcohol has many effects on teens. I know, you've heard it all before. This is different, this is coming from someone that alcohol as been a factor in his life for as long as he can remember. Alcohol is not something that is a joke or is funny. It is sad and pathetic that someone has to be drunk to enjoy themselves. Alcohol causes people to not realize what they are doing, it causes them to not know what they are saying, it causes them to hurt other people, even loved ones.

Many children and teens are subject from mental and physical abuse that is brought on by alcohol everyday. It takes a child that is very strong (mentally and physically) to be able to deal with this, and no matter how strong the child is, it wears him/her down.

What I don't understand, as a former user of marijuana and alcohol is why alcohol is legal and marijuana isn't. I'm not an advocate for either and I'm not saying that either should be legal. I think that the only reason the laws are the way they are is because marijuana cannot be easily taxed and alcohol

can. Also, many Americans feel that they need to "escape" from reality, so they get intoxicated. Usually, if the person is depressed or having trouble with some aspect of life, this only makes it worse. Both marijuana and alcohol are depressants.

The effects of all recreational drugs depend on the person's mood. Usually, the better the mood someone is in, the more they enjoy the effects of the drug. So, in perspective, if a person is depressed or down, they probably will have feelings of anger and hostility (more common in alcohol). This means that the enablers or co-dependents will have trouble dealing with the intoxicated person. Childeren that are co-dependents usually have no option to leave (even teens).

Once, when my mother and I got into a spout, I said something she didn't like so she grabbed me by my hair on the back of my head. I called the police and they told me that she had every right to do that because "I did't pay the bills." In truth, neither did she, her boyfriend (whom I have

never had a problem with) did. I told them that I didn't want to stay the night at my house and they told me if I left, they would take me to juvenile hall. So my options were to stay with someone who was using my hair as a control handle or go to a place of punishment. Three days later I went to the Babtist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock for a mental evaluation.

If no cooperation from law enforcement can be recieved, then who is to say that an alcoholic doesn't have the right to abuse anyone they want? In truth, it was just the timing. If I would have been younger, my mother would have went to the county booking station for child endangerment. If I would have been a legal adult, she would have went to the county booking station for battery.

Most teens that become alcoholics or habitual users of any recreational drug are in a situation simular to this one. They feel that it is their fault, or they need to "escape", thus continuing a cycle. Alcoholism originates from parents setting the example for their childer, not genetics.

Not being an alcoholic myself, I can't really discuss the excuses or reasoning that alcoholics justify their behavior with. Alcoholism isn't justifiable, it is childish. Any human being that has respect for him or herself should not try to justify their problem, they should try to solve it.

If you or someone you know is an alcoholic or is a co-dependent of an alcoholic, please get help. In the Central Arkansas area, the number for the Alcoholics Anonymous Central Office is (501) 664-7303. Alanon and Alateen are support groups that originated from Alcoholics Anonymous for enablers and co-dependents. They can be contacted from the same number.

-Max Garner

Back to Main Page