Life Articles

Stephen was a fifteen year old high school sophomore who was manifesting a number of alcohol-related issues at school. Therefore, the principal told him that he had to see Miss Pender, the school counselor, before he would be allowed to come back to school.

Later that day when Stephen went home after school, he had to explain his school suspension to his Mom and Dad. His Mother and Father were "old school" and explained to Stephen that getting discharged from school was not a doable educational plan of action. They explained to Stephen that failing to graduate from high school would likely be like a lead weight around his feet that could conceivably hurt his educational attainment for the remainder of his life. Furthermore, Stephen's parents were very saddened that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his pals in the second.

It was evident that his Mother and Father were on the same page as Stephen's principal and explained to Stephen that he had better make plans to see Miss Pender, the school psychologist. After his discussion with his Mom and Dad, Stephen finally agreed to see Miss Pender the next day. So Stephen called the school and scheduled an appointment to see Miss Pender the next day during his third period class.

When Stephen went to see Miss Pender, she instantaneously reviewed all of the alcohol-related issues Stephen had experienced and asked him if he understood why his recent alcohol-related activities were such a cause for concern.

Quite candidly, Stephen was not sure why the principal informed him that he had to see a school psychologist. As he stated to Miss Pender, why should he see a professional counselor about his drinking circumstances? Since just about all of his friends drink as much if not more than he does, for all intents and purposes, drinking shouldn't be such a big issue. Stated more directly, if almost everyone is drinking, why is this such a major problem?

In short, Stephen's involvement with teenage alcohol abuse was beginning to foil his ability to conduct himself like an accountable young man. As verbalized by Miss Pender, "Just because most of your buddies drink wine, wine coolers, hard liquor, or beer does not mean that it's the healthiest thing in the world for you."

Luckily, Miss Pender was very well prepared for her discussion with Stephen. She showed him reports and research studies she had highlighted that summarized different drinking facts and statistics that targeted most people in general. Then she showed Stephen a lot of figures and reports that applied chiefly to underage drinkers.

After Miss Pender conveyed the aforesaid teenage alcohol and teen alcohol abuse facts and statistics, it was obvious that what Miss Pender made known to Stephen was a real source of revelation for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only made the effort to put in plain words the short term and the long term outcomes of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, but she also made the effort to validate what she was saying with alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency statistics and facts that related to everybody in general, and mainly to teens.

Certainly, it was almost as if a light went on and Stephen immediately comprehended why he should not be engaging in excessive and hazardous drinking with or without his friends any longer. Stephen thanked Miss Pender for her concern and for the information she discussed and then accepted her reinstatement into school.