My High School Alcohol and Drug Abuse Class

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I registered for a substance abuse class. At that time period, I did not realize that alcohol abuse actually was a sub division of drug abuse. While taking this class and learning more about drug and alcohol abuse and particularly about alcohol side effects, 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 a lot about alcohol rehabilitation and the various alcohol rehab facilities that are commonly available to individuals who engage in hazardous drinking.

Damaging Outcomes That are Associated With Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse

Some of the detrimental end results linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class absolutely terrified me. The ruined lives and frequent serious issues experienced by most alcohol dependent individuals 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 addicted people almost always experience.

Think about this for a moment. What fifteen-year-old individual wants to face premature death due to his or her drinking behavior? What young person wants to become so out-of-control regarding his or her drinking that ingesting 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 problems before he or she becomes twenty-one?

What teenager wants to encounter alcohol withdrawals 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 an individual 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 centers on excessive drinking?

These issues were so significant that I discussed some of them in class during the school year. What was absolutely unbelievable to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the damaging outcomes of hazardous drinking that I talked about. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with the facts and how these consequences can shatter their lives. For the first time in my life I started to understand something that my grandfather used to articulate all through my younger years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.

It’s Important, Beneficial, and Liberating to Keep Yourself From the Debilitating and Unhealthy Results of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

And even at my young age, I also started to realize how important, energizing, and beneficial it is in life to remove yourself from the destructive and unhealthy consequences of alcohol and drug abuse.