Drug and Alcohol Abuse

1. Appeals to logic.
2. Imposition of curfews and restrictions.
3. Adolescent forbidden to associate with peers considered “bad influences”.
4. Bargain, i.e., “It’s all right to drink, but don’t use drugs.” “An occasional beer at home is all right, but stay away from hard liquor.” “ If you must drink, don’t drive or get in a car with someone else who’s been drinking.”
5. May seek “geographical cures”, i.e., transfer to new schools, private or parochial, or to alternate programs in an attempt to remove the adolescent from what is considered an unhealthy environment or peer group.

1. Increasing tension and unhappiness at home.
2. Family distrustful and resentful.
3. Anger and frustration that the chemically dependent adolescent cannot be controlled.
4. Alcohol/drugs now the central focus of the family’s attention.
5. Progressive restructuring of roles in the family.
6. Other children exhibit emotional problems.
7. Marital stress, lack of communication, and “blaming”.

1. Feelings of guilt, self-pity, and despair as a parent: “what did we do wrong or fail to do?”
2. May construct rigid pattern to escape family conflicts.
3. Passive withdrawal and isolation of parents.
4. Fears about the future.
5. Possible stress-related illness in other family members, i.e., headaches, insomnia, anxiety, gastrointestinal complications, etc.

Although concern remains, the family is unable to tolerate the status quo. Relationships are severed and the adolescent is forced out of the home.
Or
The family seeks informed counseling and guidance; crisis is used in a constructive fashion to force the adolescent into assessment, intervention, and/or definitive treatment.

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This country is in the midst of a serious drug crisis. We are seeing kids – only 9, 10, 11 years old – playing a deadly game of Russian roulette with their hearts, their livers and in particular with that most marvelous and delicate organ, their brains.
Our brains are better by far than any computer man can invent. Let’s say you have a computer with 64K of memory, and you blow out half the circuits. That computer may still be able to perform simple functions. But it’s never going to be able to do the complex, sophisticated tasks it was designed to do. That’s true of your brain, too.
That’s why more and more kids, parents, and young adults are realizing that taking drugs is not just dangerous – it’s deadly. By saying “no” to drugs, they’re saying “yes” to life and all the good that can come from it.

Julie Parisien:

“ Skiing requires complete concentration and quick reflexes. We’ve learned at school how drugs affect your mind and body. None of us at Burke use drugs because we know you can’t take drugs and win.”

At age three, Julie Parisien resented the fact that she had to stay inside with the babysitter while her older brothers, ages four and six, skied down the soft powder of many New England slopes. The next year she insisted on following behind them and since then, little has stood between her and her skiing.

By age seven Julie was racing in local races such as the interstate Buddy Werner League for under nine, where she came in second. Each year after that for the next four years she was either first, second or third in the Maine state championships. At age 13, she skied for the U.S. Olympics in Italy for two years. Last year she was second in the eastern division championship. Now, at 15, Julie follows a rigorous schedule at the 13-year-old Burke Ski Academy in East Burke, Vermont. The school is dedicated to the belief that students should not have to choose between serious academic interests and their commitment to ski racing. Living in rustic cabins in the mountains, Julie and 65 other students have only a few firm rules – no grades (students are evaluated by their teachers and by themselves without the format of grades), no curfew, no drinking, no drugs, no cigarettes, no lying and no TV. And no highschool prom. Although some of the freedoms are tempting at first, students soon learn that taking advantage of these only lessens their enjoyment of the benefits of being a top skier: if they stay out too late, they’ll be too tired the next day. Self-discipline is the key. Burke students don’t “just get by”; the school places a high value on excelling, on being a community of dreamers and doers. During the winter Julie has classes in the morning, skiing in the afternoon plus an additional physical exercise such as weight training or a four mile run. Weekends are full of races all over New England. There is never a vacation. Every September returning students must meet rigid physical criteria set down by the U.S. Olympic ski team; last year two students were sent home for failing to meet the test. Burke promotes an unusually positive camaraderie among the students. The atmosphere is competitive but supportive; students learn to handle failure as well as success. If one of the students is having trouble, the other students will offer help, if the student wants it. Through skiing Julie has learned how to compete – that you can compete and fail and it doesn’t mean you are a worse person, or that you can succeed and it doesn’t mean you are a better person. Julie’s future plans include skiing for the U.S. ski team in the Olympics and going to college.

Antonio Smith:

“ As a member of the Young Astronauts program, I’ve just returned from the Soviet Union where I participated in the first youth exchange. I study very hard. There’s no place in my life for drugs of any kind.”

When the principal of Chicksaw Jr. High School in Memphis, Tennessee, called Antonio Smith into his office for “some sort of interview,” Antonio didn’t know that his answers to questions such as “Do you like to Travel?” and “What do you think of outer space?” would win him a trip to Washington, D.C., to see the President.
Because of his “victorious” interview, a 3.8 grade point average, and his community activities, 15 year-old Antonio was selected to be the Memphis representative to the Young Astronauts program, launched by President Regan in 1984.
The Young Astronauts program is a national educational program for elementary and junior high school students designed to promote the study of science, mathematics, and technological subjects. Conceived by syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, the program distributes “Adventure Activities” such as model rocket kits to participating schools. Each of the thousands of chapters nationwide is eligible to participate in writing, art, math, and science contests, with prizes sometimes including trips to Space Camp and shuttle launches. Young Astronauts like Antonio can also use their computers to access a high-tech electronic information system which keeps them informed on the latest happenings of the U.S. Space Program.
Young Astronauts pledge their best efforts “to improve my grades in science, mathematics, and related subjects, to learn about space and to help others towards these goals.”
As president of his school’s Young Astronaut program, Antonio is responsible for showing members computer programs from NASA and arranging science and technology activities. He and other future space explorers study the cosmic drama of the birth and death of a star by observing the Orion region of the sky. By using the Sky Travel program on a Commodore 64 or 128 computer, they find out what the Hunter Orion looks like throughout the night. They learn to “pilot” a gyroscope and to investigate the forces that cause a gyroscope to slow down.
But it’s not just outer space that intrigues Antonio. Planet Earth holds considerable interest for this young man. This past summer he joined his school traveling club for a tour of the Western United States, including New Mexico, Arizona, and California. He recently took a two week trip to the Soviet Union with 10 other Young Astronauts. The Young Astronauts – Young Cosmonaut Youth Exchange was a direct result of the Geneva Summit agreements between President Regan and General Secretary Gorbachev. Antonio and other students toured Moscow, Leningrad, and Star City, the Soviet cosmonaut training facility.
Antonio, the youngest of four children, enjoys riding his bicycle, collecting stamps and foreign money, and sprinting around the track for his school team. (He has won awards for the fastest mile at two meets.) He sings tenor in his church choir, and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society.
He wants to be an astronaut or an engineer when he grows up.

Scott Baio:

“I’m 26 years old, OK, and to this day I’ve never even taken a hit off a joint. I’ve never done anything because I’m afraid... I’m chicken, so I stay away. And that’s the only way – to stay away. So if someone approaches you, all you have to say is one little word – NO! You’ll always be glad that you did.”

When Scott Baio was only nine years old, he went to his parents and confidently declared, “I want to be an actor.” “Sure, whatever you say,” his parents replied, dismissing his young ambition. “but first finish your homework.” They thought that might have ended the discussion right there. But it didn’t. From that early beginning in Brooklyn, where he was born and raised, Scott has turned his desire to act into one of the most meteoric careers any young person in this country has enjoyed in many years. That career is now being topped off with a return of his series, “Charles in Charge.”
Scott began his career in commercials, and at 13 got the big break that all actors, young and old, hope and pray for. He was singled out by the director from herd of 2,000 competitive kids to play the lead in the movie, “Bugsy Malone.” Scott’s acting career was launched!
When producer Gary Marshall created the role of Chachi Arcola, the Fonz’s nephew on “Happy Days,” for Scott, he had no idea of the impact the young actor would have. Overnight Scott became one of the most popular members of the cast and continued to be an audience favorite for the eight-year run, receiving up to 5,000 fan letters a week. “Joanie Loves Chachi” was born in 1982.
In addition to his unique talent of comedy, Scott has also proven himself as a serious dramatic actor in several television productions. He starred in the Emmy-nominated “Luke” and “The Boy Who Drank Too Much,: a personal favorite of Scott’s, where he played a teenage alcoholic. Other dramatic roles include the ABC-TV Afterschool Specials, “Stoned,” shich earned Scott an Emmy nomination, “Walk Don’t Run,” and “All The Kids Do It.”
Scott’s career continues to flourish as he moves from teenage roles into parts mote befitting his own age – 26. In addition to “Charles in Charge,” he will be seen in upcoming feature film, “I Love N.Y.,” a romantic drama with Scott playing a young photographer who falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful daughter of a famous celebrity. The film, scheduled for early 1987 release, boasts an all-star cast including Jennifer O”Neil, Christopher Plummer, and Verna Lisi.
In his free time Scott devotes himself to his second greatest passion, sports. He has been an avid athlete since he was a child, collecting 15 trophies in all. His favorite is basketball and his favorite team is the Lakers. He also loves nice cars, especially his black Corvette.
Scott has a definite nostalgic streak in his musical tastes. He loves the golden oldies of Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt and has collected just about every Beatles record ever made.

Art Monk:

“As athletes we have to take on the responsibility to set good examples for our young people. Whether we like it or not, there are people out there who look up to us and really idolize us. I think we have to assume a responsibility to be gook role models. Personally I don’t use drugs. Drugs have never played a part in my life. I’ve always been concerned about my health and physical conditioning. All drugs do is pull you down – hinder your performance.”

If any one should know what makes an athlete who wins – it’s Art Monk. Selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1980 draft, Art Monk has been making and breaking the catching and running records for seven straight seasons.
Starting in 1980 he broke a Redskins rookie receiving record set back in 1964 by foot ball’s all-time leading receiver, Charley Taylor. He led the team in receptions in 1980, ‘82, ‘84, and ‘85, and in yards in 1980, ‘81, ‘84, and ‘85.
The end of the 1986 season marked the third year in a row – a team record – for gaining more than 1,000 yards each season. He’s been named best receiver by his peers, the Associated Press, UPI, Sporting News, and Football News.
His seventh season with the Redskins saw the defenses of the opposing teams doubling their efforts to keep the ball away from him. And for good reason: his 1984 season was like no other that any other receiver ever had. In 1984, his very best season, he rewrote the NFL record book with his 1069 catches. There went Charley Hannigan’s 20-year-old record or 101. That year he played in the Pro Bowl. The Quarterback Club voted him Player of the Year. Coach Gibbs said of him, “I can’t see how a receiver can be more valuable to a team.”
And his 1985 season was right up there, too. This 91 catches led NFL receivers, bested only by Roger Craig’s 92. He gained 1,226 yards, the third best in the league. In the last eight weeks of the season he had six 100-yard games, catching 56 passes for an incredible 936 yards. In the December 15th game against the Bengals, in RFK stadium, he caught 13 passes to set a new Redskin record and to tie the NFL Best for 1985.
Football experts call Monk, “sturdy.” As the third best receiver in the conference, he has consistently averaged 50 yards per game for three years and in six seasons he missed only five games. Though he has had his share of battle scars – a sore shoulder and a twisted knee – sturdiness is his tradition. At Syracuse University he never missed a practice or game because of injury in four years. In highschool he was a national interscholastic champion in 330-yard intermediate hurdles at Whit Plains High in New York.
Off the feild, Art occasionally does TV broadcasts for the Superbowl. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Desiree, and his children, James Arthur, Jr. And Danielle. During the summer he operates a football camp for kids.

Peter Billingsley:

“ I have a very busy schedule dealing with my work, school, and family, and there is no place for drugs, drinking or smoking in my life. I know the danger and damage they can cause.”

Television Audiences know him in the Hershey Syrup commercials and as co-host of the NBC-TV hit show, “Real People,” where he has reported on go-cart racing and frog jumping. Moviegoers saw him in the MGM classic, “A Christmas Story,” as Ralphie, the boy in Indiana in the 1940's whose earnest wish is a Red Ryder Carbine-Action, Two-Hundred Shot Range Model Air Rifle. He’s shared the bill with such stars as Linda Evens, Teri Garr, And Michael Landon, to name a few.
Only 15 years old, Peter has been a professional child actor since he was three. In those 12 years, he’s made five television movies or specials and six motion pictures, including “Paternity” with Burt Reynolds, “Honky Tonk Freeway,” and a horror film called “Death Valley.” His latest movie, “Dirt Bike Kid,” is a modern Jack-in-the-Beanstalk story, filmed in Dallas, Texas. Peter plays a young boy who is sent to buy groceries with the families last $50 and buys a dirt bike – which turns out to be magic – instead.
On TV he has sold hot dogs with Billy Martin, margarine with Reggie Jackson, and video games with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He’s never had a professional acting class. Commercials are the toughest, says Peter, because directors “yell and scream, when all you’re doing is talking to your fellow actors. You just have to ignore all that.”
Off-stage, the blond-haired, blue-eyed kid with the horned-rim glasses is a typical teenager. The son of a financial consultant, he’s a highschool freshman. He likes science and computers and balances his work as an actor with the demands of school work.
He loves comic books, particularly “Thor” and “X-Men” and horror stories, and he loves sports – everything from football, basketball and baseball to skateboarding, go-cart racing, and motorcycling. He’s also a junior class golfer, having picked up the sport from his father. His handicap is 29 and he is giving serious thought to turning professional after college.
A native of Manhattan’s upper East Side, Peter is the youngest of five children, all of whom have tried their hand at acting. His two older brothers and two older sisters (including actress Melissa Michaelsen) have all worked in television, either commercials, soap operas, or mini-series.
Peter lives in Phoenix, Arizona, close enough to the second hole of the next-door golf course that golf balls often land in the pool. It is far from the glitz and glitter of his Hollywood workplace. “I have regular friends in Phoenix,” Peter explains, “and I’m just a regular guy to them. I don’t see any of the money I make. It’s all being put in a trust fund for me until I’m 21.”
Although he likes Chinese, Indian, Thai food, his favorite is pizza. When he grows up, he wants to “open up a pizza store where you can get the best pizza in the world!” – with no sardines, anchovies, or olives. “If I stay in show business,” says Peter, “I think I’d like to write, produce or direct like Ron Howard.” He’d like to be in a thriller like a James Bond Movie.

Drug Forum:

We hear or read about drug and alcohol abuse constantly. Practically everyone seems to have an opinion these days.

Dr. I. M. Concern, director of our local drug rehabilitation center, claims– “the most critical and devastating problem facing the American people today is drug abuse.”

On the other hand, the noted street corner resident, Mary Jane Caine, states emphatically – “that’s just a bunch of hype!” Mary Jane says, “the recreational use of marijuana, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), amphetamines (speed) and other street drugs is harmless and establishment would do better to concentrate on the child molesters and murderers.”

Disregarding opinions on the criminal, economical, political and social ramifications which occur with drug abuse, Straight Scoop, a pharmacist, has been asked to prepare th most comprehensive, concise, up-to-date article possible concerning the effects certain drugs of abuse have on the body. The first drug Scoop will discuss is currently the most abused illicit drug in the country – marijuana.

It began over a kitchen table in 1957. Bob was beset wit emotional problems rooted in alcoholism – his father’s. He was in fact threatened placement in an institution. He had tried alone to apply the AA Steps and Slogans to his difficulties, but was successful only up to a point. One magic ingredient was missing: fellowship.

That’s why bob, who was seventeen, encouraged by his alcoholic father in AA and his mother in Al-Anon, in desperation called together five other teenaged offspring of alcoholic parents. While the adult groups met upstairs that night, he presented an idea for fellowship of teenage children of alcoholics.

They would share their experience, hope and strength with each other to solve their common problem and help other teenagers with the extra complications that an alcoholic in the family adds to the normal problems of being a teem. Bob’s idea met with such enthusiastic acceptance that the name Alateen was chosen right away, and the new fellowship was off and running that same night. Alateen has now surged to several hundred groups.

Naturally, Alateen had growing pains, like AA and Al-Anon. For one thing, early in the game the teenagers had to decide on an age limit of twelve to twenty, partly because children younger than that are really too young to follow the program and partly because some of their AA and Al-Anon parents tried to use Alateen as a convenient froo baby-sitting service.

Another recurring problem was that those teen years go by mighty quickly, and if new members didn’t come in steadily, groups sometimes grow out of business. In Alateen, they do graduate, just by getting older.

Then too, an occasional alcoholic parent used to forbid his/her youngsters to go to Alateen because of fear of breaking his/her anonymity. And some suspicious parents, totally unfamiliar with the Alateen program, evidently thought at first meetings were primarily gossip-and-gripe sessions, just as some AAs use to feel about Al-Anon. Actually, of course, Al-Anon and Alateen both firmly discourage family gossip. They take their won inventories, and each member protects his/her own anonymity to preserve his or her alcoholic relative’s anonymity.

The unfairness of denying Alateen’s help to youngsters is illustrated every time you hear any of these remarkable kids speak. Says Helen, who is sixteen, “Only a child who has had to live with this problem can know what torture and heartbreak it is. I was fourteen when I came to Alateen and finally levelled with myself about mother’s drinking. It felt like a big iceberg melting inside me that night. I learned alcoholism is a disease, not a disgrace, and I met other teenagers whose parents suffered from the same illness.

“What a difference this has made at home. Dad and I don’t have to lie to each other about it any more. The more we understand about mother’s illness the more we understand that it has made us sick, too. He and I have come to trust each other, and since we’ve started loving mother again, we’ve quit making the situation worse for her.”

Alateen is an important part of Al-Anon. It uses AA’s Twelve Steps with exception to step twelve where the phrase “carry the message to other alcoholics” is necessarily changed to simply “carry the message to others.” As Bonnie says, “ I am naturally lazy, and I was using my home problems as an excuse for not doing good work in school. Step four made me admit that fault, and I’ve been trying to correct it.”

Or as eighteen-year-old Bernie, whose father is still drinking, puts it, “ When I began to help other fellows feel better about their parents, I found I could hold my head up again. I had friends I could invite to my home, and they understood.

“I surely wish no mother or father would ever again lie to a child about the other parent’s alcoholism. The lies just make worse what we already feel. We know about drunkenness, despite the lies. Truth about alcoholism is the only way to counteract all tat poison in the family life, in my opinion.”

Emotional detachment seems to be one key ingredient in Alateen therapy. The teenager gets help through suspending emotional involvement with the alcoholic’s problems, while keeping intact his love for the alcoholic him/her self.

Alateens have also developed a remarkable communication among themselves, seeming, like Aas, almost to read each others’ minds. Listen to Lyle: “I figured the group would feel sorry for me, but I couldn’t con them. They told me I was wrong.”

An Alateen group usually has an adult sponsor, most frequently a member of Al-Anon or an alumnus of Alateen, ore sometimes a member of AA. (The Alateen literature, however, suggests that a teenager’s parent generally makes a better sponsor of a group of which his/her own child is not a member. Having a parent sitting there as group sponsor might, they think, inhibit a teenager in the discussion of his personal problems.) The better the sponsor the less bossy and talkative he/her is.

“Teenagers are great joiners,” points out one Alateen sponsor. “Look at the record clubs, fan clubs and all the others. In Alateen, they find something to join that has a wonderful, real purpose. It’s and energetic, lively fellowship that often holds the key to life and happiness for themselves. And it gives them a chance to avert misery for other teenagers.”

On one thing virtually all Alateen members agree. “This is not a club where we criticize the alcoholic or look for sympathy,” is the way a Cleveland boy states it. ‘Rather we look for ways to help solve our own problems and help others.”

Alateen is in happy good health today, wether you quote Boston clergyman who calls it “the country’s greatest weapon against juvenile deliquency,” or a host of AA members who have found great blessings in having the whole family working the same program, or just pretty teenager Molly, who says, “I still have quite a bit to change myself. But thanks to Alateen, I have made a start.”

Carol ends her pitch this way: “When I first joined Alateen and my mom went to Al-Anon, pop just taunted us and drank as always. But we began to lose our ignorance and fear, and replace it with knowledge and trust. We quit nagging pop and naturally he got less hostile. Then finally one night he sneaked off to AA on his own to see if he could get some of what we’d found.”

“But that doesn’t happen in every case, and besides, that’s not the purpose of going to Alateen. We don’t go to change our parents. Their problems are something we seek serenity to accept. In Alateen we pray for courage and wisdom to change ourselves.”