When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a substance abuse class. At that age, I did not understand that alcohol abuse in point of fact was a sub division 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 individuals all over the world. I also learned quite a bit about alcohol rehab and the different alcohol rehab that are habitually available to alcohol abusers.

Some of the damaging end results linked to alcoholism and alcohol abuse that I learned about in this class unquestionably scared me. The ruined lives and abundant problems experienced by most alcohol addicted individuals made me feel like I never wanted to drink alcohol when I became old enough. Stated briefly, I did not want to face the disaster and destruction that alcohol dependent individuals almost always experience.

Let this sink in for a moment. What fifteen-year-old person 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 issues before he or she becomes an adult?

What youth wants to encounter alcohol withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to stop 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 revolves around hazardous drinking?

These issues were so noteworthy that I talked about some of them in class during the school year. What was downright incredible to me was the number of students who essentially didn’t care about the dangerous outcomes of abusive drinking that I discussed. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered with reality and how these outcomes can shatter their lives. For the first time in my life I started to grasp a saying that my grandfather used to say to me all through my teen and pre-teen years: you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.