Newspapers / Rocky Mount High School … / Dec. 16, 1976, edition 1 / Page 6
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Page Six — THE GRYPHON — Thursday, December 16,1976 Alcohol Brings Tragedy Alateen Offers Help Weekly Meetings Held Alateen, an organization for teenagers who have an alcoholic in their family, meets at the Church of the Good Shepherd every Monday night at 8 o’clock. Each Alateen meeting opens with a devotion, and then the members proceed to discuss the adverse effect that their alcoholic relative has on them and the problems which spring from the relative. The other teenagers attempt to solve the problem by relating similar experiences which they have had and what they did to solve the problem. If this is of no help, an adult sponsor, who is a member of either Al-Anon or Alcoholics Anonymous, relates his experiences in attempt to solve the teenager’s problem. Everything said at an Alateen meeting is in the strictist confidence. To join Alateen all one has to do is attend a meeting. Information on this organization may be gained by contacting CONTACT at 443-5144. There are no membership fees 'involved in joining Alateen; however, a voluntary collection is taken at each meeting. Alateen is a spiritual experi ence. No member is supposed to force his beliefs on another member. Such as in the case of CB radios, potato chips, water skiing, and government spend ing, a small bit leads to a much larger force. Alcohol too continues to progressively get a stronger and stronger grab on the life of an alcoholic and his family. According to Mr. Sam Farris, a director of the Mental Health Center, Alcoholics can start with a dollar a day expenditure and sacrifice little where food, clothing, shelter, and luxuries fit in, but a ten to fifteen dollar a day habit forces most alcoholic families to do without most of Campus Styles at MEBANE SHOE COMPANY Downtown Rocky Mount Children Frustrated “Living with an alcoholic parent is extremely frustrat ing,” says Judye. !‘I think I can remember when it wasn’t so bad, when I was younger and when my father was more mature than I was. It’s not the same now that I have caught him with other women and now that I know everything about his drinking.” “My parents tried to hide it from me for a long time. I wanted to hide it from my friends. As I grew older my father started “moving in” on my friends. He’d flirt with them and put his arms around them. It embarassed them and me.” Judye’s father has been an alcoholic almost as long as she can remember. He is a very succcessful upperclass lawyer. “His drinking causes prob lems in his law practice,” says Judye. “He will go out at night, get drunk and disappear for days. When he comes home, he does not remember where he has been or just won’t tell my mother and I. If he would spend at least two days a week working, there would be twice as much money.” “He doesn’t beat us like most people think alcoholics do. In fact we get anything we want. Next year I’ll go off to school, and my mother will divorce my father. It is just a matter of time.” Judye is not her real name, but the girl she represents lives in a nearby town. Her life is a representative of that of many young people with alcoholic parents. Mind And Body Harmed A person may be shortening his life and endangering his mental health just by having “a little fun!” The excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages leads to chronic diseases caused by either alcohol and lack of proper nutrition or alcohol alone. These states range from gastritis, the common hangover; to delirium tremens, a crazed condition; to death, a dead condition. Some illnesses caused by excessive drinking and lack of food are alcoholic tremulous ness and delirium tremens according to Dr. William Cooper. Tremulousness, or “the shakes” is a state in which after being on a drinking spree, the drinker feels overly nervous after the short abstaining period of sleep. He takes a few drinks to calm himself, but the symptoms of nervousness and vomiting come back even stronger later. The same events may lead to delirium tremens, a crazed condition in which violence and lack of control are evident. Alcohol is a lethal poison. If the drinker drinks too much alcohol quickly and passes out before becoming sick, he may die from an overdose of alcohol, according to Dr. Hollister Porter. Alcohol also destroys brain cells although most people have enough brain cells to compensate for this loss. Dr. Porter remarked. Cirrhosis of the liver and pancreatitis, both caused by excessive drinking, result in conditions that may drastically reduce the life span of the habitual drinker. Winner Selected Alcohol Habit Expensive Torretta Pollard, a member of the Class of 1979 has won the Voice of Democracy Program competition at Rocky Mount Senior High. The program is conducted during the fall term from September to December. It gives high school students the opportunity to voice opinions about the United States and to convey them via the broadcast media to all of America. The 1976-77 theme for the competition is “What America Means To Me.” Participants are judged on the interpretation of the theme, and their approach must take a positive position in relating views about the United States. The students compete for various scholarship awards. The program distributed $22,500 in National Scholarship Awards last year. the necessities of life, and of course no money for luxuries — aside from the “luxury” of alcoholic beverages. Friday, the day after Thanks giving, this reporter saw four cars pull into a local ABC Package Store within five minutes (long enough for a friend to run into a nearby grocery store and buy a frozen pizza). Not knowing the people who pulled into the Package Store he dare not pass judgment, but at 10:30 on a Friday morning, one must wonder how much the alcoholic spends on what has become to him a type of pacemaker for life. Sharpe's Formal Wear For the Finest Quality In Formal Attire Mon.-Tues.-Thurs. 10-5:30 Fri. lO-G Sat. 10-5 . 155 S. JE..Main St TARRYTOWN MALL Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27801 (919) 443-6741 Anaconda Wire and Cable Division “An Equal Opportunity Employer”
Rocky Mount High School Student Newspaper
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Dec. 16, 1976, edition 1
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