A Health Instructor in the Most Underfinanced Private High School in the District Instructs Her Students About the Significance of Alcoholism Signs

Posted on November 1, 2009
Filed Under Uncategorized |

Miss Benning was a health teacher at the best known co-ed high school in the district. Even though she had been teaching for only three of four years, she had already secured a reputation as a person with instructional approaches that inspired and stimulated pupils to think and to learn.

For instance, one Thursday morning at 10:30 she addressed her students and announced the following: “For the next four or five days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general viewpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most basic signs of alcoholism from a more specific viewpoint.”

“Not all of these alcoholism signs will beyond doubt validate that a drinker with a drinking problem is a person who is alcohol dependent, but the more signs that an individual displays, the more likely it is that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”

Miss Benning then told the students in the class that each individual would be accountable for researching two alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her results to the rest of the class via a six minute oral presentation.

The Pupils are Wound Up About Giving A Thorough Presentation to Their Fellow Pupils About Alcoholism Signs

After learning about the different alcoholism signs for a number of days, the time had finally come for the oral presentations. It was immediately apparent that the pupils were enthused about the topic because the material that they presented was excellent. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the fervor displayed by the students in her classroom concerning this subject matter was an understatement.

The day after all of the students completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper with a list of all the alcoholism signs that were presented and discussed in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked the pupils in her classroom to study the list and rank the top eight alcohol addiction signs that were most indicative of alcoholism. After around five minutes, Miss Benning collected the sheets of paper and explained to the students in her class that after she studies the results, she will reveal her findings the next school day.

There was a real buzz by the pupils while they were leaving Miss Benning’s classroom. One could swear that her pupils couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could learn about the outcome of their in-class research.

The Pupils Contrast Their Answers With the Evaluations From A Team of Alcoholism Specialists

When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning gave out a sheet of paper that listed the top three alcohol dependency signs according to the students’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “experts’ response.” She then informed the students in her classroom that the numbers in the second column she added stood for the conclusions that were generated by a team of drug and alcohol addiction specialists.

Miss Benning asked her students to go over the information on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any issues, questions, or concerns. Within 30 or 40 seconds, virtually every student in the class raised his or her hand. It was clear to see that the students had some concerns, issues, or questions about their results versus the answers given by the professionals. For instance, just about every person in the class disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the professionals, to be exact, “Do you feel exceedingly sick when you stop drinking?”

The Most Important Difference Between Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcohol Addiction and Not With Alcohol Abuse

Miss Benning then explained to the students in her class why this answer was the most correct sign of alcohol addiction. She emphasized the fact that the major difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.

In effect this means that when an individual who is addicted to alcohol abruptly quits drinking, he or she will suffer through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Miss Benning then informed her pupils that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deprivation of alcohol to which they had become accustomed. Stated differently, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are messages from the body and from the brain telling an individual who is addicted to alcohol that something is dreadfully incorrect and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of painful, uncomfortable, and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that can possibly result in a fatality if the proper treatment is not promptly undertaken.

Miss Benning then listed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol addicted person suddenly stops drinking.

The fact that Miss Benning tried to emphasize was this: an individual who engages in alcohol abuse can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol dependency signs that the students had ranked, but the one symptom or sign that few, if any, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

To explain this as exactly as possible, Miss Benning emphasized the fact that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol addicted individuals, are not alcohol dependent and as a result, when they quit drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Pupils Believe They Have Uncovered A Discrepancy With the Findings From The Council of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Professionals

The pupils also some difficulty with the second ranked answer given by the drug and alcohol addiction specialists, that is, “Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?”

Miss Benning explained to the pupils in her classroom that this sign does not automatically imply that the problem is alcohol dependency, but that it does underline the need that alcohol dependent individuals have to drink in order to avert alcohol withdrawals.

After Miss Benning explained the relevance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the person who is alcohol dependent, the pupils started to comprehend the main difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.

To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked her pupils to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: “if every individual who is addicted to alcohol knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would seek alcoholism rehabilitation?”

After about four or five minutes, Miss Benning asked for the students’ predictions. While many pupils reasoned that roughly 70 to 80 percent of alcoholics would seek alcohol treatment if they knew about the facts related to alcoholism signs and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, most of the pupils figured that this number would not be less than 55 percent.

The Students Were Astonished to Learn That Only 25% of Individuals Who are Alcohol Dependent in the United States Seek Alcohol Treatment

To the surprise of most of the students, Miss Benning mentioned that according to different scientific studies, only 25% of the alcohol addicted people in the United States ask for alcohol treatment. This astonished most of the students because they thought that exposure to the disgusting statistics and facts correlated with alcohol addiction would motivate most of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol to seek alcohol addiction treatment.

Miss Benning then explained that individuals who are addicted to alcohol not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol on an everyday basis so they can steer clear of possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol dependent person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than logic or facts. Definitely, due to the fact that the need for alcohol is “reality” to the person who is addicted to alcohol, this is difficult to change.

A few minutes later the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Based on the excitement exhibited by the students when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning recognized that she had inspired and encouraged the students in her class to stop and think about a noteworthy health and social problem that exists in our society.

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