As a high school educator, there is a chance that you may encounter a teen with an alcohol problem or a desire to stop drinking. Your school may also have a unit in a Health class in which you may want to introduce students to the problems of alcoholism from a first hand point of view.
Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) can work with your school (free of charge) to help with either of these issues. A.A. has a great number of resources for teenagers, including the following two pamphlets:
* “A Message to Teenagers” – 12 questions designed to help young people decide if their drinking has become a problem
* “Young People and A.A.” – A pamphlet describing what A.A. is and containing personal stories of other young people in A.A.
If your school desires, A.A. can drop off these pamphlets for your counselors, administrators, or teachers to use when talking to a teenager about his or her drinking. Alcoholics Anonymous can arrange to have a recovering alcoholic meet with a student who has a desire to stop drinking. There are a number of books, including our text, Alcoholics Anonymous, and a book of essays on our program, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, that we can supply for your library. A.A. has literature racks if you would desire one for your counseling center. These racks hold pamphlets about A.A. and meeting schedules. All of this literature is available to your high school at no charge.
Additionally, you may want to subscribe to the AA District 61 website on the computers that students use. A small, discreet link will be placed in the browser control bar at the top of the screen which will allow students to quickly and anonymously navigate to information about alcoholism and recovery in the area. Students concerned about others knowing that they have a drinking problem can follow the link without having to disclose their concerns about their own or their friends drinking issues. To add the discreet link, click here and then click on “Subscribe Now”. You can easily unsubscribe at any time by right-clicking the link in the browser tool bar and choosing “Delete”.
As alcoholics ourselves, we understand that most teenagers with drinking problems are probably not yet ready to hear a message of recovery. What we are hoping to do is plant a seed that might be harvested any number of years down the road. For this reason, we would love to work with your school either by sending literature or A.A. speakers to work with a any students who might have an interest. A.A. can also send speakers to talk to health classes about what A.A. is and how it works. A.A. does not charge for any of these services.
If you would like to take advantage of any of these resources or just speak with someone about how Alcoholics Anonymous can work with your school, please contact our Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) Chairperson. We welcome the chance to carry our message of recovery to anyone in need; it is what keeps us sober.
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