Miss Benning was a health instructor at the most popular parochial high school in the region. Although she had been teaching for only three years, she had already obtained a reputation as an educator with a teaching approach that inspired and encouraged her students to learn and to think.
As an illustration, one Tuesday afternoon she addressed the pupils in her classroom and said the following: “For the next two or three days we are going to learn about some basic alcoholism facts from a general standpoint and we are also going to learn about several of the most highly researched signs of alcoholism from a less general and explicit standpoint.”
“Not all of these alcoholism signs will positively demonstrate that a drinker with a drinking problem is an alcohol addicted person, but the more signs that a person displays, the stronger the probability that he or she is an individual who is alcohol dependent.”
Miss Benning then informed the the pupils that each individual would be accountable for researching three alcohol addiction signs and then presenting his or her findings to the other members in the class via a ten minute oral presentation.
The Students are Enthused About Giving A Comprehensive Presentation to Their Fellow Classmates About The Signs of Alcohol Dependency
After learning about the diverse alcohol addiction signs for a number of days, the time had finally arrived for the student presentations. It was instantly noticeable that the pupils in her class were energized about the topic because the information that they presented was first class. To say that Miss Benning was pleasantly surprised with the interest exhibited by the students in her class concerning this topic was an understatement.
The day after all of the pupils completed their presentations, Miss Benning passed out a piece of paper with a list of all the alcoholism signs that were discussed and presented in the presentations and in class. Miss Benning then asked her students to go over the list and rank the top six alcoholism signs that were most indicative of alcohol dependency. After approximately five minutes, Miss Benning collected the pieces of paper and informed the pupils in her class that after she reviews the results, she will present her findings the next school day.
There was some real anticipation by the pupils while they were leaving Miss Benning’s class. One could swear that her students couldn’t wait for the next day to come so that they could find out the outcome of their in-class research.
The Students Contrast Their Results With the Evaluations From A Panel of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Specialists
When the next school day arrived, Miss Benning passed out a sheet of paper that listed the top five alcohol addiction signs as per the pupils’ rankings. To the right of these results, she included another column that was labeled “correct response.” She then told the pupils in her class that the numbers in the second column she added stood for the conclusions that were constructed by a board of drug and alcohol addiction professionals.
Miss Benning asked the pupils in her class to go over the data on the piece of paper she passed out and then to raise their hand if they had any questions, issues, or concerns. Within 20 or 30 seconds, almost every pupil in the class raised her or his hand. It was evident that the pupils had some questions, issues, or concerns about their results versus the answers given by the specialists. As an illustration, almost every individual in the classroom disagreed with the highest ranked answer given by the specialists, specifically, “Do you feel exceptionally sick when you stop drinking?”
The Major Difference Between Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Abuse is the Physical Dependency That is Experienced With Alcohol Dependency and Not With Alcohol Abuse
Miss Benning then informed the students in her classroom why this answer was the most accurate sign of alcoholism. She stressed the fact that the primary difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency is the physical addiction that is experienced with alcohol dependency and not with alcohol abuse.
For all intents and purposes this means that when an alcohol dependent individual all of a sudden stops drinking, he or she will go through alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Miss Benning then told her students that alcohol withdrawal symptoms are responses by the body and by the brain to the deficiency of alcohol to which they had become acclimated. Stated another way, alcohol withdrawal symptoms are signals from the body and from the brain telling an alcohol addicted individual that something is extremely misaligned and needs to be rectified. These messages consist of a number of uncomfortable, dangerous, and painful withdrawal symptoms that can potentially lead to a fatality if the appropriate therapy is not promptly obtained.
Miss Benning then discussed the many different alcohol withdrawal symptoms that can be gone through when an alcohol dependent person suddenly quits drinking.
The fact that Miss Benning tried to highlight was this: an alcohol abuser can experience almost any and every one of the alcohol addiction signs that the students had ranked, but the one sign or symptom that few, if any, individuals who engage in alcohol abuse ever experience is alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
To articulate this as exactly as possible, Miss Benning stressed the point that alcohol abusers, unlike alcohol dependent individuals, are not alcohol dependent and accordingly, when they stop drinking, they almost never suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
The Pupils Think They Have Discovered An Incongruity With the Findings From The Board of Alcoholism Specialists
The students also had a problem with the second ranked answer given by the alcohol addiction professionals, namely, “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 students in her class that this sign does not inevitably denote that the problem is alcoholism, but that it does underline the need that alcohol addicted people have to drink in order to prevent alcohol withdrawals.
After Miss Benning explained the importance of alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the life of the alcohol addicted person, the pupils started to appreciate the fundamental difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
To add a sense of closure to the subject, Miss Benning asked the students in her classroom to take out a sheet of paper and answer the following question: “if every person who is an alcoholic knew about every one of the alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcohol addiction signs we have studied, what percentage of them do you think would ask for alcoholism rehab?”
After about three or four minutes, Miss Benning asked for the pupils’ predictions. While many students thought that about 85 to 95 percent of alcoholics would get alcohol addiction rehab if they knew about the facts related to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and alcoholism signs, most of the students figured that this number would not be less than 70 percent.
The Pupils Were Shocked to Learn That Only 25% of Alcohol Dependent Individuals in the United States Seek Alcohol Addiction Treatment
To the astonishment of most of the students, Miss Benning stated that according to different scientific examinations, only 25% of the alcohol dependent individuals in the United States obtain alcoholism rehab. This amazed most of the students because they thought that first-hand knowledge of the dreadful statistics and facts linked to alcohol addiction would motivate most of the individuals who are addicted to alcohol to seek alcohol dependency rehab.
Miss Benning then stated that people who are addicted to alcohol not only need alcohol on a daily basis in order to function but they also need alcohol everyday so they can stay away from possible alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, the alcohol addicted person’s need to drink on a daily basis is stronger than facts or logic. Certainly, since the thirst for alcohol is “reality” to the alcohol addicted person, this is a thorny issue that is difficult to counteract.
A few minutes later the bell rang, indicating that the end of class had arrived. Based on the buzz manifested by the pupils when they were leaving the classroom, Miss Benning recognized that she had stimulated and motivated her students to stop and think about an essential health and social problem that exists in our country.
Related posts:
- A Health Instructor in the Best Known Parochial High School in the District Teaches Her Students About the Importance of Alcohol Addiction Signs Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most financially...
- A Health Instructor at the Most Popular Co-ed High School in the District Instructs Her Students About the Importance of Alcohol Addiction Signs Miss Benning was a health teacher at the most popular...
- A Scholarly Assessment about Alcoholism Statistics, Alcoholic Symptoms, and Alcoholism Symptoms By a School Teacher Mr. Blake was one of the health teachers at a...
- An Essay about Alcoholism Symptoms, Alcoholic Symptoms, and Alcoholism Statistics Mr. Blake was one of the health teachers at a...
- A Reckless High School Student Displays More Than a Few Alcohol-Related Issues, Gets Thrown Out of School, and Has to See the School Counselor Dante was a sixteen year old high school sophomore who...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.