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Alateen is for young people whose lives have been affected by someone else’s
drinking. Sometimes the active drinking has stopped, or the active drinker
no longer lives in the household. Even though the alcohol and the alcoholic
may be gone or recovering in AA, teens are still affected. Many have
received help from Alateen.
There are over 2,500
registered Alateen groups in 115 countries.
Alateen is spoken, and
has been translated into Afrikaans, Arabic, Bengali,Chinese, Czech, Danish,
Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindu,
Hungarian, Icelandic,Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian,
Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian,Spanish, Swedish, Urdu, and
Punjabi.
Young People Come Together To:
-
Share experience,
strength and hope with each other;
-
Discuss their
difficulties;
-
Learn effective
ways to cope with their problems;
-
Encourage one
another;
-
Help each other
understand the principles of Alateen programs;
-
Learn how to use
the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
Alateen Members Learn:
-
Compulsive drinking
is a disease;
-
They can detach
emotionally from the drinker’s problems while continuing to love the
person;
-
They are not the
cause of anyone else’s drinking or behavior;
-
They cannot change
or control anyone but themselves;
-
They have spiritual
and intellectual resources with which to develop their own potentials, no
matter what happens at home
-
They can build
satisfying and rewarding life experiences for themselves.
Is ALATEEN for you?
- Do
you believe no one could possibly understand how you feel?
- Do
you cover up your real feelings by pretending you don’t care?
- Do
you feel nobody really loves you or cares what happens to you?
- Do
you tell lies to cover up for someone else’s drinking or what’s happening
in your home?
- Do
you stay out of the house as much as possible because you hate it there?
- Are
you afraid or embarrassed to bring your friends home?
- Has
someone else’s drinking upset you?
- Are
holidays and gatherings spoiled because of drinking or others’ reactions
to the drinking?
- Are
you afraid to speak up sometimes for fear it will set off a drinking bout
or start another fight?
- Do
you think the drinker’s behavior is caused by you, other members of your
family, friends, or rotten breaks in life?
- Do
you make threats such as, “If you don’t stop drinking and fighting, I’ll
run away?”
- Do
you make promises about behavior, such as “I’ll get better grades,” “go to
church,” or “keep my room clean” in exchange for a promise that the
drinking and fighting will stop?
- Do
you feel that if your mom or dad loved you, she or he would stop drinking?
- Do
you ever threaten or actually hurt yourself to scare your parents into
saying “I’m sorry,” or “I love you”?
15. Do you or your family have money problems
because of someone else’s drinking?
- Are
mealtimes frequently stressful or delayed because of drinking or fighting?
-
Have you considered calling the police because of the abusive behavior in
your home?
-
Have you refused dates because your date may find out about the drinking
or fighting?
- Do
you think your problems would be solved if the drinking stopped?
- Do
you ever treat people (teachers, schoolmates, teammates, etc.) unjustly
because you are angry at some else for drinking too much?
IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO ONE OR MORE OF THESE
QUESTIONS, ALATEEN MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU OR THE YOUNG PERSON YOU ARE
TRYING TO HELP.
For more information, go to
www.al-anon.alateen.org/
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