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Most
middle school students don’t drink. But
some do, and this can lead to serious troubles.
By drinking too much at
any age, people can dig themselves into holes
of trouble. Some dig faster than others and
have problems more quickly.
They can lose friends,
fall behind at school or work, cause family
tension, harm their health, and bring on money
problems
, as you can see below. |
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Hole #1—Losing
friends:
Friends start pulling back or drifting away. Only
friends who are heavy drinkers will remain.
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Hole #2—Problems
at work or at school: Being late, missing
days, not working up to abilities, and putting
off responsibilities are just a few of the problems.
Falling behind comes first, which can lead to
losing a job or failing school. |
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Hole #3—Tension
builds up in the family: Homes with heavy
drinkers have less fun and closeness, more arguments,
and higher rates of divorce and child abuse. |
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Hole #4—Fitness
and health: Heavy drinking can weaken the
heart muscle and contribute to weight gain. It
can also cause many other serious, life-threatening
health problems, including addiction. |
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Hole #5—Money problems:
Troubles with money grow when too much is spent
on alcohol and on paying for problems or poor
decisions caused by drinking.
Digging deeper and deeper
Since alcohol can cloud
a person’s judgment, heavy drinkers often
feel misunderstood, unfairly treated, harassed,
or just plain unlucky. As things get worse they
may be more likely to drink, and dig their holes
even deeper.
Work it out
It’s easy to see
why using alcohol as a solution to problems,
or a way of trying to cope, is trouble. Drinking
should never take the place of talking things
through and working out difficulties in other
ways.
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