Is There Hope for Global Teens with Alcoholic Parents?

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According to the World Health Organization, the Czech Republic is the #2 drunkest country in the world. In the Czech Republic, Twenty percent of males and twelve percent of females have been drunk at least once by the time they are thirteen years old. If you think that’s bad, it gets worse! Ninety eight percent of males and ninety seven percent of females have drank alcohol by the time they’re fifteen. Not to mention, 32 percent of these underage boys and nineteen percent of these young ladies are drinking on a weekly basis. Eighteen percent of these fifteen year olds report having some form of relational problems due to circumstances linked to alcohol. And 14 percent have engaged in either unwanted sexual experiences or unprotected sex at least once.

Can you really blame these teens though? To be fair, they haven’t had the best example set before them by their peers. The Czech Republic in not only the #2 drunkest country in the world, it is also has the second highest divorce rate in the world. The divorce rate is 24.26 percent. Which should be no surprise since 38 percent of all divorces are linked to at least one partner being an alcoholic. This is very disturbing because there is strong, scientific evidence that alcoholism runs in families. Children of alcoholics have a greater chance of developing problems with alcohol and other drugs than children of non-alcoholic parents. In fact, many scientific studies show that children of alcoholics are four times more likely to become alcoholics themselves than children whose parents are not alcoholics.

So genetic factors have a substantial impact on the development of alcoholism throughout generations. However, there is more than just a heritable basis for alcoholism running in families. Children of alcoholics form their beliefs about drinking from watching their parents’ drinking patterns – the amount they drink and how often. When drinking in excess becomes an everyday event, children perceive this to be normal. So it is no surprise that these children often go on to emulate this drinking pattern when they begin to experiment with alcohol themselves. There is hope.

Having an alcoholic parent is in no way an automatic sentence to alcoholism. Research also shows that over half of children of alcoholics do not become alcoholics themselves. So take heart, everyone’s tolerance is different and some are more susceptible than others to addiction. We can only hope everyone waits until they are of age. And then we hope that they know themselves, be smart, and never use alcohol as a coping mechanism.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.