Interview with a teenager from PWCPS
Interview: Sophomore, LeAnne Mathews
from Prince William County Public Schools
Prince William, Virginia; March 25, 2013
I am 15 years old. I have a lot of friends that I hang with. We do a lot of things together: we study together, we go to events together, we go to church together, we talk together, we share each other’s home. Most of us have known each other since elementary school. We mostly live in the same community. We are among the same graduation class, so we are about the same age. The oldest friend in our circle of friends is 16 years old. There are about 15 of us in the friend group.
Q and A
Question: Does anyone in your friend group drink alcohol?
Answer: 75% of the group drink alcohol now. I do not.
Question: Do you think that alcohol a drug?
Answer: I know that alcohol is a drug, but a lot of my friends do not say that alcohol is a Drug. They think alcohol is okay like marijuana.
Question: Does anyone in the group use Marijuana?
Answer: 50% of the group use marijuana now or have used the drug in the past year; I do not and never have.
Question: Do you think that drinking alcohol increases a person’s appetite for other drugs?
Answer: Yes, I believe that drinking alcohol will increase a person’s appetite for other drugs.
Comments: Is there anything else you would like to say?
Yes, All of us talk about alcohol, how it taste, what it is like to drink it, how you may feel if you are drunk on alcohol, what our parents might say and do if they knew that we were drinking.
As a professional in the field of Substance Abuse and Addiction, I have found what this school age teenager said to be true with the age group 15 to 19 no matter the city or state.
A Mother’s Cry, I Have Two Sons
Prince William County, Virginia August 20, 2012
I have two children. One, I do not know where he is. As a mother, I have to try to look after the other one, so I do not lose both of them. My oldest child left home one day to go to work and never came back the same!
Once, he had clear eyes. Now his eyes are muddy. He used to talk about what he could be. He does not talk like that anymore. His toes pointed straight when he walked. He often spoke of goals and he made straight A’s. He worked after school and carried his homework to the store where he worked. I was so proud of him. My heart rejoiced at his straight forward sense of direction. He looked like he was confident with himself. That child left and did not come back. I do not know the child that returned. I have two children. As a mother, I have to look after the other one so I do not lose both of them.
When he is around, I am scared all of the time. I can’t sleep. I wake up, and then realize that I never really went to sleep. The door opens late at night and early in the morning. He comes and goes all times of night or morning. I worry about what he could do that late or that early when he does not work any place.
He looks at me with a glance, his head at a slant as though he is avoiding direct contact with my eyes. I do not know what he is saying when he talks because he does not talk straight. His talk has a motive. He is always trying to get me to pay him for doing chores or not doing chores. He always wants to know when I am not at home. I have two children. As a mother, I have to try to look after the other one, so I do not lose both of them.
When I leave home, I don’t really go because my mind is in the house. My eyes try to see what might be missing when I get back. I find myself hurrying back so that I can catch him if he is trying to take something. He has taken things out of the house and I never saw them again. When I asked him about the things that were missing, he never knows anything about it.
I may be going crazy. Sometimes I think I am! I have two children, my oldest child left home one day to go to work and never came back the same.
Note: Parents throughout this country who have a child substance abuser share this mother’s experiences: her pain, frustration, fear, anxiety, guilt, anguish, paranoia, feeling of failure and hopelessness. The very first thing that parents have to do is realize that they do not have the answers. Becoming a substance abuser is a process that often involves many situations, circumstances and people. To correct drug abuse and the associated behaviors related to drug abuse is also a process that occurs in steps, one at a time. The second most important thing for parents to do is slip out of denial and seek help. Your child may be exhibiting symptoms of addiction. Click here to discuss and/or request the counseling services I provide!