Help is available

To the editor:
Do you know a child that shows symptoms of depression or anxiety? Do you know a child that is having difficulty in school, constantly truant, repeats grade levels or defies authority figures?
It is reported by the National Association for Children of Alcoholics that an estimated one in four children in the United States under the age of 18 is affected by family alcohol abuse or alcoholism and countless others are affected by parental drug use.
Parents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, stop and think about your actions, and what the consequences might be. Your children are the ones that are being hurt.
Is your child left home alone for periods of time while you’re out drinking? When you are home, is your child secluded in a bedroom because he or she is afraid to be in your presences as you drink? Financially, are you having trouble paying your bills, providing food for your family, but you have the funds to be out drinking?
There is help out there! Family, churches, friends, counselors and AA/NA groups are available.
Our children are our future. Children living with addiction in their family need to realize that it is not their fault.
Alcoholism is a disease and there are safe people who can help.
Gary Hendershot,
vice-chair, Jay County
Drug Prevention[[In-content Ad]]