Submitted By: Janice Bell-McDowell    School:  Eau Claire High School

  Grade Level: 9 -12    Subject(s): Personal Health

CORE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVE (S): Analyze the cycle of addiction as it relates to individuals and families. Analyze the relationships between alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and injury, violence, and criminal activity and their impact on the family and society.

As a culminating activity/assessment, students will use their knowledge of the cycle of addiction, creativity, and technology, to access resources, such as Al-Anon and Alateen, that provide help for individuals who have family members who abuse alcohol or other drugs. The class will design an ad for a resource directory.

Purpose/Essential Question(s):

What are the characteristics and behaviors of children of alcoholics?

What roles are assumed by children of alcoholics?

How does an individual access resources for assistance with alcohol problems?

Resources:

"Working it Out at Madison High II: Boy Wonder" (video)
Health Edco
P O Box 21207
Waco, TX 76702-1207

Instructional Materials

Blank transparencies and markers

Transparency - Word Splash - Roles in Families With Addiction

Transparency - Don't Talk, Don't Trust, Don't Feel

Transparency - Someone in the Class

Transparency - Characteristics and Behaviors of Children of Alcoholics

Construction paper/scissors/string or cord/magic markers/crayons/glue

TV/VCR

Yellow Pages

Web sites and computer with word processor

Book binder (optional)

Culminating Activity/Assessment:

The teacher will provide on-going oral and written assessments during the lesson.

Students will prepare an ad for a substance abuse resource directory. Students will use the internet to access web sites. Students will request information about the agency or organization. The request for information can be in the form of a letter, E-mail, or fax. (Sample letter formats, E-mail, and facsimile formats should be made available for students who need assistance.)

 A rubric will be used as a checklist to assess the activity.

NOTE: Students will post their ads on the class bulletin board. Each class will combine the ads to form a substance abuse resource directory.

Day 1

Launch Activity - Someone in the Class

The teacher will place a diagram entitled "Someone in the Class" on the overhead projector. (Each "X" represents a student in the class.) The teacher will ask the student to circle the number of students they believe are affected by alcoholism within their family. At least 25% of families are affected by alcoholism in the United States. (At least four to six children in a typical classroom of 25 have parents with an alcohol problem.)

Brainstorm and discussion - Roles in a Family

What are the various roles in a family? What happens when someone gets sick or is unable to assume their role in a family? Is alcohol addiction a disease? How does alcohol addiction impact individual roles in a family? What happens to children when a parent is addicted to alcohol?

Lecture Feedback and Discussion - Roles in Families with Addiction

Using the transparency, the teacher and students will list and discuss roles in families with addiction.

Small Group and Class Game - The Mask of Children of Alcoholics

Children in an alcoholic family will take on roles to help cope with the problem of alcoholism. Students will review "Roles in Families with Addiction. (Glencoe, page 507) Students will select one of the roles in families with addiction and design a mask. In collaborative pairs students will place his/her mask over his/her face and give clues about the roles he/she is assuming. The class will guess the role the person is describing. (The teacher will allow students to select the role of an alcoholic from a list to avoid duplication.) One student will take turns holding the mask up to his/her face and the other student will read the clues.

View and discuss: "Working it Out at Madison High: Boy Wonder" (video)

Describe Tom's household responsibilities. In what ways does Tom "enable" his mother's alcoholism? What "role" did Tom assume in the alcoholic family? What characteristics and behaviors did Tom exhibit that are typical of a child of an alcoholic?

Closure - The Envelope Please

Write one thing you learned in class today about children of alcoholics. In collaborative pairs, students will discuss their individual responses.

Someone in the Class - Children of Alcoholics

Day 2

Essential Questions: 

How does the cycle of addiction affect individual and family members? 

How does an individual access resources for assistance with alcohol problems?

Activator: Don't Talk, Don't Trust, Don't Feel

Students will explain the quote "Don't Talk, Don't Trust, Don't Feel." How does this quote apply to children living in the home of an alcoholic parent?

Don't Talk - Children whose parent is an alcoholic will often get the message, overtly or not, that it is not right to talk about family problems either within or outside the home.

Don't Trust - Children whose parent is an alcoholic must often cope with broken promises and unpredictable behavior.

Don't Feel - Children whose parent is an alcoholic learn that their feelings, whether they be fear, anger, sadness or joy, are not acceptable and may even exacerbate the conflict they feel at home.

Collaborative Pairs: In collaborative pairs, students will list the qualities of a healthy family and an unhealthy or dysfunctional family. (Students will use their textbooks for assistance.)

Students will determine if a child of an alcoholic is a member of a healthy or unhealthy family.

Skit and Discussion - "Journal 9/3"

Students will read and discuss the skit "Journal 9/3." 

The class will answer the following questions:

What do you think causes this mother to be violent?

What could this teenager do to prevent the abuse?

What role do you think the alcohol plays in the mother's abusive behavior?

What role do you think the death of the father plays?

How could writing in a journal be beneficial to the teenager?

Research and Resource Directory - Roles in Families with Addiction

Students will identify an discuss assistance individuals who have family members who are addicted to drugs. Students will use the Yellow Pages, Web sites, etc. to find information/resources.

NOTE: The class should brainstorm headings to look under to find the appropriate information. Although national organizations are identified, students should be encouraged to access local chapters or organizations.

Web sites:

www.alanon.alateen.org

www.ACDE.org

www.health.org

www.madd.org

www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Additional resources:

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
1-800-729-6686

American Council for Drug Education
1-800-488-DRUG

Alateen

Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters
1-800-356-9996

Students will develop an ad for the resource directory from their research. The class will compile and bind their want ads to form a class resource directory.

Closure: Word Splash

Students will use the terms around the word splash box to generate complete sentences about the topic Roles in Families With Addiction. Students should be encouraged to write complete sentences to form a well written paragraph.

Students should read their paragraphs orally to the class. The class and the teacher should discuss and clarify any information read during the presentation.

Check all that apply:

Signature of teacher(s) submitting the lesson/unit:

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