Beacon of Hope

// A post by William Galaz, Sharefest Intern

Last month Sharefest invited The Beacon House Association to send a few young men on the road to recovery from drugs and alcohol, to share their story with the students in the Teen Skills Course at Avalon Continuation School in Wilmington. The Beacon House is a Drug and Alcohol Program in San Pedro that provides shelter and counseling for men suffering from alcoholism and addiction. The Teen Skills Course is taught by Sharefest Program Director Anwar Shariff every week. He covers an array of subjects during the course from self-awareness to positive communication. Knowing that drugs and alcohol is a major lure for high school students, Anwar thought that the stories of the young men from The Beacon House would be impactful.

The young men from The Beacon House started by sharing the struggles they went through early in life that went unchecked that eventually lead to the use of drugs and alcohol by high school. Most of the men started experimenting with drugs and alcohol on a recreational basis, but it later became a band-aid that they used to cover up pain that they didn’t know how to deal with. They used stories from their own lives to caution the students about squandering their young adult life. They encouraged them to take advantage of their youth and all of the opportunities being afforded to them.   One student asked, “If you could change one thing from high school, what would it be?” As each of the young men thought back to their high school days. One of them answered, ”If I could change one thing , I would change the first time I tried alcohol”. This comment sparked a reaction with the students at Avalon, because the general consensus is that  alcohol is not a drug. “Why Alcohol?”, one student asked, puzzled.  “Alcohol was part of every negative activity I was part of outside of my family and personal relationships”, the young man answered.

One of the most important things that the students learned was that Alcoholism and Addiction are actual diseases. And they are the only diseases that deny their own existence. The young men from the Beacon House explained that they’re considered diseases because once ingested, alcohol and drugs spark an allergic reaction within the body and an obsession within the mind occurs. This doesn’t happen in everyone, only to certain people. They used this as an example that anyone can potentially become addicted to drugs and alcohol so that it’s best if students abstain altogether from drugs and alcohol. And if they choose to drink, they should wait until they are of the legal drinking age and in a better position to make more informed decisions about their life.

The students left with the knowledge that the use of drugs and alcohol is a more serious issue than they thought. They were also exposed to real-life experiences of the pain and suffering that the use of drugs and alcohol can cause both on those that use them and their families and friends. The young men ended the talk on a high note, sharing their dreams of graduating from the program and using their experiences to prevent more young people from following their path. They also shared their dreams of graduating from college and starting families and just enjoying a clean and free life – something all of us look forward to.