Alcohol: what are the risks. (Alcohol).(Brief Article)

After his parents got divorced, Billy began to spend weekends at his father's apartment. "Why do I have to get punished because they split up?" Billy grumbled to himself. He was upset about the divorce and angry that he had to leave his home every weekend. He liked being with his dad, but he got bored because he didn't know anyone in his father's neighborhood.

Billy's dad could see that Billy was having a tough time. "There are some kids I noticed who play baseball every Saturday down at Fitton Field," said Billy's father. With his father's encouragement, Billy joined the group. He quickly began to make friends with some of the kids, even though they were older than he. He began to meet them at the movies or at the mall. The problem was, they would often end up going over to Don's house to drink beer.

Billy didn't really like the taste of beer. But he liked the feeling of belonging to this new group of friends and didn't want to do anything to ruin that. So he started to drink with them.

His parents were glad Billy had made new friends. They didn't realize that Billy was getting into trouble-- and fast. Within a few months, Billy found he couldn't go more than a day or two without a drink. He began to sneak beer and whatever other alcohol he could get The sweet and fruity wine coolers were his favorite. His grades started to drop. One day his mom got a call because Billy didn't show up at school. Once his parents learned that Billy had a problem with ...