Dani is fourteen years old and has lived with her younger brother and grandma since she was ten. She used to live with her happily married parents until her mom died of cancer five years ago. Soon after her death, Dani’s father started drinking, only a few beers after work late at night, but it quickly escalated.
His drinking got in the way of him being a present or supportive parent. Dani and her dad were super close, but when her father started drinking more, he became aggressive and argumentative. Dani was depressed about the loss of her mom, upset that her dad basically didn’t exist in her life anymore, but even more than that, she really missed their happy family. She tries to be a good sister, but her brother is too young to understand and still idolizes their father.
Over the past 3 months, Dani and her friends have started drinking before football games at their friend’s house. Dani quickly learned she could drown out her sadness and worries with alcohol and discovered that she loves the feeling of being drunk. She knows drinking is bad and wants to stop but she craves the numbness that being drunk provides. She thinks that so long as she isn’t an “angry drunk” like her father, it’s okay. As she seeks out opportunities to drink, her grades & friendships start to decline. Her friends start to see that Dani’s only fun when she’s drinking, depressed and solemn when she isn’t, so Dani sometimes finds herself sneaking her dad’s tequila from his closet to get a quick buzz and so her friends will want to spend time with her. She wants to stop, but doesn’t want her friends to stop hanging out with her. She also doesn’t want to feel the pain of knowing her family will never be the same. It’s going to be a hard holiday season.
Do you think that her friends know something’s wrong? What would you do if you were Dani’s friend?
Brenda Sisler
Dani is fourteen years old and has lived with her younger brother and grandma since she was ten. She used to live with her happily married parents until her mom died of cancer five years ago. Soon after her death, Dani’s father started drinking, only a few beers after work late at night, but it quickly escalated.
His drinking got in the way of him being a present or supportive parent. Dani and her dad were super close, but when her father started drinking more, he became aggressive and argumentative. Dani was depressed about the loss of her mom, upset that her dad basically didn’t exist in her life anymore, but even more than that, she really missed their happy family. She tries to be a good sister, but her brother is too young to understand and still idolizes their father.
Over the past 3 months, Dani and her friends have started drinking before football games at their friend’s house. Dani quickly learned she could drown out her sadness and worries with alcohol and discovered that she loves the feeling of being drunk. She knows drinking is bad and wants to stop but she craves the numbness that being drunk provides. She thinks that so long as she isn’t an “angry drunk” like her father, it’s okay. As she seeks out opportunities to drink, her grades & friendships start to decline. Her friends start to see that Dani’s only fun when she’s drinking, depressed and solemn when she isn’t, so Dani sometimes finds herself sneaking her dad’s tequila from his closet to get a quick buzz and so her friends will want to spend time with her. She wants to stop, but doesn’t want her friends to stop hanging out with her. She also doesn’t want to feel the pain of knowing her family will never be the same. It’s going to be a hard holiday season.
Do you think that her friends know something’s wrong? What would you do if you were Dani’s friend?