Alcohol is a depressant, which means that even small amounts of alcohol slow down the actions of parts of the brain, so alcohol lengthens the time you take to respond to a stimulus. Different people react differently to alcohol. In some people, it increases their feelings of aggression, and releases their inhibitions so that they are more likely to be violent or commit other crimes. An alcoholic needs to drink quite large quantities of alcohol regularly. This causes many parts of the body to be damaged, because alcohol is poisonous to cells. Probably, there are many factors which decide whether or not a person becomes alcoholic. Over a long period of time, it can cause loss of memory and confusion. One way in which the damage is done is that alcohol in the body fluids draws water out of cells by osmosis.
Identify the measure which is not useful for prevention and control of alcohol abuse among adolescents.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Unsupportive family structure and peers
Option (1) Education and counselling — Useful. Education and counselling help adolescents face stress and failure.
Option (2) Seeking professional and medical help — Useful. NCERT lists seeking professional and medical help among the steps for prevention and control. Psychologists, psychiatrists and de-addiction and rehabilitation programmes help a person get rid of the problem and lead a normal life.
Option (3) Unsupportive family structure and peers — Not useful. An unsupportive family and peers push adolescents towards alcohol; support from parents and peers is what helps.
Option (4) Alert parents and teachers — Useful. Alert parents and teachers spot the danger signs early.
NCERT Extract:
Prevention and Control – “… (v) Seeking professional and medical help - A lot of help is available in the form of highly qualified psychologists, psychiatrists, and deaddiction and rehabilitation programmes to help individuals who have unfortunately got in the quagmire of drug/alcohol abuse. With such help, the affected individual with sufficient efforts and will power, can get rid of the problem completely and lead a perfectly normal and healthy life.”
Adolescence and Drug/alcohol Abuse – “… Other factors that have been seen to be associated with drug and alcohol abuse among adolescents are unstable or unsupportive family structures and peer pressure.”
Prevention and Control – “… (ii) Education and counselling - Educating and counselling him/ her to face problems and stresses, and to accept disappointments and failures as a part of life.”
Prevention and Control – “… (iv) Looking for danger signs - Alert parents and teachers need to look for and identify the danger signs discussed above.”