Alcoholism.

In brief, the dictionary says it's a disease where a person drinks to excess.

Sarah, a 13-year-old local student and daughter of an alcoholic father, goes a step further.

"It's a disease where a person drinks too much. They get addicted to it, and they keep wanting it. It's just a disease based on lies."

For many young people in similar situations, finding support can be difficult. Al-Anon is a national group lending support to an adult affected by a friend's or family member's drinking. Alateen is a similar organization targeted to young people.

Sadie, 14, also has an alcoholic father. Both Sarah's and Sadie's mothers attended Al-Anon meetings before the teens began regular attendance at Alateen meetings. To protect their privacy, the girls are using only first names.

"I remember growing up when my mom would have to be like, 'OK, I have to go to the bar and find your dad,' " said Sadie.

Sadie has multiple alcoholics in her family -- her father, her stepfather, and her stepmother. Both her father and stepfather exhibit different behaviors when they drink and have been arrested many times.

"When my stepdad drinks, he just mellows out and doesn't really talk to anybody," she said.

She said her biological father is more extreme.

"I mean you're fine one minute, and then if you do something that he doesn't like, he can go off."

Sarah has had similar experiences with her father, who is currently incarcerated.

Alcoholism has put a strain on both teens' relationships with family members.

"My family (knows) that I love my dad, and they support me on that. But they do try to show me that he's not the one who's been taking care of me the whole time. It's my mom," said Sarah.

For Sadie, avoiding the relationship is her way of coping.

"I don't really want to be a part of (my dad's) life because even though he doesn't get drunk anymore, he still acts drunk when he's sober. I don't want a part of that."

For both girls, someone else in the family found Al-Anon first.

"My mom had been going to Al-Anon for 12 years before I started going. Every Friday night she went to an Al-Anon meeting, and I would (wait) in the room across the hall. One night they just happened to come in there and said they were gonna start an Alateen meeting there. I've been going to it ever since," said Sarah.

Sadie started attending in the third grade when the drama in her household was nonstop. Her mother offered to take her to an Alateen meeting. She was a little worried at first but quickly got over it.

"I was just thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, we're gonna go and it's gonna be like this really white room, and everybody's gonna sit in a little circle,' " Sadie said.

She worried that the other teens would judge her. She was relieved, however, when the group, mostly 17-year-olds, quickly welcomed her.

Sarah said there is only one requirement to join Alateen: that there is a problem of alcoholism with a family member or close friend.

Just practicing the codes of Alateen helps Sadie deal with stress in all areas of life.

"(We) read literature, say the slogans, the serenity prayer, whatever you gotta do. Call up a friend. They're like, 'I know how you're feeling. Then I call my sponsor sometimes, too. She's like, 'OK, I want you to go to this book and I want you to read this page.' It's like everybody's there for everybody," said Sadie.

"(At) Alateen, the sole purpose is alcoholism, but they have a page that relates to everything in the book. I mean it applies the 12 steps (of Alcoholics Anonymous) to everything in your life. Everything kind of clicks together like a puzzle.

"The blue book, I think it's called 'Hope for Today,' has a page for every day of the year. (At meetings), we'll read the page for the day and then we'll talk about it.

"I think that Alateen has shown me that I'm not alone, that there are other kids who have the same problems."

Both girls said that new people come regularly and that Al-Anon members sponsor groups.

"When someone comes for the first meeting, they're usually very shy, and they like to pass on a lot of stuff and they don't like to talk. They just like to listen," said Sarah.

The fellowship and support that the regular meetings provide are key reasons to attend.

"The friends you meet in Alateen are not like the friends you have at school. You don't have to impress them. They know about you. They know that you have a problem, and you have the same problem that they do. They don't care what you look like. They don't care what you talk like," said Sarah. "It's like they love you in a way."

Both girls said attending reg ular group sessions gives them comfort.

"I feel safe. I feel loved just because everybody can relate and they are there for you. It's just really a warm atmosphere and you get to say what you need to say. I can definitely say (if there is) drinking or whatever, and I don't want to be around it. I know that I can go somewhere," said Sadie.

Both teens say that Alateen has taught them how to deal with alcoholism.

"You can detach from them with love," said Sarah. "There's an (Alateen) story that if your dad came home drunk, and he fell asleep or passed out in the car, you can't sit there and try and drag him into the house. But you can go out and put a blanket on top of him.

"Before I learned a lot (from) Alateen, when my dad was gone, I would try to look in his refrigerator and see if he had beer or something and I'd pour it out.

"But I learned that you can't really do that. You have to let them do that. There's something called the three C's that we go by in Alateen, that you didn't cause it, you can't control it and you can't cure it. It's their problem and you've got to let them do it," added Sarah.

Both girls said they realize their experiences with alcoholism, while difficult, have had some positive results.

"Definitely, the hope and the friendship. There are so many cool people that I have met. We do a lot of Alateen functions tied with Al-Anon. So we get to meet a lot of older people who have been in the program longer, and they just sit down and we all share experience, strength and hope," said Sadie.

To share the information about the groups, the girls have taken pamphlets to schools. But it is difficult to get the word out.

Both hope recent episodes on television shows such as "Joan of Arcadia" and "Life as We Know It" will show teens dealing with alcoholism that there are people out there willing to help them.

Sadie hopes her example can provide other teens with hope.

"I think that it can show them that there are people out there who do have hard lives but continue to make the right choices," she said.

Assistant editors: Rajpreet Heir, 15; Mallory Jones, 14; Reporter: Meera Patel, 13.

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About Alateen

Alateen helps young people gain a better understanding of how alcoholism in a friend or relative can affect lives.

Meetings are held at various times and locations in the Indianapolis metropolitan area.

For more information, call the Al-Anon information services line at (317) 257-2693.

The Al-Anon office in Indianapolis is at 4627 Carvel Ave.

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Who we are

Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization with offices in The Indianapolis Star building. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call (317) 444-2010 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.