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Dear friends,
NACoA has been working over the past year on an important program about children of alcoholics (COAs) and featuring adolescent COAs. The program promises to be enlightening and moving not only for children and youth so desperately trying to cope with parental alcohol abuse, but it will also open the eyes of people of all ages and in all kinds of families.
When Parents are Alcoholics
Premieres Sunday November 14th at 9:00pm ET/PT on Nickelodeon
It's a good feeling to know you can rely on your mom or dad. It's good to know there's someone who will have your back when you need them - someone who's in control when things start to feel out of control.
But some kids don't know that feeling. The reason: They have a parent who's not in control. And that parent is not in control because he or she is an alcoholic.
"It was like I was the mother," a girl named Kate says.
On Sunday, November 14, "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee" will focus on kids who have an alcoholic parent. And there are a lot of kids in that category, according to experts - approximately 11 million in the United States alone.
You'll meet Brittany from New York.
"I've tried to help my mom not to drink. I yelled and cried and begged her to stop," Brittany explains.
You'll hear from Matthew from Colorado.
"I would worry a lot about my dad," he says. "My grades were suffering because I couldn't focus."
There's Kate from New Mexico.
"I have lost some of my childhood," she says. "I know things that some kids my age don't even know - like maybe should not know."
There's Rian from Louisiana.
"One day (my mom) wouldn't wake up," Rian says. "And I started crying, 'cause I thought she was dead."
And there's Sam from Florida.
"I wondered, ‘What's wrong with my dad? Is he sick?'"
Experts say alcoholism is a disease. It's not your fault. It's not something you can cure. And as a kid, it's not something you can control.
But you can control how you cope with it. And you can get help - not only for your mom or your dad but also for yourself. To find out how, please tune in on Sunday, November 14, for a special edition of "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee."
It's called "Under the Influence: Kids of Alcoholics." It'll be shown at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times, so if you live in a different time zone, check your local cable TV listings to find out when it'll be shown in your community.
"The good news, " as one expert says, "is that alcoholics can and do get better."
For more information about the program click here: http://news.nick.com/11/2010/05/when-parents-are-alcoholics/
