DR. WALLACE: Do all people who drink alcohol eventually wind up having drinking problems? I'm 17 and plan to be a lawyer after I finish college and graduate from law school and will then likely enjoy being a "social drinker," because I'm positive I don't want to have a drinking problem. Most professionals share a drink or two after work sometimes with their work colleagues. Heavy drinking already caused my parents to divorce, but I will only have one drink per day. — Anonymous, via email
ANONYMOUS: Be careful. According to a Harvard University study on addiction, 100 million Americans consume alcohol, and an estimated 20 million of them have what could be considered to be drinking problems, which, for your information, is an extremely high percentage. Since alcohol abuse ended your parents' marriage, why would you want to become a "social drinker?" Wouldn't it be more prudent to avoid alcohol at any time?
I HOPE FATHER RECONSIDERS
DR. WALLACE: A good friend of mine was injured in automobile accident, and her parents are asking her friends to donate a pint of blood to help her out. I want to donate, but my dad said no because he heard that donors can be in contact with sexually transmitted diseases and other diseases.
If this is true, why would anyone give blood? — Zack, Baltimore
ZACK: According to the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Public Health Services and the Surgeon General, there is no danger in giving blood at a blood bank. The needles used for blood donations are always brand-new, and when they have been used once, and only once, the needles are destroyed.
I hope your father reconsiders and permits you to help your friend by donating a pint of blood. It's a wonderful and valuable gesture for you to step up and help another person in need.
HE WON'T GROW OUT OF IT
DR. WALLACE: I'm 13, and my 9-year-old brother has a big problem. He has a very foul mouth and is constantly using it. I think it's a very uncouth habit, but my parents think he's cute when he swears. When I discuss this problem with my parents, they laugh and say that he is just going through a phase and that he will grow out of it. If that's true, how long will it take? I'm embarrassed to bring my friends over to the house because of my brother's "salty" vocabulary. — Not amused, Chicago
NOT AMUSED: Your brother is not going through a "phase." Therefore, he won't "grow" out of it. Your parents are doing him a disfavor when they laugh at his swearing. The best way to stop the habit is to demand that his vocabulary improves drastically and punish him drastically if it doesn't. Thinking it's cute when their son uses foul language is a serious parental error they are making.
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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