JENKINS: At the moment, I’m really rather thirsty. (pause) I don’t suppose…
(LEWIS smiles and reaches into his trench coat, pulling out a bottle of whiskey. He places it in front of JENKINS. JENKINS looks overjoyed.)
JENKINS: Lewis, you are a gentleman, and a scholar sir. In fact I would go so far as to say, you are a thoroughly decent chap. ( pg. 7-8 “The Ghosts May Laugh”) full play
Above, is a quote from a script I’m currently reading called, “The Ghosts May Laugh.” The plot involves a few men all involved in World War I. Jenkins, one of the men is obviously a heavy drinker as continuously throughout the script, he is taking swigs from a bottle of whiskey. Most people would say that it’s common for a soldier to drink, and some may even go as far to say that it’s ok. Drinking among fellow soldiers can be a common event to in a way, get yourself away from the war, or forget about it for a period of time. But nowadays, there’s a lot of support given to soldiers while they’re fighting and when they return home to steer them away from developing bad habits in ways of coping with the experience of war. But, others are sometimes forgotten. People who might not be fighting on the front, but experiencing their own war in their hearts. These people are the children of those fighting. The rates are getting higher and higher for children of military moms and dads to develop substance abuse problems, and something needs to be done about it. This is a problem I don’t think enough people are recognizing, because a lot of the emphasis is put on the soldiers specifically. But, we can’t forget those other family members who are also very negatively affected by the war as well. Kimberly Hefling from the Associated Press stated in her article, “Anti-drug Campaign Targets Military Families”, that,
A key risk factor for children in military families is that teens are more likely to experiment with alcohol or drugs during times of transition — and many military children have experienced multiple transitions as their parents mobilized for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan on top of ordinary military re-locations, which happens on average every three years.
Steve Pasierb, the president of the New York-based partnership for Drug-Free America, also described how every time an adolescent has to move, it’s a new transition that is introduced thus creating another time when a child can fall into substance abuse.
So what can you do? As a parent, communication is key. If you can’t talk to your kids or vice versa, you’re gonna have problems. A women, Amy Garcia, had to leave her 14 year-old son at home for a time while she went to help her wounded husband heal enough to come back home. While away, Jim (her son) seemed very happy and ok, she said. Come to find out, he had developed an addiction while she was away and is currently in a 12-step program and on his way to getting healthy again.
The point is, we can’t forget about the children, the wives, the husbands or the parents of soldiers fighting for our country. Even though they aren’t the ones fighting in the war, each and every one of them has their own battle to fight every day while their loved one is away.
“Ant-drug Campaign Targets Military Families”
Kimberly Hefling– The associate press
Full Article
