Paula is a student at your school. She lives
at home with her parents and her younger
brother, Richard. Since the family arrived in this
country, Paula has become concerned about
Richard’s behavior; he used to be serious about
his studies and about the part-time job he had, but now he spends little time
studying, and Paula has learned that Richard was fired from his job.
Furthermore, Paula has seen him hanging out with a group of local teenagers
who have a bad reputation in the neighborhood.
The other night, while Paula’s parents were out, she went into her
brother’s room to discuss her concern with him, and discovered that he had
been drinking. At first he was angry with her interfering in his business, but
then he claimed that he had only been trying it out for the first time. When
Paula threatened to tell her parents about the incident unless he agreed to
stop fooling around with alcohol, Richard agreed.
Now Paula is confused. She has put herself into a situation in which she
cannot tell her parents about Richard’s drinking. She suspects the problem is
more serious than he had admitted. However, if she breaks her agreement
with Richard and tells her parents, she is afraid that they will react angrily and
perhaps even throw Richard out of the house.
She goes to talk with two of her friends who came to this country when
she did. Her friend, Susan, has seen one of her own brothers
ruin his life with alcohol and drugs, and she feels that Paula is
justified in doing anything she can to save Richard. However,
her friend Arnold does not drink and has a more tolerant
attitude toward people who do. He feels that Richard is going
through a phase and will straighten himself out if Paula just
leaves him alone. What should Paula do?