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?