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| TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY FOR TEENS |
| Columns - Media Review | |
| Wednesday, 31 March 2004 | |
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With more than 6.5 million copies in print, Hazelden’s Twenty-Four Hours a Day is celebrating its 50th year in print. Capturing the wisdom found within the original meditation guide, Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services has released an abridged version Twenty-Four Hours a Day for Teens, crafted specifically for the continually growing adolescent population in recovery. In the fast-paced, highly charged, and time-limited climate of adolescent chemical dependency treatment, it’s challenging to address such infinitely large questions as acceptance, faith, trust, courage and hope. There are no simple dichotomous answers. The original Twenty-Four Hours a Day teaches and reinforces complex concepts that aim to guide individuals to definitions of these terms and answers to these important questions. Hazelden’s decision to teach in the form of meditation and discussion has proven successful for more than 50 years now. This new teen version attempts to continue its success in teaching these virtues one day at a time.In our adolescent outpatient program at Fairview Recovery Services in Saint Paul, Minnesota, we ceased using the original because the younger teens were getting lost in some of the orthodox vocabulary and language. Teens need to learn the original principles, but more in their own language. The major accomplishment of Twenty-Four Hours a Day for Teens is its effective breakdown of the often overwhelming principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) into clear and concise passages that can be applied to everyday living. For example, the January 13th passage of the teen version omits the phrase “I believe that my life is being refined like gold in a crucible. Gold does not stay in the crucible, only until it is refined,” successfully minimizing length and confusion, while keeping from the original “I will never despair or be despondent. I now have friends who long for me to conquer. If I should error or fail, it would cause pain and disappointment to them. I will keep trying to live a better life” — which still captures the main point but without losing the younger reader. A second example of a well thought out articulate meditation comes on May 3rd, “the self in me cannot forgive injuries, the very thought of wrongs means that my self is in the foreground. Since the self cannot forgive, I must overcome my selfishness. It is a mistake for me even to think about these injuries. I must aim at overcoming myself in my daily life and then I will find there is nothing in me that remembers injury because the only thing injured, my selfishness, is gone.” This meditation eliminates the excessive wordiness “I must cease trying to forgive those who fretted and wronged me,” which appears in the original version of the text. The majority of the time, the book’s shortening of the original meditations does not come at the expense of sacrificing any of their innate wisdom and truth. One exception, though, is on January 31st, when the teen version keeps the first part “Drinking cuts you off from God. No matter how you were brought up, no matter what your religion is, no matter if you say you believe in God, nevertheless you build up a wall between you and God by your drinking. You know you’re not living the way God wants you to,” but omits “As a result, you have that terrible remorse. When you come into AA you begin to get right with other people and with God. A sober life is a happy life, because by giving up drinking, we’ve gotten rid of our loneliness and remorse,” which helps make sense of the preceding thought and fosters encouragement rather than shame to the reader. One other suggestion would be to substitute “using” for “drinking” because the majority of teens are in treatment for drugs other than alcohol and “using” is a more inclusive term. In a time when talking about anything more spiritually specific than “a power greater than oneself” is taboo, this book stands strong behind the roots of AA and makes no apology for relying on a God, who will give us the power to stay sober one day at a time if we are willing to trust and practice working the Twelve Steps of AA. Twenty-Four Hours a Day for Teens, rather than putting forth anything new or cutting edge, reformulates the tried and true. According to the text, the answers are already unveiled in the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. If you’re looking to add a harmonious daily supplement to your adolescent Twelve-Step based program, there isn’t a more superior book out there. When used most efficiently, these readings will start each day anew, reinforcing the fundamental tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous such as honesty, acceptance, humility, forgiveness and gratitude, while guiding teens toward a healthy, unwavering, and meaningful recovery. Brian Loots, BS, LADC, BCC ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is a Chemical Dependency Counselor at Fairview Maplewood Adolescent Outpatient in Saint Paul, MN. He began his professional development with Hazelden for two years and specializes in working with young adults. This article is published in Counselor,The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, April 2004, v.5, n.2, pp. 78-79.              |
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