This is the second in a series of blogs looking at the effectiveness of online alcohol courses. So, who takes online alcohol classes?
As a counselor for both in-class and online alcohol classes I have a pretty good understanding of who takes the class. The vast majority of students already have had an alcohol-related incident and fall into two groups.
The first group has already been mandated to the online alcohol class by the judge. The second group is comprised of those who have an alcohol-related incident and are trying to take the online alcohol class as a measure showing their commitment and good faith, as well as their remorse, before a pending court date.
There are also students who take the online alcohol class because their parents caught them using alcohol and are making them take the class.
There is no doubt that online alcohol classes are effective for these students. However, I propose that all schools implement an 8-hour online alcohol class as part of each school year. This could be done in the computer lab at school or as homework.
The best way to keep a person from suffering multiple alcohol-related incidents, or drug-related incidents, is to continue to educate them to the point they do not choose to experiment with alcohol or other drugs in the first place.