Results of Alcohol

During pregnancy, even a rare occasional consumption of alcohol can damage the unborn child. The most likely effect is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. FAS is a term used for certain problems that a baby may have if the mother is a heavy user of alcohol when she is pregnant. This does not mean the mother has to drink every day. Getting drunk occasionally or binge drinking can have the same serious effects. Some examples of FAS are mental retardation, growth retardation, heart defects, abnormal appearance of face, and disorders of the nervous system.

As a result of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, psychiatric problems are found as the child develops. For example, little Johnny starts hallucinating or gets easily distracted. Also, he will constantly need new things to keep busy. One minute he wants to do homework, the next he wants to run around the class room. Johnny will always get sudden urges to do many things, even when he grows out of his childhood behavior. Many kids also do not have the ability to read or even perform easy math problems. Also, some cannot manage to do simple motor skills, like walk or hold a pencil.

Due to psychiatric problems, children are placed in special needs classrooms. Kids who are placed in special education classes are in special need. They have need for extra help, a need for someone that will always keep them on track, and a need for someone to take them to go potty. And as they get older and are well into their middle school years, they realize that they are different. They have lunch break at a different time from the other kids. They notice that most of their peers are only seen in between classes or away from school. They realize that ever since they started first grade, they have been stuck with the same bunch of kids all through out high school. And when they finally reach freshman year in high school, suddenly they are mixed in with the other normal kids. They have been raised with the same twenty people group for a while and making this huge step frightens them.

Therefore, they get vulnerable and are an easy target for the bullies. Knowing that the Special Ed kid will not fight back, the bullies start their process. First comes the name calling and then goes the hassling for lunch money. The bully is of course enjoying the fun. He adds a little bit of excitement by tripping the poor kid, throwing apples across the cafeteria, and the famous “wedgies.” It is fun for the bully, but not for the kid that has FAS.

Being and easy target of getting picked on, leads to low self esteem. Let’s go back to Johnny again. Johnny starts hating the way he looks, the way he walks, and the way he stutters when he gets nervous. He sees his reflection in the mirror and realizes he looks nothing like the popular boys at school. He has never had a girlfriend and begins to worry if he will have a date for Senior Ball.

After Johnny’s self esteem drops down, he begins to feel depressed. He wants to be alone and realizes that he does not have many friends. The only people, who do know how it feels, are the ones who have been stuck with him in the same classroom ever since grade school. He often wants to stay home and does not even want to go walk his dog. Everything around him seems so gloomy and sad. He feels that the only person he can trust is him self. And then Johnny realizes that he is already twenty five years old and still lives with his parents. He feels like a burden and a failure to his parents.

Therefore, depression often leads to suicide. Johnny realizes that his life is pointless and his childhood is not normal. And why does he have to wake up each and everyday just to have his dreams crushed by the fact that he is not normal. So why not end the misery and spare the thoughts of what is going happen to him in a couple of years. As a result, he commits suicide.

In conclusion, that is the typical life of a child whose mother drank alcohol while being pregnant. Many people, especially young pregnant mothers, do not know the consequences that their children are left with. The child will most likely become mentally ill and through out a long possess of his or her young years, will in the end, will end the life that he or she was meant to live.