Author Description

Addicts and addictive behavior are common in our classrooms at many levels. Addiction presents challenges, both personally and professionally, for which most educators are simply not prepared. To help educators help others, without becoming victims themselves, is the goal of Classrooms Under the Influence. Authors Powell, Zehm, and Kottler are themselves children of addicted parents. By combining personal experience with intellectual study, they have created an indispensable source of information about an issue not often covered in education courses. Classrooms Under the Influence explores how addiction affects behavior and the dynamics of the classroom for both the student and the teacher. The authors examine two important manifestations of the problem: cases in which the student is addicted and situations in which a student's life is affected by the addictions of relatives. Powell, Zehm, and Kottler recognize that teachers don't have the time nor the training to become social workers or counselors for their students. But they can be better trained to recognize emotional, social, family, and self-esteem problems. The authors present a series of do's and don'ts for dealing with various situations, and the building of trust and the development of relationships with students is an underlying theme. Through interviews and research, they isolate eleven challenges for educators and suggest workable strategies. Organizational changes that can help to maintain productive and healthy classroom environments are also discussed.