Alateenﾀ is a division of the Al-Anon Family Group, which administers self-help groups for adult family members of drinkers. Alateen members are typically teenagers whose lives are being affected by someone else's drinking problem. Alateen members range in age from 12 to 18, with an average age of 14. Some Alateen groups welcome younger children between the ages of 10 and 12. Most Alateen members attend because one or both parents are problem drinkers, although some Alateen members attend because of a drinking brother or sister.

%See Organizations of Interest at the back of Volume 1 for address, telephone, and URL.

Alateen began in the late 1950s with a teenager who was attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)ﾀ and Al-Anonﾀ meetings with his parents. His father had just gotten sober in AA and his mother was an active member of Al-Anon. The teenager felt that the Twelve Steps of AA were helping him. His mother suggested...