Alateen is a new support group starting at Rocky meant for teens who are struggling with an alcoholic in their lives, whether that be a parent, grandparent, or sibling. Alateen is intended to help teenagers who feel like they don’t have a place to go and talk about how this is affecting their lives.

This group will be run by Ms. Kummer and Ms. Kalos who is a Alanon member and has been going for years because her brother is an addict and it has impacted her for years.

For the past five years there has not been an Alateen group in Fort Collins due to a lack of interest and attendance. Ms. Kummer hopes to have more attendance now and to have Alateen be a safe, confidential place for teens to openly talk about how alcoholism is affecting their lives and to give everyone a group of people to lean on. She wants to create a community that helps and understands people struggling with these serious issues. She says she wants to teach people being affected by this to prioritize themselves and to be able to speak about the things that are affecting them in a healthy atmosphere.

Alateen is a completely anonymous group. It is not a place to catch anyone and nothing anyone says will be reported. They also will not turn anyone away and there is no fee.

Alateen, however, is not associated with Rocky, so is open to anyone, not just Rocky students. It is not a religious program or sponsored by any church, though they will be meeting at a church. Alateen is a free program.

The first few meetings will be run by Ms. Kummer and Ms. Kalos, but they hope to eventually have this be a student lead meeting.

Alateen meets on Mondays from 3:30- 4:30 pm at the Peace with Christ Lutheran Church at 1412 West Swallow Road. Meetings began this week and will be ongoing. For more information, students can consult the Alateen website  or Ms. Kummer or Ms. Kalos.