What is Alateen?

Alateen is for teenage relatives and friends of alcoholics. Alateen is part of Al-Anon.

We believe alcoholism is a family disease that affects everyone in the family. Alateen meetings are attended by 12-17 year olds. They meet to share their experiences of having, or having had, a problem drinker in their lives. They help and support each other.

By attending meetings, young people gain an understanding of the illness and feel the benefits of realising they are not alone. They learn that they did not cause this problem and that they are not responsible for their relative’s or friend’s drinking or behaviour. By sharing their experiences, they find solutions to their problems and hope for the future.

For Alateen meetings, phone the General Service Office on 020 7407 0215

Alateen was started in 1957 by a teenager in California whose father was in AA and whose mother was in Al-Anon.

Alateen is not for teenage alcoholics, unless their lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.

Each Alateen meeting is sponsored by two experienced Al-Anon members who are screened and cleared to work with young people by the Criminal Records Bureau in England and Wales. There are a limited number of Alateen groups in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and none in Scotland.

We have a range of literature for teenagers available from the on-line shop.

My story...

As a child living with an alcoholic mother, life almost felt normal until I became a teenager and began to notice the differences between my friends' parents and mine. A teacher at school told me about Al-Anon. (I later realised that I could have gone to Alateen.) At the age of 14, with an old head on young shoulders, I attended my first Al-Anon meeting and felt welcomed with open arms.

Although nervous, I never felt judged as I explained the past couple of years and my constant struggle as I juggled the aspects of teenage life combined with that of living with an alcoholic. Life was hard and became harder as my mother finally lost her battle to alcoholism two years after I attended my first meeting. As an adult, I often reflect on my life as a child of an alcoholic and the support that Al-Anon offered me in terms of learning how to detach and how I am responsible for myself and my feelings, and not for others. Al-Anon gave me the strength to grow, which has allowed me to realise that there are things in life that I cannot change. And that is ok.