Religion is a Safeguard Against Family Abuse

To say I was a wild teenager might be an understatement. I was 14 the first time I was arrested for stumbling home drunk from a party. By the time I was in high school, I regularly drank at parties with college-aged adults. I once left a bonfire with some friends to catch a hockey game, but I was so drunk that I have no memory of the game or how I got home. Lots of teens rebel, but I wasn’t rebelling. I was numbing the pain of a chaotic family life marked by neglect, abuse, and instability. I frequently went overboard. This is why I was so deeply impacted by the family lives of my leaders and fellow youth when I joined the Church.