Four Young Videos Can Wait

Key takeaway

You are young, and someone said to watch DV-10 before a meeting. It is four videos of members who got sober in their teens and early twenties, submitted by them, anonymity protected, subtitled, in English, French, and Spanish. Watching is not required. You can go tonight.

Last updated: Tue Oct 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

You are young, and someone said watch the videos first. Four of them. As if a DVD were the doorway and the meeting were extra credit you earn after the credits roll. You already feel too young to be in the rooms. Now you feel too unfinished to walk in, because a screen is still dark. That is a rotten way to spend a night when you want to stop.

You can go tonight. The videos can wait.

Four videos the members submitted

DV-10 is Young People's Video. Four videos sit on one DVD. They are members who got sober in their teens and early twenties. The members submitted them. Anonymity is protected. The disc is in English, French, and Spanish, and it is subtitled. That is a generous thing a few people did so someone your age could hear a voice that is not fifty. It is still a recording. It is not the chair next to you.

You do not have to finish all four. You do not have to like them. You do not have to treat them as a course. Subtitles help if you need the words on the screen. The languages help if English is not the one you want. None of that help becomes a rule that you press play before you are allowed among people.

Their stories stay on the disc. Nothing here will retell them. You are not behind if you have not seen them. You are a person who might want a meeting, and a meeting does not check your watch history.

An age range in print is not a door policy

There is a pamphlet, P-4, Young People in A.A. It is seven members, aged 17 to 23. That is the range of those stories. It is not a bar under 17. It is not a maximum age. If you are younger than the people in the pamphlet, nobody gets to send you home because a story started at 17. If you are past the early twenties on the video, the disc does not expire you.

The page you are seventeen and sure it is too soon stays with that fear longer than this one will. Use it if the birthday is the thing shouting at you. The membership line is the same either way. The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. There is no age written into that sentence. You are welcome regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or profession. There are no dues or fees. You can sit and listen or share. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. You do not have to announce your age like an apology.

Go in without pressing play

Young people's meetings are a real search if you want a room where more of the faces are young. You can look. You can also walk into any meeting. A beginner meeting is a format, not a youth club, and not a video lab. What to expect is the ordinary doorway: people share what drinking did, what they did to stop, and how they live now. The purpose is experience, strength, and hope. You can say you are just listening. You can leave.

If a basement full of older people makes you want to disappear, online meetings can be video off, and phone meetings are meetings. You need not join a prayer. Talk afterward is optional. Closed meetings are for members, or for people with a drinking problem and a desire to stop. Open meetings are for anyone interested. If a parent wants to sit with you, choose an open meeting, where a nonalcoholic may attend as an observer.

aa.org is not a meeting finder. Local A.A. resources have lists, and the site points toward online meetings. Start with the meetings search if you need a place to look tonight. Listings there are not verified, so confirm the time. Confirming is a five-minute job. Watching four videos is not the entrance fee for it.

You might want the disc later, on a night when you feel freakish and a young voice would steady you. Later is allowed. First is not required. The members who submitted the videos were protecting their anonymity, not building a syllabus with your name on the roster.

A young body can still be in danger

Being young does not shrink a medical emergency. Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. That is true at your age. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. A meeting is not detox. Four subtitled videos are not detox.

FindTreatment.gov lists programs. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and available 24/7 in English and Spanish.

Tonight

Skip the DVD. Look up a meeting on the meetings search and confirm it, or ask a local list if you have one. Go, even if you are sure you look too young. Listen if that is all you can manage. The four videos of members who got sober early will keep. P-4's ages are not a test you pass by watching. A desire to stop is the whole requirement.

Call (800) 653-9376 if you need treatment; the call is free to you, treatment providers pay for the referral, the line is not an intergroup, and the line is not A.A., and it is not SMART Recovery.

Additional Resources

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Common Questions

Do I have to watch the four videos before I go to a meeting?

No. You can go tonight without pressing play. DV-10, Young People's Video, is four videos on one DVD. Members who got sober in their teens and early twenties submitted them. Anonymity is protected. The disc is in English, French, and Spanish, and it is subtitled. That is something you may want later. It is not homework at the door. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. You can sit and listen.

What if I am under 17, or older than the people on the disc?

The videos are members who got sober young. That description is not a lock. Pamphlet P-4, Young People in A.A., is seven members aged 17 to 23. That range is not a bar under 17, and it is not a maximum age. If you are younger than those stories, you are not banned. If you are older than the people on the video, you are not late. Wanting to stop drinking is the membership line.

Are there more of these videos I am supposed to finish first?

No. You are not required to finish any video before you sit. DV-10 is four videos on one disc: members who got sober in their teens and early twenties, submitted by them, anonymity protected, subtitled, in English, French, and Spanish. Watch later if you want a screen. Tonight a meeting is an hour with people, and a recording is not the door. You can go and only listen.

What if everyone in the meeting looks older than me?

You can still sit. There is a guide to young people's meetings if you want rooms where more members are young, and you can also walk into an ordinary meeting. Beginner meetings are a format, not an age. Online meetings can be video off, and phone meetings exist. aa.org is not a meeting finder. Confirm any listing, because the meetings search on this site is not verified. You can listen and leave.

What if I am young and I am sick from stopping?

Being young does not make a hard stop safe. Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. Alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. A meeting cannot detox you, and neither can four videos. Mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not a substitute for treatment. FindTreatment.gov lists programs.