It would be cruel to torment fish by putting them in milk or alcohol.
I'm not sure what significance your teachers had in mind.
As for the biology, different chemicals each affect fish physiology differently. Small amounts of milk probably wouldn't hurt them, since it's just protein and sugar in water. A lot of milk would probably be bad. They like clean water because they run it through their gills to extract oxygen. They have to breathe the water they are in.
Ethyl alcohol is a toxin, so it kills nerve cells in the brain and elsewhere. It would sedate them, probably make them feel sick.
Here are some toxicology studies on Japanese fighting fish
Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) Chemical Toxicity Studies