Children 'scared when parents drink'
Joe Lepper
Monday, July 5, 2010
Just under a third of children feel scared when their parents drink, according to a survey into young people's attitudes to alcohol.
The survey of more than 1,000 10- to 14-year-olds was carried out by children’s research organisation Childwise for the BBC’s Newsround programme.
It found that seven out of 10 children thought they had seen their parents drunk and around half thought they should not drink in front of children.
Of those surveyed, 30 per cent were scared when they saw their parents drink, a quarter said alcohol made adults act stupidly and a fifth said parents became angry and aggressive when they drank.
Alcohol Concern chief executive Don Shenker welcomed the survey for highlighting how parental alcohol consumption affects children.
He said: "We know that between 1.1 million and 1.3 million children are affected by parental alcohol misuse and around six million children live in homes where parents might be drinking in a way that damages their health.
"Most parental drinking will not be negatively impacting their children but this survey highlights one very important issue – we don’t talk to our children enough about alcohol."
He urged parents to talk to their children about alcohol to help them better understand responsible drinking.
It found that seven out of 10 children thought they had seen their parents drunk and around half thought they should not drink in front of children.
Of those surveyed, 30 per cent were scared when they saw their parents drink, a quarter said alcohol made adults act stupidly and a fifth said parents became angry and aggressive when they drank.
Alcohol Concern chief executive Don Shenker welcomed the survey for highlighting how parental alcohol consumption affects children.
He said: "We know that between 1.1 million and 1.3 million children are affected by parental alcohol misuse and around six million children live in homes where parents might be drinking in a way that damages their health.
"Most parental drinking will not be negatively impacting their children but this survey highlights one very important issue – we don’t talk to our children enough about alcohol."
He urged parents to talk to their children about alcohol to help them better understand responsible drinking.
