UK: Parents' drinking scares 30 per cent of children according to new survey

 Daily Mail

By Daily Mail Reporter

Half of children think they have seen their parents drunk, according to a survey published today.

And 30 per cent feel scared when they see adults drinking, the study discovered.

Seventy-two per cent of the children questioned said their parents drink.

Of those, 70 per cent thought they had seen them drunk. That is 50 per cent of the total surveyed.

Enlightening: A new survey has produced some worrying results on how adults' consumption of alcohol can affect children

Forty-six per cent of the children surveyed thought that adults should not drink in front of children.

Another 32 per cent thought this was all right, and 22 per cent were not sure.

When given a list of words to describe how they felt when they saw adults drinking, 47 per cent said they were not bothered.

But 30 per cent of the children, who were aged ten to 14, said it made them feel scared, the study for CBBC's Newsround found.

Eighty-one per cent of children who had seen adults drinking said they noticed one or more changes in the way they behaved.

Of those, 24 per cent said it made adults act stupid or silly; 20 per cent said they became angry and aggressive; another 20 per cent said they became happy and funny; 19 per cent found them to act strangely or in a different way; 18 per cent said they became loud and swore; and 17 per cent said they became dizzy or fell over.

The results will be revealed today on CBBC's Newsround on BBC1 at 4.55pm as part of a wider exploration of the issue of alcohol and how adults' drinking affects children's lives.

Damian Kavanagh, controller of CBBC, said: 'There has been much discussion about levels of drinking but the social impact is rarely explored from a child's point of view.

'Alcohol is present in the lives of most of our audience in one way or another, yet it is something they may not feel confident talking about.'

The survey was conducted during April and May by Childwise, which carries out research into children and young people.

Using the Childwise schools panel online, 1,234 young people were asked for their views on alcohol and how adults' drinking affected them.