Just A Drop

Newcastle Herald

Saturday December 13, 2008

TARNYA DAVIS

Can I get you a glass of wine,

mummy? asked my four-year-old.

Maybe he recognised I was particularly

stressed and tired that day, and was

practising being kind. I felt uneasy and

was left with a confronting thought:

how was witnessing my occasional

evening wine impacting on him? Are we

sending the message to our children that

drinking is a way of managing stress?

When my grandparents were married

there were 12 bottles of beer at the

wedding and 10 came home. Now, in

the space of two generations, alcohol is

a part of most peoples social gatherings

and for many families something that is a

part of most days at home.

Alcohol abuse is widespread in our

community and affects children through

intoxicated parents being unable to

care for their children and through the

increased risk of domestic violence and

physical and sexual assault. There is no

question that alcohol misuse affects

peoples health, finances, psychological

state, relationships and families.

Children who drink alcohol before the

age of 15 are more than fi ve times more

likely than those who start after 18 to

have alcohol problems as an adult and

it seems that we can start to change this

well before their teens.

Research suggests that parents

drinking habits, rather than advertising

or peers, have the most impact on a

childs future alcohol consumption. The

Drinkwise campaign asks us to consider

how we use alcohol as parents and

how this affects our children, with the

ultimate goal of making it uncool in the

next generation to get drunk.

Do we inadvertently suggest that a

drink is something we need when we

are stressed and reach for a drink? Do we

send the message that we need alcohol

at every social occasion?

What have you told your children

about alcohol and do you know what

they have worked out for themselves?

Maybe parents and the community

could consider starting to educate

children about safe alcohol use from

childhood, rather than waiting until they

are teenagers, when we are frightened

of the consequence of its misuse.

Also, if we take better care of ourselves

and learn healthier ways of managing

stress, we send the message to our

children that while drinking is a pleasure

there is a multitude of ways we can relax

and join with others, both with and

without it.

Tarnya Davis is a clinical psychologist

and principal of NewPsych

Psychologists. 4926 5005.

www.newpsych.com.au

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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