Mental Health

One-fifth of British Parents Think Alcohol Improves Their Parenting Skills

By Drishya Nair | Update Date: Oct 08, 2012 09:40 AM EDT

There are many dos and don'ts of parenting and drinking while parenting is certainly a big no-no. But in what can be called a "shocking" finding, about one-fifth of Britain's mothers and fathers believe drinking alcohol actually helps them be a better parent.

The findings, from a survey by the charity organization "4Children," claims that six out of 10 parents believe that their drug or alcohol use does not affect their family life.

It seems that seven percent of the survey participants admitted to drinking everyday while only 9 percent thought that their drinking had a negative impact, Mail Online reports.

One in five parents said that their drinking had a "positive" impact on their parenting with fathers being more than three times as likely to drink and more than twice as likely to have tried illegal drugs than mothers.

It was found that many parents drank to cope with the pressure of bringing up children with 17 percent claiming that the amount of alcohol they drank increased after the birth of their first child, the report said.

According to survey results, wealthier parents are more likely to drink than poorer ones.

Many British parents view drinking alcohol "as normal as drinking tea," Mark Bennett, Director of policy at 4Children was quoted saying by Mailonline.

"Part of the problem is people don't realize that they are causing problems by drinking to excess habitually. It could first be one glass, which leads to another. If parents have had a bottle of wine or more, their ability to react to their child, especially a small child, will be impaired," he told the Independent.

According to the report, more than a fifth of the children in Britain are reportedly living with a parent whose drinking level is dangerous.

With respect to the current survey, the charity calls for schools to include lessons of the dangers of alcohol abuse as part of a "major public information campaign." They also ask for alcohol bottles and cans to carry health warning targeting pregnant women.

The current survey comes just after a recent survey by parenting website "Netmums," the findings of which revealed that the drinking levels of a third of the mothers exceed government's recommended amount of alcohol.

"While it's always the priority that children are kept safe, it's also vital that parents feel supported in order to begin to change their behaviour, rather than feeling preached at," Sally Russell, founder of Netmums, told the Independent.

"No parent wants to be an addict harming their own children, so services must work together to provide the best environment for change."

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