Alcohol and Its Effects on Children

Alcoholism can cause emotional disengagement, and the family experiencing negative emotions and withdraws all together (Ackerman, 272). Each member of the family will react differently to the conditions that the alcoholic brings into the home, but there are a few things that can be identified that each member of the family will commonly experience. The spouse of the alcoholic will tend to try and shelter any children and deny any problems that they may face for their sake. They will shun the idea that the alcoholic has a problem and just keep living, but this can cause much more damage than it will save. Even though the spouse tries to ignore the problem, it still remains. Nothing will be solved and things will further worsen. When the spouse tries to deny all of the issues, they ultimately just isolate

Many alcoholics are so preoccupied with their addictions, that issues and activities that were once of interest to them, are no longer a concern. The alcoholic then becomes oblivious to his responsibilities for his or her children. Children of alcoholics often suffer from neglect. According to the Children of Alcoholics Foundation, each year “1.2 million children are confirmed by state agencies as being victims of child neglect. Forty percent of these cases involve alcohol or drugs. This suggests that an estimated

What can be done by parents to stop their underage children from drinking and making bad decisions whilst under the influence of alcohol is to practice being a good role model for their child/children; this is important as studies show that in their teen years, children will still see parents as the ultimate role model, and will pick up on their parents behaviour, so If a parent is seen drinking frequently, the child of this parent will usually (not always) pick up on these drinking habits that they see in their

Many people across the world suffer from alcoholism, a family disease. It is called a family disease because the addiction harms the alcoholic, and everyone who has to live with them. Children consistently suffer when they share a house with an alcoholic. Unfortunately, alcoholism is common and many children find themselves in this situation. The emotional and psychological scars that children can develop in alcoholic homes can be so deep that they can last well into adulthood. Youth who grew up in an alcoholic home can develop similar personality traits and characteristics. Approximately 26.8 million children are exposed to alcoholism in the family and 6.6 million children 18 and younger live in households with at least one alcoholic

(NIH, ‘‘Children of Alcoholics: How Are Children Impacted?’’). From personal experience, it can cause trusting issues, more sensitivity to the subject of drinking (or not), and social

Another considerable factor of this problem is the influence these substances have on children. Alcoholism in the home is an extremely hard issue to cope with as a child. Domestic violence, which is often worsened by alcohol abuse, causes a lot of mental issues that affect children permanently. Many kids do not have a stable home and are forced to see their parents and loved ones struggle with drinking (Hopkins 7). Suffering through the effects of drugs and alcohol also make education a challenge. Children often times stay home from school or are inattentive during class due to lack of sleep from late-night parties or rowdiness at home.This makes it almost impossible to succeed later in life and lets the problem continue onto the next generation.

An alcoholic parent can affect what a child thinks is morally acceptable because, they are more tolerant of misbehavior, and often are not very moral people themselves. Alcoholic parents may not often be present or in a stable state of mind, allowing their children to partake in the activities they choose, which are often bad for them. The parents are not conscientious enough to put down the actions, making the child think they are acceptable. Children of alcoholics are more likely to steal and be violent, use drugs and or alcohol, and be engaged in activities that are potentially dangerous ("Children Of Alcoholics | American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry"). They are being raised in an environment where they see this happening, and then imitate it, because that is how they think a person is allowed to act. Some children are just copying what they see their parents do. Alcohol may be the parents’ way to deal with the pressures of daily life, and children observe the use of alcohol as a coping mechanism, making

Children with alcoholic parents suffer all kinds of abuse and it is often life threatening (20). Addiction is not something that begins and ends with one person, the impact addiction has is tremendous and devastating. "Addiction sends shock waves through an entire family unit" (Straussner 1). Over 27 million children live with an alcoholic parent. It is nearly impossible to find children from alcoholic homes who are completely unscathed (The Visitation Handbook for the Custodial Parent 167). Children who grow up with alcoholic parents are forced to mature and grow up much sooner than they ought. Over 22 million adults have come out and said they have lived with an alcohol parent when they were a child (Seixas and Youcha xi). Alcohol continues to be predominant in The United States, because it is a drug that works for the majority of people. Alcohol allows a person to temporarily escape from the problems they are suffering. Most people reap the consequences of previous actions daily and therefore turn to alcohol which allows them to temporarily escape reality. Alcohol may allow people to escape their reality for a time being, but it also creates a horrific reality for 27 million

The first question that needs to be answered is that if the alcoholism is as bad as it sounds and if these problems caused by alcoholism have an effect on the children of alcoholics. The easy answer is yes, it has a negative effect on the children, but not many people can talk about what negative effects growing with alcoholic parents may cause. The problems

The subject of parents consuming alcohol and how it affects their children is one that has plagued this world since long before the introduction of the first Samuel Adams. Alcohol damages brain cells and can prevent someone from making correct decisions. Having alcohol in one’s system can lead to violent and very dangerous rampages, and adding children to this mix is extremely harmful to them not only physically but also emotionally. Dr. Michael Windle explains that “alcohol abuse can interfere with parenting skills and marital relations, thereby affecting adolescent development and adjustment” (Effects on Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents). Under the influence of an alcohol dependent parent, children will often grow up in a

Guilt: Children may feel they are responsible for the drinking, 2. Anxiety: Children may worry constantly about the home situation, 3. Embarrassment: Children may be ashamed of their home lives and avoid having friends to visit, 4. Unable to have close friendships: Children who have been disappointed, 5. Confusion: An alcoholic parent will switch from a loving to an angry stance quickly, confusing the child. The home schedule is also chaotic with no consistent bedtimes or mealtimes, 6. Anger: Children may be angry at the parent who is drinking and angry at the nonalcoholic parent for not supporting or protecting them, 7. Depression: Children of substance-abusing parents are lonely and feel helpless to change the situation”. These are the problems that children of alcoholic is going to experience of the course of their

In reading chapters four and five of the textbook “Substance Abuse and the Family” I found a couple of things that caught my interest. In chapter four, the middle phrase of an alcoholic family is discussed on page 58, regulatory behaviors of the family enabling whatever use of alcohol is occurring hiding and maintaining for others not to see the alcoholism. The children are usually pressured not to talk about the situation at school, work, etc. I have seen parents threaten their children if they were to tell, saying things like “ if you tell they will take us away from you forever and it will be your fault” or “ if you tell punishment will be sure to follow”. Therefore, the family must endure the negative impacts of an alcoholic parent falling

In what ways does a parent’s alcoholism impact children’s social competence? What family variables have the most effect on social competence? In this paper, I will analyze three sources to answer these questions. An academic research study, a blog post describing a woman's experience growing up with an alcoholic mother, and an interview with a therapist at a treatment center for alcohol and drug addiction will give a diverse and thorough analysis through triangulation. The sources agreed that a parental alcoholism caused children to have more trouble making friends, low self-esteem, and that children can improve their social competence over time. The research study found that the interaction between the gender of the child and gender of the alcoholic parent had the greatest influence on social competence.

Change of behavior caused by alcohols has negative impacts on one's surrounding and will, eventually, creates a rift among loved ones. Alcoholic can do anything without thinking for the future as long as they get the money to buy alcohol, ones may use the rental money for the house to buy alcohol and the worst case could happen is he loses his jobs. With this, drinker cannot be dependent on and divorce is inevitable as he could no longer support his family. Not few child abuse cases caused by alcoholic parents. Studies have shown that "2/3 of child abuse case involves alcohol" ("Facts about alcohol"). Family members also began to avoid friends, hide problems and cover up for the drinker as they are ashamed of their family member who is alcoholic. "More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism" ("Dawson and Grant") Moreover, there is higher chances for their teenager child to be alcoholic too as they are used to seeing their parents drunk.

Alcohol is a harmful drug consumed by many including young people ranging from the ages 15 to 29. Meanwhile alcohol does have some benefits when drank in moderation as an adult, when it comes to young people there is only negative impacts both psychically and mentally resulting in dangerous and life altering outcomes. What many seem to forget is that not only does alcohol effect the individual but also has a negative impact on their family, loved ones and community.