I am completely new to mumsnet, this is my first message and I joined because I have been becoming more and more concerned about the promotion in the media of alcohol in our society and wanted to see what mums were thinking about the subject.
I'm a bit worried of the responses now as I see people are getting pretty snappy and may I say nasty even about the opinion of others, if different to their own, so I am ready to have my head bitten off.
I am a mum old enough to be a granny. I've done drinking, I've tried drugs, I've done all sorts and am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I have life experience.
It is the 'bigging up' of alcohol by those on radio, tv, freshers week at uni etc. that really concerns me. Peer pressure to drink can be enormous. So many people seem to depend on alcohol for a good time or to feel good or to give them confidence. Alcohol can be addictive, damage health, increases anti social behaviour and violence and destroy families. It puzzles me that it is given so much air time when cigarettes and drugs are hounded, yes they cause damage to the individual but cause less damage to society as a whole.
What is worrying me is that the past few years drinking has become more and more the norm for parents to drink on a daily basis. I understand that it is nice to have a glass of wine after a hard day as it is instantly relaxing. As others have said though, a glass is often more than that and a glass can quite easily lead to a bottle.
A glass or a bottle, whatever it is, if your child needs you after you have had a drink, you are no longer your real self. Alcohol is a drug which affect how you act. Kids grow up thinking it's normal and the cycle continues, and although your drinking may be under control, will your child's?
I understand that everyone has their weaknesses and treats whether they be chocolate, crisps, bubble baths or whatever, but these don't result in drunken gangs of yobs roaming the streets, having to walk through urine and vomit on a Saturday morning early on the way to work, drunk drivers, destroyed livers, cancer of the mouth, lungs, stomach, windpipe etc, violence against partners and children or someone who happens to look at you the wrong way, violence against NHS staff and a waste of NHS resources.
Also needless deaths and injuries.....my son's best friend died after an evening drinking when he fell over and banged his head......my friends niece nearly died of hypothermia when she fell over and went to sleep drunk in sub zero temps.........a young man I know spent 2 weeks in hospital after stepping in to help a woman being attacked by her drunken partner in the street, he got beaten up instead. I've got loads more stories I won't bore you with.
I'm sure most of you know similar incidents and although maybe you are all responsible drinkers, is the fact that we are living in this sort of culture right and is it what you want for your kids?