Another Day…

Another “study”.

Too many middle class parents are drinking excessively as a way of coping with the demands of family life, a report suggests.

The study for charity 4Children warns of a “silent epidemic” of alcohol misuse in British families.

It claims that two million parents drink alcohol daily, with the highest earners drinking the most.

More temperance cockwaffle. And this time they wheel out the chiiiidreeen!!! scary monster. After all, the chiiiildreeen!!! are being affected by parents who dare to drink alcohol –  all 82% of them.

The report, Over the Limit: The Truth about Families and Alcohol, suggested about a third of mothers and fathers drink more than their recommended units a week.

Which means that two thirds don’t –  even so, the recommended units is a pile of poo made up by people who had no idea what amount to recommend. In other words, it’s all bollocks. Junk science or, perhaps, calling a spade a shovel; lies, much like the so-called “truth” about families and alcohol.

But just under two-thirds (62%) of the 575 British parents questioned as part of the report said that their drinking behaviour had no impact on their family life.

So there isn’t a problem, then –  the amounts being questioned are statistically insignificant anyway. So, nothing to see here.

Another report that is paraded without any challenge by the BBC for the obvious bias and the statistical insignificance of the sample.

There really isn’t a problem –  and if it is, it affects such a tiny minority, that it requires no action on the part of anyone else but those involved.

The report if you want to wade through this crap is here.

15 Comments

    • More likely a decent bottle of wine with dinner if my brother in law is anything to go by. He managed to bring up four children without any problems. Likewise his brother managed to bring up his two daughters while enjoying a glass of plonk of an evening.

  1. You’re right about the sample size; my computer won’t download the report, but given 4children’s links with Sure Start (mentioned in another news report), have they also selected their participants from those already seeking support in bringing up their children?

    In any case, it’s a sort of Morton’s Fork; if you believe your drinking affects your parenting, you are obviously a bad parent. If you believe it doesn’t affect it, you are clearly in denial and have a serious problem – and are obviously a bad parent. From 4children’s summary:

    ‘Only 9% of parents recognised that there was a negative impact of drinking or drug use on their family life.’ (my bold type)

    Most chilling of all is this recommendation:

    ‘Alcohol awareness – ‘Beer Goggles’ – sessions should be offered widely through schools, children’s centres, and youth clubs to ensure we are all fully informed of the dangers of drinking alcohol when raising children.

    • I had no problem downloading the pdf. It is risible, frankly. And the case studies involved four – yes, four – examples. Fuck me, that is supposed to be representative of a population over over sixty million!

  2. I notice that ‘4children’ have an entry on fakecharities.org… Once again we’re paying to be hectored by these frauds. Where is the bonfire of the Quangos? It should really have been burning out of control by now…

  3. AND YET AGAIN THE FUCKING LIARS DON’T MENTION …..
    That the “recommended number of units”
    HAVE NO BASIS IN FACT WHATSOEVER.

    Slimy, lying, crooked bastards, the lot of them.

  4. …of the 575 British parents….said that their drinking behaviour had no impact on their family life.

    I wonder if their children could say the same.

    It’s not whether you drink alcohol but how much and how it affects you personally. There’s a big difference between those who down a few after a hard day at work, feeding the family and making sure all will be present and correct for school and work in the morning and the ones who drink all day long through the week yet still “need a break” at the weekend with the full shameful debauchery revealed on monday mornings in 1080 dpi on Facebook.

    Worse still is bringing your mates in the house and them listening to your mother and her “friends”…in dressing gowns they walked down the street in with massive hangovers…sitting in your living room screeching about just how fucking hilarious being on the lash vying for title of “Town Bike” is.

    Still, until “they” start removing children from parents who are chronic alcoholics… providing violent, abusive homes that destroy everyone’s lives around them… then they’ve no right to lecture anyone.

    • Addicts make up a small minority of the population. So for the most part, the parents who like a tipple are not going to be affecting their offspring adversely.

  5. Interesting to note that the highest earners are the ones that drink most.

    Must down a few more then. I might get a pay rise.

    Well, that makes just as much sense as the rest of this “report”.

    Tatty. Sadly kids won’t be removed from the types of piss head families you mention because the social workers are too frightened of getting thumped when they try.

    • Tatty. Sadly kids won’t be removed from the types of piss head families you mention because the social workers are too frightened of getting thumped when they try.

      Partly, it’s also cheaper to leave them where they are and creates an awful lot of employment for people to deal with a lifetime’s worth of the after effects of a damaged childhood. The perpetuation of misery is good for the economy.

      Christ, that’s depressing….I need a drink… 😉

  6. Amusing footnote on page 5 referencing the 4 “We found that…” statistics:

    Netmums survey undertaken for 4Children, September 2012, n=176

    Scientific rigor at it’s best!

    I note they’re also pulling stuff from the “Silent Voices” ‘research’ which had in it’s starting summary the following sentence:

    …the number of children who are affected by/living with parental alcohol misuse – is largely unknown. However, estimates suggest parental alcohol misuse…

    • Here’s a game we can all play; try putting ‘estimates suggest’ into Google news – 243 results in the UK for the past week alone.

      That’s an awful lot of guesswork….

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