Parents urged to protect children from alcohol abuse

PARENTS were yesterday urged to protect their children from the horrors of alcohol abuse.

While a bishop has said that parents could do much to make their children aware of the dangers. “They need to talk to their children about the danger of abuse of alcohol, to alert their children to the power of advertisements and the pressure that will inevitably come from their peers,” Bishop Bill Murphy of Kerry said.

The Killarney Drugs Liaison Committee has issued a leaflet containing graphic illustrations showing young people who are pregnant, smeared in vomit, beaten and bruised as a result of drink abuse.

“The leaflet is not intended to blame, or scare, but to awaken parents to the dangers of underage drinking and to the role they can play in protecting their children,” a spokesman for the committee said.

Warnings are given about unplanned pregnancies and sexually-transmitted disease, inability to function at school or work, violence at home at school, street violence and trouble with the law, accidents and injuries, liver damage and links to suicide.

The committee urges parents to look out for tell-tale signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse. Signs could include mood swings, secretive behaviour or lying, theft, worsening appearance, loss of appetite, loss of interest in school, hobbies or friends.

Parents are also advised to know where their teenagers are at all times and to be responsible in regard to giving them pocket money.