Problem drinking - Children hit by culture of excess

Initiatives launched

With Christmas practically upon us, it is timely that the vulnerability of children should be to the fore. However, how they are treated is hardly a seasonal matter.

For too many children, and women, the season of peace and goodwill will see their homes become the last place on earth they want to be as the celebrations turn into a nightmare.

The cause was aptly described by Barnardos chief executive Owen Keenan as the "deep-rooted and damaging culture of excessive drinking".

The organisation yesterday launched its Families Under the Influence campaign, which is a bid to get adults to set an example and change their drinking habits.

He made the point, as if it had to be made, that every occasion from childbirth, christening and First Communion to exam results and holidays is celebrated in this country with an abundance of drink.

Society may condemn the effects of drug abuse but it fails to see alcohol as a drug or to recognise the effects problem drinking has on families and communities in Ireland.

Every day, Barnardos sees the grim realities of problem drinking, such as children going to school hungry and ill-equipped to learn, witnessing or becoming victims of alcohol-related domestic violence and being at increased risk of physical or sexual abuse For the sake of children, and to encourage them not to become underage drinkers, Mr Keenan said the drink culture must change.

The main thrust of the Barnardos campaign is to demand that the Government fully implements legislation on underage drinking and reviews its policy to tackle the problem.

Weaning young people away from the ambivalent attitude to alcohol too widely held by adults would be a major and crucial start to tackling the problem.

A suggestion that warrants consideration is that a special tax be levied on the alcohol industry which would go towards investment in recreation facilities for young people, giving them an alternative social outlet to drinking.

Also launched yesterday was the fifth annual Leanbh report, Working with Children who Beg, published by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC).

It expressed serious concern at the appalling living conditions of many Traveller children, which not only contribute to child begging but also represent serious child protection and welfare issues.

These children face unacceptable adversity, are socially isolated even from their own communities and face a bleak future.

The ISPCC believes it is imperative they are afforded the same rights and protection as all other children.

Both the ISPCC and Barnardos are dealing with the plight of vulnerable children every day of the year, not just at Christmas.

Their very existence is proof that too many children in this country are not as cherished as every child should be.