Spike in Victorian parents turning to booze while home schooling during lockdown
The unique stresses of life under lockdown are leading Victorian parents to hit the bottle in much higher numbers than before the pandemic. Here’s which mums and dads are most likely to be affected.
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A third of Victorian parents have blamed home schooling for hitting the bottle harder during lockdown.
Parents are overwhelmingly turning to booze to deal with the pandemic, with more than a quarter of Aussie parents drinking more than before restrictions were in place.
A survey from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation found Victorian parents were the worst in the nation for hitting the plonk because schools were shut — 33 per cent gave home schooling as the reason for drinking more, well up on the national average of 25 per cent.
Despite schools in QLD and NSW also switching to remote learning, parents there weren’t as affected — 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively linked home school to their increased drinking.
It was parents of younger kids that reported the highest levels of remote learning pressure.
Two in five parents with kids aged six to eight were struggling, followed by a quarter of adults with children aged nine to 12, then a fifth of those with teenagers.
But parents with children aged nine to 18 were the most likely boozers — one in six drank every day.
It was double the rate of daily drinking to adults with kids aged six to eight — despite them being the ones that struggled more.
While the pressure of school closures was a major excuse for increased drinking, the most likely reason Victorian parents gave for boozing was heightened stress and anxiety (37 per cent).
Alcohol and Drug Foundation chief executive Dr Erin Lalor said she was concerned about children’s exposure to their parents’ drinking habits, and how that may impact their own views on alcohol.
“Parents may have been drinking in isolation, but they haven’t been drinking alone,” she said.
“Since the start of lockdown, some children have seen their parents’ occasional alcoholic drink turn into a daily ritual. Others have played in the background of their parents Zoom calls which can act as virtual pub tables.
“While many parents have been using alcohol as a coping mechanism, it is important to understand that exposure to regular or excessive drinking can influence children’s attitudes and future behaviours around alcohol, alongside increasing the parent’s risk of accidents, injuries, dependence and diseases like cancer.”
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s campaign ‘You haven’t been drinking alone’ launches on Friday and aims to help parents consider their drinking and how it may influencing their kids.
Go to www.adf.org.au for more information
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