As children absorb your behaviour, it is important to be aware of how your attitudes towards drinking and drinking behaviours can influence your child.
The World Health Organization has developed a simple method to identify patterns of alcohol consumption and to screen for excessive drinking.
Most people don’t actually know what a standard drink is or how it is measured.
It is difficult to tell how much alcohol you are drinking because different types of alcoholic drinks contain different amounts of pure alcohol.
It is important to remember that alcohol is not always served as a standard drink. Pre-mixed spirits and free poured drinks often contain more than one standard drink.
Use the calculator to count how many standard drinks you had when you last drank alcohol.
Your Choice parent checklist
Your role as a parent can make a significant difference to the relationship your child has with alcohol. You might want to consider the following questions the next time your child wants to go out.
| 1. Do I know where they are going and who they are with? |    |
| 2. Will they be supervised? | |
| 3. Have I spoken to their friends' parents to confirm their plans? | |
| 4. Will they have access to alcohol? (e.g. from siblings, older friends, friends' parents or stolen from supplies at home) | |
| 5. Have I spoken to them about the consequences of excessive alcohol use? | |
| 6. How will they be getting home? | |
| 7. Have I set a time for them to be home? | |
| 8. How will I be able to contact them? | |
| 9. Do they know who to call if they need help? | |
| 10. Have I made my expectations clear? | |
Asking yourself these simple questions will help to ensure the ongoing safety and well-being of your child and to reduce the risk of alcohol-related incidents.
