Parents Who Are Drunk Around Kids Over Long Holiday Weekends Could Be Breaking The Law

Aug 28, 2019 by apost team

During holiday weekends, most parents like to have a few drinks while unwinding at family gatherings. Their kids are usually busying themselves playing with their siblings and cousins, which makes it a good time for the adults to relax and socialize. However, if you're planning on drinking around your kids during the upcoming bank holiday in the UK, you could actually face jail time!

For American readers unfamiliar with English customs, rest assured that it's just as common across the pond for parents to have a few drinks at family gatherings as it is in the States. However, there's a rarely enforced and quite old law on the books in the UK that says it's actually illegal to consume alcohol while you're actively caring for a child. In fact, last year a Russian socialite was arrested for drinking while caring for her young child, although she was later cleared of all charges.

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A British legal professional recently gave readers some insight into the law while talking to The Sun. She clarified that the law is ultimately about protecting the health and safety of children, not arresting parents on technicalities.

"The threshold would be whether the child was compromised. If you're having lunch with a couple of glasses of wine, you probably wouldn't be considered drunk in charge of a child."

However, she reminded parents that it was a poor choice to be inebriated while responsible for children. Furthermore, it is absolutely never acceptable to consume alcohol and then drive, especially with your children in the vehicle.

Many charges in cases of parents being arrested under this law have been dropped, as the cases are usually passed off to the British equivalent of Child Protective Services (CPS) instead of the local police force. Hence, they're treated as family law cases, not criminal cases.

But officials are still warning parents to take their responsibilities as caretakers seriously. Even if parents are inebriated in their homes, they could still be charged if they are supposed to be looking after their children.

A child welfare representative doesn't want to scare parents into thinking they have to be complete teetotalers while watching their children, though. "Nobody is saying 'don't enjoy yourselves'," she clarified, "but just use common sense when looking after children."

Do you think it's okay to drink while watching your kids? What's the line between enjoying yourself and being irresponsible? Tell us your feelings down below and be sure to use this story to get a debate going with your fellow parents on social media!