Alcohol is the number one drug problem in America. Children that have alcoholic parents are 70% more likely to develop compulsive behavior with alcohol, drugs, food, sex, work or gambling, and half of them even end up marrying an alcoholic. Children of alcoholics are four times more likely to be alcoholics. I know from experience that besides those facts it’s just plain hard to grow up around alcohol. Since I can remember both my parents have been drinking. It had very negative side effects on the family. My parents would start fighting late at night, keeping me up and making me wonder how long my family was going to last. For those of you that are reading this thinking, yeah, my parents drink a lot, but they can’t be alcoholics because no one ever talks about it. It must not be a problem. This is very common. Many families don’t or just won’t talk about alcohol abuse. They usually deny it as a problem or don’t want people to be to know because they’d be ashamed. There is nothing to be ashamed about. Almost 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders. If you’re worried for a parent in your family because you know or even fear they’re an alcoholic talk to someone! They’re not going to get better if no one tells them they have a problem. If you are being abused by an impaired person tell a trusted adult immediately! This could save your (or a siblings) life. Don’t be ashamed about an alcoholic parent and refuse to talk to someone about it. If you tell someone, you might turn your parents life around. Take a stand against parents binge drinking.