ABSTRACT

This chapter considers the 'rules and guidance' bound up with transmission of drinking cultures within families. It focuses on the differential and discursive construction of the home as a space where parents/carers are happy to introduce children to alcohol in a 'safe' environment in opposition to public spaces that they consider to be locations where alcohol consumption is associated with violence and disorder. The chapter argues that parents/carers miss opportunities to teach children about the range of drinking practices and spaces they may experience throughout their lives and fail to engage with their children about wider social responsibilities as potential drinkers in the future. It also focuses on gendered geographies of parental concerns regarding potential threats to children regarding alcohol consumption. The chapter shows that parents/carers perceive that there has been a significant shift in public drinking cultures and the nature of young people's drinking since their own childhoods.