![\"Mum\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788186864_172_21cdffe1c72070d1ec95c66b7de175cf.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nPouring a quiet beer after a long day of work is an ordinary Aussie scene, but new research suggests there\u2019s a forgotten audience watching on. <\/p>\n
For James Hunt, 45, the routine of pouring a cold one was a fixture of his evening for many years. <\/p>\n
On the outside, the father appeared composed. Privately, his children, now 17, 17 and 11, were clocking far more than he ever realised. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think that you\u2019re hiding it and you think that you\u2019ve got it all covered, but I tell you what, they know everything that\u2019s going on and they see it,\u201d Mr Hunt told news.com.au. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey might not say it… I can say this purely based on hindsight that they knew the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a revelation that hit home when he finally sat his family down to share that he was going to get help for his drinking. <\/p>\n
He realised his confession wasn\u2019t met with shock, but relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sort of sat there speechless, just absorbing the fact that Dad\u2019s stepping up,\u201d Mr Hunt recalled. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs young as they are, they understood that I was making a stance and doing something for the benefit of them. It\u2019s nice to share that vulnerability is okay.\u201d <\/p>\n
For years prior, the impact of their fathers\u2019 drinking hadn\u2019t come in the ways stereotypes would suggest. <\/p>\n
There was no shouting. No wild outbursts. Just subtle everyday moments that somehow slipped away. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that I was passed out on the couch or anything like that. It\u2019s the fact that they just got used to that. \u2018Don\u2019t ask Dad. There\u2019s no point in asking him,\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He recalls finding excuses to not pick them up after sports or school, simply because he\u2019d already been drinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest awakening moments was realising how many times I didn\u2019t attend something or I was unable to because I couldn\u2019t drive,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou start to detract from your family and everyday life. You miss out on all this stuff and key years. Whether it was missing soccer on a Saturday or lying about having an online meeting when they knew I didn\u2019t. When you\u2019re drinking, you don\u2019t realise… you are the last to admit it.\u201d <\/p>\n
By choosing to make the change so openly, the father ended up giving his sons far more than he initially realised. <\/p>\n
New research from the University of New South Wales suggests that adult drinking habits can leave lasting imprints on their children, particularly in the teenage years. <\/p>\n
The study follows thousands of Australian families for over 23 years, discovering the age at which the impact is felt the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ages of 15 to 17 are when adolescents are most likely to be influenced. That\u2019s the age when we become aware of alcohol in society and when we\u2019re often exploring it for the first time, so that\u2019s when we become heightened to how our parents are using alcohol,\u201d addiction expert, Doctor Chris Davis, told news.com.au<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we hit our late 20s, or when we become parents ourselves, that\u2019s when we often revert back to how our parents drank when we were growing up.\u201d <\/p>\n
The research says that ripples don\u2019t just stop at your children. <\/p>\n
\u201cYour drinking doesn\u2019t just influence your children; it has a high chance of affecting your grandchildren\u2019s drinking as well,\u201d Dr Davis said. <\/p>\n
For parents reading this and questioning their next glass of ros\u00e9, there\u2019s a key thing he warns against: self-blame. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to drop the guilt. We\u2019re not doing anything wrong by drinking alcohol, and guilt doesn\u2019t help us. If we feel guilty about our drinking and then become secretive about it and start hiding it, that in itself becomes a harmful cycle,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n
He stressed the importance of self-reflection and establishing healthier ways to wind down through exercise, self-care, and social connections. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about asking: are we modelling other healthier coping mechanisms to de-stress?\u201d Dr Davis said. <\/p>\n
Mr Hunt is now two years sober, and the change for him wasn\u2019t led by grand gestures. He just showed up where he once pulled away. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo repay that guilt is to just repay those moments\u2026 When you\u2019re sober, you have zero excuses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After returning from his detox, he became the family\u2019s unofficial Uber driver. <\/p>\n
I tell you what, I did more kilometres in the first six months than I\u2019ve ever done in 20 years,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy phone rang hot. Pick me up here. Drop me here. Drop me there.. they deserve that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Now the father has a proven example of how breaking the cycle can actually work.<\/p>\n
His 11-year-old walked into the room where his father had been drinking a non-alcoholic beer.<\/p>\n
The youngster did a double take, proclaiming, \u201cOh my god.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was really worried. I told him it was a non-alcoholic beer. He goes, \u2018Oh, thought you started drinking again,\u2019\u201d the father explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s not proof that they haven\u2019t listened and taken in what\u2019s happened around them in their environment, then I don\u2019t know what is.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pouring a quiet beer after a long day of work is an ordinary Aussie scene, but new 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