No, when he gets drunk like that, it goes on for hours. You just get out. You can’t try and stop him – he’s too big and fat to take on.  14yr old girl, p98

I didn’t really get anywhere at school. I missed loads ’cause they (her parents) didn’t bother telling me to go and then when I did go, I’d be worrying what was happening at home. When it came to exams, I never did any revision – you couldn’t in our house, there was always something going on. I remember one exam, I’d been up ’til four in the morning ’cause the police were round and then they were fighting. It’s no wonder I’m thick now. Fiona, 17 p11

When my mum has had a drink she just shouts…always arguing. My dad usually takes us to my nana’s house but sometimes if it’s late we just go upstairs and try to ignore it. She doesn’t now what she’s saying most of the time, it’s just shouting, but sometimes it’s really horrible things about my dad, about us.  Lorna, 16 p13

My mum and step-dad used to argue all the time… Police would be here loads, they would blame each other and try to drag me into it.” Gemma, 18 p13

The first quote is from Mullender et al.’s 2002 book ‘Children’s Perspectives on Domestic Violence’. The other 3 quotes are from Turning Point’s ‘Bottling it Up’ report published in 2006.