Alcoholism as a serious social problem is not a product of recent times, however the intensity of this phenomenon in the most European countries is very disturbing, also in Poland. Drinking alcohol is a commonly accepted element of cultural rituals associated with important life situations. Alcohol (changing the mental state) is very attractive because it creates and maintains hope that a man may directly control and regulate one’s emotional life. The whole current civilisation focuses on developing the conviction that people can control their personal life satisfaction. Every moment of pleasure experienced after drinking alcohol reinforces the need to repeat this experience. An alcoholic causes all kinds of problems i.e. living, financial, and emotional. As a result his/ her whole family has to cope with a broadly understood alcohol/drinking problem. According to Woronowicz, between 4 and 5 millions of Polish citizens abuse alcohol, and 15 millions of Poles have to manage the consequences of drinking habit directly or indirectly. There are between 1.5 and 2 millions of children in this group of people and 500 000 of these children experience dramatic situations threatening their health and lives, responsible for significant damage in various functioning domains and their development. The objective of this study was to draw attention to the difficult situation of children from alcoholic families in various functioning domains. This work is a review of literature concerning alcoholism and drinking problems in families with respect to children’s situation.