OT: Lowering the drinking age?

[WDWGirl91]

From an ABC News article -

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1,700 college students die each year in alcohol-related deaths – not to mention the harm they cause other innocent victims in car accidents, sexual assaults and fraternity hazing.

The problem has vexed universities for so long that this week nearly 100 college presidents from some of the most well respected schools in the country proposed a radical idea: They are asking lawmakers to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 to curb the allure and "underground culture" of college drinking.

If you make it legal, they say, it drives binge drinking out into the open, where schools and police can regulate it.

...The so-called Amethyst Initiative has refocused the debate on what parents, law enforcement, colleges and even the students themselves are calling a binge drinking epidemic that needs to be fixed.

"All the data show that by the time they go to college they have already experienced alcohol, so how can anyone say the law is working?" John McCardell, former president of Vermont's Middlebury College, asked.

McCardell says he has received numerous letters after going public with the initiative showing many "parents are in our camp."

But MADD's Levy counters, "Colleges are not willing to be the bad guy and parents want them to."

Minimum drinking ages were established in the United States after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. When the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971, many states dropped drinking ages to 18 or 19. But in 1988, after studies showed an increase in alcohol-related auto accidents involving 18- to 20-year-olds, all 50 states raised the age back to 21.

As a result, alcohol-related fatalities have dropped 56 percent from an all-time high in 1988, according to studies by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The greatest decline was in the 16-20 age group.

Do you think the drinking age should be changed to 18?


I don't think so by any means.

 

[imthatgirl]

nope. so thousands of kids die every year from cocain, heroine, ecstasy, orescription pills and other illegal substances.....using this crazy logic we should legalize all that too?
im in the camp that thinks we should spend more time teaching and actually parenting our children. my parents did it, it works.

 

[Strangeite]

Sorry disagree. If an individual is old enough and responsible enough to make the choice to join the military then they are old enough to buy a beer.

I find it completely baffling that our country trusts young men and women to enter combat, but we don't trust them with a beer when they return.

In fact, I think it is shameful.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I think you need a combination of proper education from the parents and a reasonable age - 18 is reasonable. You can vote but not drink? Joing the military or be drafted and die for your country - and not have a drink?

No doubt there needs to be better examples set by parents and education about drinking and its dangers. Combine that with lowering the age and I think it's a good thing.

I also think the driving age should remain 16 with more education and experience incorparated into getting a license.

D4D

 

[stephbillalec]

Sorry disagree. If an individual is old enough and responsible enough to make the choice to join the military then they are old enough to buy a beer.

I find it completely baffling that our country trusts young men and women to enter combat, but we don't trust them with a beer when they return.

In fact, I think it is shameful.

I totally agree with this statement and it was the first thing that came out of my mouth when I heard this story on the news; however, I think the age of 21 for drinking should stay as is BUT the age that one can join the military should be UPPED to 21!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I agree with the PPs. If you are old enough to vote and enlist in the military, you should be old enough to have a drink. I think part of the problem is that alcohol is the "forbidden fruit". Teens and young adults want to try it and they will do so without adult supervision. They don't learn how to drink responsibly. Lower the drinking age and take away the mystique behind alcohol.

 

[disneybridetobe]

I agree with the PPs. If you are old enough to vote and enlist in the military, you should be old enough to have a drink. I think part of the problem is that alcohol is the "forbidden fruit". Teens and young adults want to try it and they will do so without adult supervision. They don't learn how to drink responsibly. Lower the drinking age and take away the mystique behind alcohol.

I agree completely!

 

[imthatgirl]

i guess ive never seen the correlation between drinking and the military? i dont see drinking as a necessity for anyone. i guess i dont put the importance on it that it seems other people do

 

[sk!mom]

I think that you're either an adult at 18 or 21. We currently have a double standard.

If you can make the life altering decision to join the military in the time of war, then you are surely old enough to decide to have a beer.

OR

You are still fairly immature at 18 and voting, drinking, and military service decisions should be delayed until 21.

I actually lean toward the most 18 years olds are too immature to make life altering decisions pov.

 

[eliza61]

Sorry disagree. If an individual is old enough and responsible enough to make the choice to join the military then they are old enough to buy a beer.

I find it completely baffling that our country trusts young men and women to enter combat, but we don't trust them with a beer when they return.

In fact, I think it is shameful.

I don't think it's quite an equal situation. first of all when you join the military, the military basically really quickly (usually 2 months) whips you into shape and that usually entails developing a lot of leadership and responsibility. A lot of young people who join the military hastily don't make it through basic training.

and we're not talking about just buying 1 beer and then going home. have you seen the alarming trend of drunkeness on college campuses. Binge drinking, heck they have a poll of the 'best colleges to party at". They ain't drinking kool aide there.

and last but not least, drunk driving deaths. Isn't one of the top 2 or 3 causes of death among teens and young adults?

 

[ColleenG]

I'm mixed on whether the drinking age should be lowered. I think if it is lowered to 18 then the college binge drinking problem becomes a bigger high school problem. I agree with PP, if you can choose to join the military than you should be responsible to have a drink, so instead of lowering the drinking age, why not raise the age to join the military.

If they do lower the drinking age I think it should be 19. That will at least help to keep alcohol out of the high schools.

 

[eclairemom]

I think it should be lowered. It was changed to from 18 to 21 when I was 17 and remember the Military issue back then. A lot of people drink because it's fun and more of a thrill when they are under age, I hardly picked up a beer after I reached legal drinking age it wasn't a rush anymore. Personally I feel if you are considered an adult at 18 by all other standards you should be able to buy a beer if you want.

 

[imthatgirl]

I think it should be lowered. It was changed to from 18 to 21 when I was 17 and remember the Military issue back then. A lot of people drink because it's fun and more of a thrill when they are under age, I hardly picked up a beer after I reached legal drinking age it wasn't a rush anymore. Personally I feel if you are considered an adult at 18 by all other standards you should be able to buy a beer if you want.

there are far more alcoholics over the age of 21 than under. id rather not see more under 21yo become. JMPO

 

[mom2aredhead]

If they do lower the drinking age I think it should be 19. That will at least help to keep alcohol out of the high schools.

I agree. There are still many 18 year olds in high school. Not many 19 year olds. I think it should be lowered to 19.

 

[crisi]

I'm old enough to have been drinking at 19 (18 in Wisconsin!) and I'll tell you that the lure of the underground drinking culture is NOT going to curb drinking unless there are even more college students drinking themselves to death than when I was a college student. It might bring it more out into the open, but it will likely also make kids who respect authority decide that its ok to start.

But I'm not against lowering the drinking age, I disagree with the idea that 18 year olds are "provisional adults" - at 18 you should be an adult, period. I just don't think that it should be done expecting a reduction in young adult drinking behavior.

 

[perkinsrose]

I agree with the PPs. If you are old enough to vote and enlist in the military, you should be old enough to have a drink. I think part of the problem is that alcohol is the "forbidden fruit". Teens and young adults want to try it and they will do so without adult supervision. They don't learn how to drink responsibly. Lower the drinking age and take away the mystique behind alcohol.

I agree.

I know I drank more alcohol in late highschool and early college BEFORE I was 21. Though I was away at college after 21, alcohol was less the focus on social scene.

 

[LisaInNc]

We need to lower the drinking age or raise the legal age for being an adult. Kids can vote, be drafted, serve the military but they can't have a beer.

 

[patsal]

I'm a High School teacher and if you think these kids don't drink your not living in reality. Not all kids drink, but not all college kids drink either. By lowering the drinking age to something that is reasonable like 18 you are going to be able to teach kids to act responsibly rather than to continue to break the law. You will have less parents buying alcohol for under age kids--great example of upholding the law and setting a great example for pick and choose the rules you will follow. I think raising the drinking age was not a good idea to begin with and that since HS is a place where kids make mistakes, if someone comes in hung over or still drunk at least it becomes a teachable moment where in college that teachable moment has left and no one is going to hold their hand--as we can see by the number of deaths that occur based on high alcohol consumption by people who should know better but obviously don't.

 

[karibritt01]

I disagree with the fact that most think under-age drinking is about the alcohol itself. I think it is more about the inability to handle the newfound freedom of being away from their parents. At 18, going away to school, there is this big push to prove they can drink if they want, have sex, party until 4am, and there is nothing anyone can do or say to stop them. By age 21, this is no longer a big deal. Kids have matured enough to know they NEED to quit partying and take care of life, school, etc. It really doesn't matter what the drinking age is... the kids are still going to assert their independance from their parents. They will buy alcohol one way or another. The main difference is that when buying it in a bar, they will be cut off before they pass out. But how many 18 yr olds do you know who can afford to drink heavily in a bar?

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I am an alumni of one of the colleges where the president is asking for this to be studied. He wasn't there when I was, but I have a lot of respect for him. He actually said in an article I read that he doesn't yet know if it should be lowered, he just thinks it needs studied. He also went on to say that he and his wife taught their children to drink responsibly, and they didn't have any problem. Now, the article doesn't state at what age they taught their kids to drink responsibly.

I am not sure how I feel. I don't think I like 18 because high school seniors are 18. It would seem pretty easy for them to give alcohol to younger students. I think 19 seems better.