# Lower drinking age



## crazyeight (Mar 29, 2006)

I've never really been activisty. I never really know where to start. Theres plenty of things that I support and want to change.

Anyways I saw on the news that some colleges are being "interviewed" researched whatever about drinking age etc. I don't know if this is a nation wide change or per state jurisdiction but I want to support a lower drinking age. From what I understand its still in the infancy stage, no "bill" or anything like that but I would like to put my say in or add it to the list of consenting adults and wanted to ask where to start. THANKS!


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## imagine21 (Apr 7, 2007)

Each state sets its own drinking laws but the federal government has elected to withhold federal hwy. funds (which every state needs) if the age is under 21. So to answer your question, it is both the federal government and the state that need to act to lower the age. I agree with you. I think that the age of majority should be 18, for voting, serving in the military, drinking AND driving. We may be in the minority b/c statistics do show that drunk driving accidents did decrease among young adults when the age was increased.


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## Sailor (Jun 13, 2006)

I agree with you both. But, I'm also originally from Europe. So, I'm used to age 18 being the norm for everything. I don't understand why 21 was chosen in the US. It's so arbitrary. I mean, you're old enough to die for your country in war, but not old enough to drink?!

Plus, where I'm from, people are much more relaxed about alcohol in general, i.e. from the time I was 14, I was allowed to enjoy a small glass of wine with dinner with family. This was the norm among my peers too in Europe. So, there's really no mad rush to start drinking at 18 because, well, it hasn't ever been forbidden.

Personally, I think the "forbidden fruit" concept makes drinking a big deal, and so a lot of 21 year olds have a night of binge drinking for their birthdays. It's crazy.

I'm all for lowering the age to 18, and also stop placing such a taboo on it ... but, I think we're in the minority.


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## caspian's mama (Mar 15, 2004)

for a long time now i've thought the drinking age should be lowered... and the _driving_ age raised. maybe that way teens can get the urge to get sloshy out of their systems _before_ getting behind the wheel!


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## crazyeight (Mar 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caspian's mama* 
for a long time now i've thought the drinking age should be lowered... and the _driving_ age raised. maybe that way teens can get the urge to get sloshy out of their systems _before_ getting behind the wheel!

i think we should LOWER the age for permits. its also "forbidden" fruit i think. why don't we give kids MORE time with adults rather than less? i thinks starting at 13 or 14 and getting a permit and then have 2-3 years of practice is a WHOLE lot better than a bare 6 months. besides the fact that kids take jobs and we dont' have good mass transit, i left home at 17...if i couldn't have drove...i woulda been in a pickle.

in lines with the drinking though. i also think that parents should be allowed to give kids alcohol. AFAIK right now its illegal for any adult including parents to their own kids to give them alchohol. in fact i think it would be even BETTER to have a way for up to say 5 underagers to be allowed to congregate under the eye of a parent (of the 5) with express written permission that all of them are permitted to have alcohol. kids would feel silly getting DRUNK but they would learn their own levels. i mean one glass of wine makes ME loopy! and then as a way to educate them on what just a little does..."how about we play mario cart? or wii fit or something other driving/coordination game" tada kids see how their performance goes down. although it won't hit home right away its an easy, responsible, permitted, overseen drink.







just my 2 cents


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

Parents *are* allowed to give alcohol to their own children- in NY at least. I'm not 100% certain of the wording of the law as far as giving alcohol to a friend's child- but realistically, if I know the parents, and they don't have a problem with me giving their child a small amount of wine, I'm not going to have any legal problems. Who else but the child's parents would contact the police because their child was given a glass of wine with dinner?

I'm not about to host a keg party for teenagers- I'm talking about making the blessing over wine and then giving everybody a sip, then pouring one glass per child for the entire meal. We normally use grape juice when we have underage company, just to avoid problems.

I'm pretty sure there are exceptions to the "no alcohol for minors" rule with religious services, when we're literally talking about 1oz of wine per person of any age. But AZ laws may be different than NY laws.


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## elanorh (Feb 1, 2006)

I do feel it's hypocritical for the USA to tell young men and women they're old enough to vote, and to die for our country as members of the armed forces, but that they're not old enough to drink alcohol.

I don't like tying driving ages into this matrix - I have had a license since I was 14 1/2 and (yes I know anecdotal evidence isn't scientific) - I've never been in a wreck. Ever. By the time I was 18 I had probably driven more miles than the average 25 year old on the East Coast - I grew up in a rural community and it was a 12 mile drive to get to the nearest town (and school) for me. If driving ages are raised, then people need to also include in that an exemption which allows young adults under 18 to drive if they are en route to sports practices, school, extra-curricular activities like their school play or etc., or to work. In much of this country, especially the rural areas, there is no public transportation infrastructure to step in if high school students can't drive themselves to things while their parents are at work or etc. Not everyone lives within walking or biking distance to their school.

I'm torn on lowering the drinking age. I worked for eight years in the Res Life Departments of three different universities - one of which was listed as a "Top Ten" party school. I'm not sure that lowering the drinking age will reduce binge drinking on college campuses. And there are very strong correlational links between raising the drinking age, and the reduction in drunk driving deaths etc. in the mid-80's. Obviously, kids will drink and drive even though they are under the drinking age (even if they don't have licenses, actually). But a reduction did occur at that time, one that continues to this day.

IME there are too many students who arrive at college thinking they're at _Animal House_. If drinking were legal for all 18 year old college students, I don't know that that would decrease that attitude. I worry that it would make it more likely that there would be disruptive, negative behaviors within the halls. I wonder how many of the college presidents who are asking for this law to be changed, want to do so simply so that they no longer have the task of monitoring student drinking (except with the rare less-than-18-year-old student); so that they can't be held as liable for binge drinking deaths in their halls and on their campuses, because "the student was old enough to drink, it's not our problem."

IME many of the students who went wild and crazy when they got to college, hadn't necessarily done so while in high school. College was their first opportunity to do so, because they had been closely monitored by their parents at home. Now, some of the students who were drinking heavily had been doing so in high school and/or junior high as well - but it sure seemed to me that the ones who were most 'at sea' were those who'd just begun their drinking process.

I suppose another argument about making the drinking age 18 again, is that the binge drinking will halt when it's not so 'cool' because it's not illegal. But with parents making sure that kids aren't drinking at home 'til they get to college, it's still going to be 'new.' The real issue is that students
A. Think they're supposed to party all the time at college, and
B. Have not learned to drink responsibility, through their own experiences OR through watching adults they respect, drinking responsibly.

I've been involved in hospital transports for more than one student who was hovering around .4 or higher for BAC. I just don't know that a lower drinking age is going to halt that behavior. I think societal changes are what help students/young adults learn how to enjoy alcohol without becoming dangerously drunk and endangering their lives or the lives of those around them (or seriously disrupting and negatively impacting their living communities).

And that's just at the college level .... plenty of young adults don't attend college, and are still dealing with the same pressures and issues regarding drinking. There is a lot of uncertainty - and peer issues - and I believe for many, alcohol is used a crutch to overcome social awkwardness (i.e. the classic drinking while trying to pick up a guy/girl). Young adults need to learn how to be themselves and relax without using alcohol as a crutch.


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## crazyeight (Mar 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *elanorh* 
I do feel it's hypocritical for the USA to tell young men and women they're old enough to vote, and to die for our country as members of the armed forces, but that they're not old enough to drink alcohol.

I don't like tying driving ages into this matrix - I have had a license since I was 14 1/2 and (yes I know anecdotal evidence isn't scientific) - I've never been in a wreck. Ever. By the time I was 18 I had probably driven more miles than the average 25 year old on the East Coast - I grew up in a rural community and it was a 12 mile drive to get to the nearest town (and school) for me. If driving ages are raised, then people need to also include in that an exemption which allows young adults under 18 to drive if they are en route to sports practices, school, extra-curricular activities like their school play or etc., or to work. In much of this country, especially the rural areas, there is no public transportation infrastructure to step in if high school students can't drive themselves to things while their parents are at work or etc. Not everyone lives within walking or biking distance to their school.

I'm torn on lowering the drinking age. I worked for eight years in the Res Life Departments of three different universities - one of which was listed as a "Top Ten" party school. I'm not sure that lowering the drinking age will reduce binge drinking on college campuses. And there are very strong correlational links between raising the drinking age, and the reduction in drunk driving deaths etc. in the mid-80's. Obviously, kids will drink and drive even though they are under the drinking age (even if they don't have licenses, actually). But a reduction did occur at that time, one that continues to this day.

IME there are too many students who arrive at college thinking they're at _Animal House_. If drinking were legal for all 18 year old college students, I don't know that that would decrease that attitude. I worry that it would make it more likely that there would be disruptive, negative behaviors within the halls. I wonder how many of the college presidents who are asking for this law to be changed, want to do so simply so that they no longer have the task of monitoring student drinking (except with the rare less-than-18-year-old student); so that they can't be held as liable for binge drinking deaths in their halls and on their campuses, because "the student was old enough to drink, it's not our problem."

IME many of the students who went wild and crazy when they got to college, hadn't necessarily done so while in high school. College was their first opportunity to do so, because they had been closely monitored by their parents at home. Now, some of the students who were drinking heavily had been doing so in high school and/or junior high as well - but it sure seemed to me that the ones who were most 'at sea' were those who'd just begun their drinking process.

I suppose another argument about making the drinking age 18 again, is that the binge drinking will halt when it's not so 'cool' because it's not illegal. But with parents making sure that kids aren't drinking at home 'til they get to college, it's still going to be 'new.' The real issue is that students
A. Think they're supposed to party all the time at college, and
B. Have not learned to drink responsibility, through their own experiences OR through watching adults they respect, drinking responsibly.

I've been involved in hospital transports for more than one student who was hovering around .4 or higher for BAC. I just don't know that a lower drinking age is going to halt that behavior. I think societal changes are what help students/young adults learn how to enjoy alcohol without becoming dangerously drunk and endangering their lives or the lives of those around them (or seriously disrupting and negatively impacting their living communities).

And that's just at the college level .... plenty of young adults don't attend college, and are still dealing with the same pressures and issues regarding drinking. There is a lot of uncertainty - and peer issues - and I believe for many, alcohol is used a crutch to overcome social awkwardness (i.e. the classic drinking while trying to pick up a guy/girl). Young adults need to learn how to be themselves and relax without using alcohol as a crutch.

loved your post!







really i don't think debate is allowed on MDC and this isn't what the thread is for so i want to clarify that i am not here to do that!

i agree that intially if the drinking age is lowered theres going to be hard/long transition period. we can't go from the socially unacceptable drinking underage to suddenly having responsible younger drinkers. the biggest task will be PARENTS interacting and teaching their kids. a parent who suddenly CAN give their kids drinks doesn't mean they WILL or that they will help the kids understand whats going on unfortuneatly. as well as the fact that AS parents many of us grew up with the same stigmas that we need to unlearn! ah the condundrums!

ultimatly i feel that lowering the drinking age to at LEAST 18 and really letting up on underage drinking (obviously excluding driving/binge drinking) will help....how we'll get their i am unsure but the authortarian rules about some of the US really irk me.

oh and yeah i do TOTALLY agree that college's supporting this is totally not the right reasons. they just have more say than one little mom like me....again a conundrum of the US!


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