The Public Opinion Soapbox

Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

All this discussion about lowering the drinking age seems like it may make a good topic for a post.

So, what does everyone think? Should the drinking age be lowered to 18? It seems like a lot of people are quick to say no without having a discussion about it.

mymouth · Joined: 27 Mar 2008 Posts: 31 Location: C-burg

18 year olds can go vote. They can have an automatic weapon placed in their hands and told they can go to war but they can't have a drink?

I have said this for years that it should be 18. When I was 18 we could drink and we didn't have the binge drinking that goes on now in bars.

Other countries have lower drinking ages and the kids are much more responsible I guess its just not as appealing when they can do something.
If they are allowed to do it then it wouldn't be so appealing to try and drink before 21 and then they wouldn't drink to alchohol poisoning level.

AnonyMouse · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 522

It only makes sense that when something is banned and taboo, distorted perceptions spring up and when someone is finally able to have access to it, they'll misuse it.

TIME magazine had an interesting article in June about parents drinking with their kids. They said that parents who buy alcohol for parties have kids who abuse the alcohol. But parents who drink with their kids, starting at relatively young ages, have kids who drink responsibility.

We use the same argument around here all the time for gun use. If you teach your kids to respect it and use it responsibly there aren't problems. Seems pretty reasonable to extend the same logic to alcohol use.

I found the TIME article online: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1816475-1,00.html
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cookieclaygirl · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 2136 Location: shippensburg

Pink Elephant in the Room · Joined: 09 May 2008 Posts: 162 Location: in the corner

When I was 18, it was legal (in almost all states) for me to drink. I also remember that when kids from other states or dry counties would come into the area it would be a frenzy!

Some well known southern universities had very crazy times with alcohol.

Yet, in Europe where there in no real "drinking age" because children are raised with the knowledge of when to drink and what to drink with what to eat. (Say that five times fast.) There is no drinking problem. (Except maybe in October in Muchen, Germany.)
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.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3042 Location: Chambersburg

There are always going to people who go too far. People who have no concept of moderation. There comes a point when we have to let nature take its course (or give it up to God, as some would say.)

I have read studies similar to those AnonyMouse referenced, but in regards to kids and sugar or kids and caffeine.
Parents who withhold sweets from their children almost guarantee that their child will binge.
I don't allow my son Cokes (meaning caffeinated soda) or even Sprite type drinks on a regular basis---he actually was allowed his first Coke-type drink of the year, last week...not because I'm horribly opposed to kids and soda, but because he just cannot handle it (which means I suffer and I AM horribly opposed to me suffering!)

Here's the point to my ramble: when he is allowed soda he drinks it all and drinks it fast--- a 2 liter lasts a day.

Laws do not teach responsibility, parents do.

That said, I couldn't begin to tell you how to do the parent thing the right way (obviously) but I do know that every expert will tell you consistency is key.

And telling someone that they are an adult in every way except for this one little thing...well, it isn't very consistent is it?

For the record, before I was forced to think about it, I would have said (and did say) no, the drinking age should remain the same----but that probably had more to do with dealing with young, drunk soldiers (ugh.)
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Laughing Man · Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 497 Location: Earth

Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

Laughing Man, I'm going to respond the same way I typically do with this sort of thing... issues such as teen pregnancy, drug use and adolescent crime are all at 30 year LOWS.

That's right, I'm dead serious; less teens are pregnant now, less teens are doing drugs, and less teens are getting in trouble with the law now than they did when you were a teenager.

Amazing, isn't it? But not so fun to talk about.

The one statistic that is up: underage drinking. And not just any kind of drinking, BINGE drinking. Particularly among college freshmen. Why? Because they've never been allowed a sip of booze their whole life, and then BAM... here's a bottle of vodka, but you better drink it all now because you might not be able to later. A stomach pump later the kids are ready to do it all over again.

The problem here isn't so much the parents; parents who drink WITH their teens have teens who are far more likely to make responsible choices regarding alcohol. That's opposed to parents who buy booze FOR their teens and say "Go to down, just don't drive." How is that responsible?

Unfortunately, an attitude shift is required to get parents to look at alcohol not as a destructive drug, but a social lubricant that should be approached with both respect and responsibility. The same can be said about sex, but I still think America is way too conservative to start telling our teens "It's ok to have sex like we know you do anyway, let's try and be safe about it."

I think we need to lower the drinking age to 18, but beyond that, we should make it legal for anyone over the age of 16 to have a glass of wine or a beer with a parent while out at a restaurant.

cookieclaygirl · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 2136 Location: shippensburg

how french Smile

.45chel · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 3042 Location: Chambersburg

Mmmmm

social lubricant

cookieclaygirl · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 2136 Location: shippensburg

he he he he....

you said social.

Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

Laughing Man · Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 497 Location: Earth

Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2569 Location: Chambersburg

As a whole; well, nothing can be accomplished "as a whole." That's pretty much relative and this country pretty low on a responsibility scale. I don't think we compare favorably with some other countries, particularly European nations that have much more loose laws regarding alcohol.

I think an interesting sociological point of view is one that believes people are more likely to conform to societal mores based on how they're perceived by others, rather than by what the law says they should or should not do. Most people don't want the government to legislate their morality, and it shouldn't... ever. They also don't want other people to think they're bad parents or that their children are worthless.

I think most of our country's problems with teens compared to smaller, European nations is also matter of widespread poverty, lack of health coverage and poor education.

Yes, we're nation of extreme excess... where else would people have the audacity to drive around in Hummers amid an energy and climate crisis?

So, given your age, I'm surprised you're not seeing this point of view at least the responsibility part... my parents let me drink with them on the rare, special occasion starting when I was about 16. By the time I got to college, I knew how to responsibly enjoy alcohol. Not that I don't overdo it once in a while... but that usually merely results in a headache the next day, not a trip to the police station or planned parenthood.

No, it won't happen as a whole; but I do believe that lowering the drinking age just might help alleviate problems with binge drinking and alcohol abuse, specifically among college freshmen and sophomores.

Here's a footnote from Wikipedia on teenage pregnancy, all statistics have sources cited:

Laughing Man · Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 497 Location: Earth

i don't see us seeing eye to eye on this... and thats ok.

I lack the faith in young people to see this making a difference, but ok...

+50 pts for optimism

on another, related topic... why not also lower the age of when you can buy a handgun (21) and rent a car (25) too? (not meant to be sarcastic)
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