The Best Legal Drinking Age: 18 or 21?
Yesterday, news broke of a public plea to lawmakers to consider lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. But it didn’t come from a bunch of 18-year-old college freshmen with newly-issued voter registration cards. The push to let kids drink legally at 18 comes from the presidents of more than 100 colleges and universities across the country.
The move has sparked huge debate both supporting and opposing the idea — at last count, Google News picked up 1,500 articles written in the past 24 hours. Here’s where it gets tricky: both the college administrators and the groups who oppose lowering the legal drinking age claim to have the same reason for their point of view — they want to reduce binge drinking on campus and keep students safer. Who doesn’t?
But what about the 18-year-old high-school seniors who would be of legal drinking age to buy a six-pack? What impact would this have in high schools if some students can legally drink? What’s your take?
Update: July 1, 2009
Just came across this very interesting New York Times article stating that drinking among young adults under 21 has decreased greatly in recent years…except for those in college. A 27-year-old study shows that men between the ages of 18-20 who don’t attend college binge drink 30% less than they did when the study first began — but there’s been absolutely no statistical change in 18- to 20-year-old men who do attend a university! So perhaps its the college lifestyle — not the high legal drinking age — that’s causing so many young people to binge. Thoughts?
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Newsvine51 Comments
Post a comment
Loading ...
I am on the homestretch of raising my third and final teenager. I support lowering the drinking age but, why does it have to be 18. Why can’t we help to keep it out of high schools by making it 19. There is no magical age of 18 or 21. I was in the military and lived in Europe where the legal drinking age is usually 16. The problem in the USA is not the age of legal drinking it is the cultural attitude. We glamorize it. We mystify it. When my children reach the age of 18, we begin to introduce them to the idea of responsible drinking by allowing them to have a drink at home: if they ask and they understand they may NOT leave the house once they have partaken. We emphasis the responsibilities they are accepting. We encourage them to understand it is not for getting drunk but to enjoy with a meal or a social occasion. Yes both my older children have overindulged. But, they speak openly with me about it and we talk about ways to avoid the social pressures and about learning about their personal limits. It certainly seems to have worked so far and it is much better than the kids who are hiding this from their parents. It seems to me that it is more a case of teaching our children to be responsible and concerned adults rather than trying to keep our adult children children.
I agree with Vickie. Why not 19? I suppose the only other reasons to go all the way back to “18″ are that 1.) well it used to be “18″ 2.) voting (as Joe mentions above) 3.) military service (I think I can hear a teenage me using that excuse back in the day). The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of teen drinking going on, and it’s mostly hidden from parents because, well, it is illegal. Would teens (or 19 year olds) behave differently they if they did not have to sneak around? Would drinking not carry the same stigma? Would it not have the same allure? There must be some studies somewhere. Did changing the drinking age from 18 to 21 work in the past? What was it like when it was 18?
But as for your original question, what would happen in high schools if some kids could legally drink? Two things I would guess. You would have two scenes - one where the 18 plus crowd would go to bars and clubs (while the others would hide their drinking in basements, parks, cars, etc.) and the other where the 18 plus crowd would become the suppliers for the basements, parks, and cars. The same thing happens in college with “21.” I bet it would be no different.
Would there be less binge drinking at 18? I think that has less to do with age and more to do with context. Ever been to happy hour after a good day on Wall Street? Or a office holiday party? NFL game? Vegas? Preakness (yes horse racing)? NASCAR? Heck, been to a wedding lately? People find an excuse to binge drink at all ages. It’s more about context than anything. The opportunities are always there no matter how old, or young you are. The question is where and when do you learn responsibility?
It is a very interesting debate.
I agree with lowering the age of drinking. Perhaps a good idea to bring it to an age out of high school perhaps. But I also feel that we are giving people the responsibility to vote and go to war at the age of 18, why so then are they not allowed to drink. Are they responsible enough to decide the leader of a country but not have a beer? Are they responsible enough to die protecting the country, but not enough so to drink. I think the age limit has been wrong for a long time, and its definitely time for a change.
I agree with Vickie and JC… but I will add to it. I am in my 30’s and have an 11 year old child. I believe the drinking age should be lowered to 18 for a couple reasons. First and foremost…. You can make the choice to go into the military and risk your life at 18…. you should be aloud to enjoy an alcoholic beverage. That holds a lot less responsibility than military. I believe lowering the age will also take away “the forbidden” and it’s no longer glamorous… In my family we were always allowed to have a drink at home, not allowed to leave, and to this day none of us “binge drink.” It was not “forbidden” in our home, therefore we were not out drinking and driving, or drinking and riding with someone who was drinking and driving. Education is the tool… It’s up to all of us as parents to do so.
I personally think 19 is a good age to “legalize” alcohol for this reason….when a teen “knows” that they can’t drink,,,they tend to overdrink when an opportunity arises. 18 was the drinking age in TN back in the late “70’s, and went to college in KY whereas 21 was the legal age…saw the difference in those who were from TN compared to KY…the ones from KY tended to drink more. My parents took the curiosity away by letting me sip on a beer or wine when I was 16 and 17..of course, I thought they tasted horrible.
Parents need to inform their children about alcohol and practice what they preach.
I think it should stay 21. You’re going to make better decisions at 21 vs 18. The drinkers under 21 will drink anyway, lowering the age will just keep them from getting tickets.
I started drinking when I was 15, all my friends were doing it from school at parties. I had 2 M.I.P. tickets before I was of legal age.
When I became 21 I drank at least 2 beers a day everyday after work, weekend a little bit more. I had total control!
I’m 35 now, about 5 years ago something clicked. I had to drink more and more. I would wake up from a hang-over and start drinking cheap vodka to kill the hang-over and to stop the shakes. I loved alcohol for breakfast, beer, wine, whisky, it didn’t matter anymore. I drove buzzed, with altoids and visine dropping constantly. If I was too drunk I would tell my son we couldn’t go because something was wrong with the car or I had to wait to get paid even though I had plenty of money for alcohol. It was the only way I could make it from day to day. It wasn’t even fun anymore!
I prayed to God to take this pain away. The first week was a little rough, but made it through. I’m now over 2 months sober! I now have fun through sober eyes and I love myself a whole lot more.
Previous comments refered to the lower drinking age in Europe. It is my understanding that the legal driving age in Europe is generally much older than in the US. I would support the change in drinking age only if the legal age for driving became much older. I believe the higher drinking age has saved the lives of many teens. We know that physically, the brains and the descision making processes in our young people do not develope fully until the mid-twenties. Some may argue for a 19 year old drinking age, how about a 22 or 23 year old drinking age? Then college campuses would not have to deal with a mixed population of legal drinkers and non drinkers.
I think the drinking age should be lowered back to 18. When I was coming up it was 18 and it seems there was much less binge drinking than now. Just like prohibition didn’t work, raising the drinking age hasn’t worked to stop underage drinking. If we continue as parents to work at educating our teens against drinking/drugging and driving, then that’s more than half the battle. Ideally, kids would wait until their 21 or older and their brains have developed more, but it’s not realistic to expect complete abstinence from alcohol unless the person is a recovering alcoholic. I have a 19 year old and 13 year old and only wish that it was legal for my older child. Statistics haven’t borne out the proof that raising the age helped diminish alcoholism or underage drinking.
I think it should stay 21. You’re going to make better decisions at 21 vs 18. The drinkers under 21 will drink anyway, lowering the age will just keep them from getting tickets.
I started drinking when I was 15, all my friends were doing it from school at parties. I had 2 M.I.P. tickets before I was of legal age——-Exactly Drinking age should be kept at 21 because kids are going to go out and drink anyway.I think they should raise the enlistment age for the military to 21 however. Kids which are 16 would try to get alcohol as an 18 year old more often, So we’d be fooling ourselves enough to listen to these inexperienced kids who are not mature enough with alcohol. Why would I listen to a bunch of teenagers about alcohol age limits? For now the grown ups should make the decisions on that until the age of 21. Teens drive ridiculous as it is do we really want the newest of societies drivers getting behind the wheel drunk?? I think 21 is the perfect age. 18 is too young to make good judgement. These kids may think their judgement is great but they cannot make good judgment calls. Personally I feel they need to leave the drinking age limit alone and keep it at 21.
The mystery and forbidden fruit of alcohol is alluring. I believe that much of the binge drinking is driven by the fact that it is done “on the sly” due to its illegal nature for many of the participants. I’d rather see us teach respect and responsibility for alcohol use while children are at home with parental influence instead of their participation at college with little to no direction. How about 18 (matching the age of majority in most states) with 16 being acceptable under direct parental supervision?
It’s my opinion that people who “binge drink” already have a problem that should be addressed. It doesn’t matter how old they are. I don’t think most ADULTS have a healthy handle on “drinking responsibly”. In general, most people do not drink for the simple reason that they like the taste; they like the effects. I guess what I’m trying to say it that people are going to drink, no matter what the legal age is. 18 or 21, underage drinkers are going to get alcohol somewhere. I was a drunk at age 15, never had a problem getting it, and didn’t stop until I was 50. Amen.
Lower it to 18 or 19.
If you were 20, would you believe you were old enough to drink? Most say ‘yes’ - so they drink. Why would we as a society be so butt-locked and controlling so as not to recognize this? For many “kids” we’re stretching the rubber band a huge amount (making them wait until they can drink legally)…..then we let go of this rubber band and wonder why we have huge problems.
The road to responsible drinking is a process that needs to include parents and other adults - this will happen more effectively at 18 or 19. Vickie H. (above) is on the money.
I strongly disagree with lowering the leagl drining age to 18 Strongly!
In my life I have had and met and continue to meet many young people who continually make the bad decisions to CONTINUALLY binge drink yes and we KNOW what happens to their brains and their bodies with heavy alcohol and drug abuse right? Why in the world would we even consider lowering it?
it’s like say lets lower the age for our teenagers to be able to get HANDGUNS!!! Our Kids grow up faster are exposed to so much more adult material that they NEVER should be exposed to they have no time or chance to really be KIDS, children, and just play, relax be kids enjoy the positive qualities of great outdoor activities such as kayaking, fishing, hiking, bike riding canoeing all these serve very beneficial areas t relax, jon with nature, develop good self esteem, find abond and natural high instead of seeking and neding to drink and BINGE drink and do drugs at such very impressionable ages in many other ways young girls and boys adolescents DON’t GROW UP don’t face responsibilities well, don’t deal with having to do things for other people, having to think about the consequences of their actions, what their relationships are with OTHER Humans, BINGE DRINKING IS A SYMPTOM of a much larger problem as well as being a Problem in itself as well.
BY giving in to everything, the cell phones at 12, the violent video gamesthe violent movies we avoid immediate arguments and conflicts, while we are trying to be their best buddies or THEIR PARENTS?? Parenting is a very tough job sometimes saying NO is a BIG drag, very difficult and unpopular BUT tough LOVE is a very special love YOU are awre of and thinking of the CONSEQUENCES NOW How do we get them to???
Going to schol, going full time to school is a Privledge not a granted endeavor! many Many do NOT have the luxury of going full time and living in a paid for by your parents dorm while they take the hard earned time, money and educational/self improvement opportunity to get repeatatively wasted!!! Many schools actuallly factor in EXTRA charges into tuition costs - for more materials, better learning aids and boks?? NO for the cost of rebuilding, fixing the cnstantly trashed DORMS and property these kids waste during their continuous parties and binge episodes!!!
I’ve been working full time, taking are of an elderly parent, trying to keep up with everday responsibilities NO way am I going to lose my chance to learn, to get better at things to share and learn more knowledge and skills
IMproving myself takes effort and concern BINGE DRNKING and PARTYING DO NOT!!!!
Watching , encouraging your friends get so blasted they urinate themselves, run around naked, laugh at other friends gettig very sick some have even died from alsohol consumption overdose Does that soound like they are responsible adults ready to make serious and life threatening decisions to you?? WAKE UP AMERICA!
These are te people who are the stewards of this country’s future!
The future engineers, teachers, professors, doctors, nurses, pharmasists, aerospace engineers and mechanics, flight controllers Let me think, how much of their reasoning and thinking power do we really need to design that DAM again? Or To analyze just how much force and water that Levee ca actualy with stand before it lets go? Or determine why these heavy duty construction cranes in crowded areas, and streets with people around and below are colapsing while they are carrying how much weight?
NO problem I can sober up on the next seminar!
Cme on parents COme ON America! DOn’t take the easy way out of this one!!!
Disrespect for the law is at an all time high and the 21 y/o drinking is a big part of the reason. As a police officer, I enforced 21 but in my gut I knew it was overall a bad policy. Like the 55 MPH speed law I enforced, the 21 age for drinking is/was nearly universally ignored, as people nearly dared cops to make a tiny, meaningless dent in the issue.
I would like to see some PHD sociologists weigh-in on how much damage is done to the fabric of society, when criminal laws are ignored by tens of millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens.
18 or 21 , does not matter! It is our ‘job” as a parent to be a good role model, and be supportive. Alcohol is all around us, weddings, graduations, college , concerts ,etc. I stress to my sons to stay healthy and safe, it is all about you and no one else!
The brain does not stop developing until the age of 24 to 25. Allowing our 18 year old adolescents to drinking alcohol is like telling them that it is ok to play Russian Roulette. I get so tired of hearing adolescents and adults alike say “I can serve my country at 18, why can’t I have alcohol?” I will tell you why: an 18 year old has quicker reflexes, is faster, has better endurance and is quicker to learn than someone who is older. Their heart and brains are like sponges;.they have more engery. They are perfect contenders should they choose the path of the military. Let’s add alcohol to the same “sponge.” This puts them at greater risk of addiction, affects their learning and memory and impares their already risk taking, thrill seeking judgement. As adults, we have seen what someone on alcohol can do. Why would we even THINK that an 18 year old can parttake in this behavior responsibly? Some adults can’t even do it, yet we are telling our CHILDREN that it is ok? Something is not right. The number one killer of 16-20 year olds is alcohol. Just because we say that it is legal is not going to stop them from binge drinking. Tobacco is a legal substance. Can you guess what the number one killer in the United States is? Also, if you read the latest news regarding drinking and the European countries, you will find that more adolescents are binge drinking as well and health officials are extremely concerned.
The colleges are wanting to cop-out of their responsibilities by lowering the drinking age. They and everyone else who thinks the age should be lowered needs to study the adolescent brain development and the effects of alcohol. Give our youth a chance to grow up fully developed including their brain. As far as voting and going into the military, let them vote it you want. As far as the military - raise that age unless a parent signs. There is no draft anymore so everyone that enters the military does it voluntarily. That is no fair comparison. Our youth are growing up too fast as it is and the parents need to be parents and be good examples and help support the wrongness of illegal behaviors.
Has anyone considered that there are many 18-year-olds who are still attending high school? Lowering the drinking age to accommodate college campuses will affect many more people than intended. Also, not everyone attends college [or graduates high school for that matter], so why lower the age to fulfill the entitled “needs” of one population? I agree wtih Linda Hardgrave’s response: knowledge of adolescent brain development will show you why there is good EVIDENCE-BASED research that makes the case for keeping the age at 21 [if not higher!]
I don’t believe that lowering the drinking age will help in fact I think this action would increase the death rate. If some college students are not mature enough to make sound judgement in limiting their drinking or responsible to gage their drinking, I think a younger age drinker would be even less likely to be able to take on this type of responsibility. This is a problem with many adults and leaving this type of judgement to younger populations is even a worse judgement call on our officials in politics and leaders in our schools.
In fact I believe the laws need to become more tough and college leadership more stringent in penalties and consequences. We as parents and leaders need to take on the responsibilities in teaching and guiding our young populations in being accountable and responsbile in making bad decisions by imposing stiff consequences when poor judgement is made. If anything I think the age limit should be increased.
08/21/2008
Hello!!!! I don’t believe the issue here is whether or not the legal drinking age is 18 or 21. I agree with the previous comment that if our youth cannot make responsible decisions about drinking, even though the legal drinking age is 21, why do we expect them to be able to make better decisions if the legal drinking age changes to 18?? We really need to think about the fact that the adolescent brain is not finished developing until between the ages of 23 - 25 yrs old. The part of the brain that is responsible for making good decisions and connecting decisions to consequences is not finished developed at age 18 or 21! With that said, I grew up in a country where there is no legal drinking age, but yet I don’t ever remember connecting turning 21 with drinking. It has a lot to do with CULTURE. The problem is that alcohol use has been glamorized by the media, our youth thinks it is the norm to drink alcohol and that everyone is doing it. Youth today are so stressed out with all of the adult responsibilities they now have and parents are too busy to discuss those issues with their youth. We as a society need to wake up and start focusing on the real issues. It would be isteresting to hear what our youth think about this issue???/
With this push coming from college presidents, it leads me to believe that they are passing the buck of responsibility to the students and families. They will no longer have any issues that arise from underage drinking with their students, therefore they pass on the school’s liability. With society as it is, we quietly encourage our youth that’s it’s ok to drink younger than 21, the legal drinking age. So what will this do to those even younger? The younger the legal age, the younger youth will be when they try it! And let’s face it, there’s more out there to encourage than to deter.
I actually canNOT believe that this is an issue that university officials, of all people, are contemplating! Binge drinking and subsequently alcohol poisoning is rampant on college campuses; how could people think that if the legal age of drinking were lowered, that there would be a smaller likelihood that college students wouldn’t imbibe as much as they could in an hour?! It just doesn’t make sense to me; where is this notion that there’s a causal relationship between being 21 leading to binge drinking coming from? If the legal age were lowered to 18, there would be a larger percentage of the population drinking, and not necessarily in moderation either.
Not to mention the horrifying thoughts of a possible increase in drunk driving incidents; as more and more teens go through the rite of passage of obtaining their driver’s licenses, if they were allowed to drink at age 18 as well….. as we all know, with this new research about the development of the adolescent brain showing that the area involved in judgment and decision-making (prefrontal cortex) isn’t complete until age 25, how can we even think that an 18 year-old is better equipped to make good decisions than a 21 year-old?!
We all know that people who aren’t 21 still manage to skirt the law and drink before 21. If we lower the age to 18, how can we implicitly encourage 16 and 17 year olds to eagerly await turning 18 and possibly try to drink 18 drinks on their 18th birthday?! Good point in the post about 18 year olds not necessarily being in college but in high school. Children are growing up way too fast nowadays and it’s up to responsible adults to help guide them in making healthy decisions.
I worked at a college in the south for 10 years trying to prevent underage drinking, intervene with students who violated alcohol and drug policies, and teaching risk management to fraternities and sororities.
I personally investigated underage alcohol deaths and met with parents of these children who died horrible, wasteful deaths due to underage drinking in an effort to share what we had learned about the incidents.
Just recently, a drunk 20 year old female driver killed her 16 year old passenger just five miles from my house in an alcohol related crash.
I bet if you polled the parents of those killed, raped, maimed, or academically ruined due to underage drinking, you would find little support for lowering the drinking age at all.
Good policy with strong community support (and strict enforcement) changes behavior. Even though drunk driving deaths among the 18-21 year old population have dropped significantly since highway funding was tied to state’s underage drinking limit, there is so much more to gain by parents demanding that law enforcement strictly enforce existing underage drinking laws.
Social Host laws that hold parents accountable for hosting underage drinking parties have also been shown to reduce underage drinking. (www.socialhost.org)
Think of the small towns in your community where the speed limit is enforced very consistently. Now…try to remember the last fatal accident you have heard about in those “speed trap” towns. People may rationalize their desire to speed, but strict enforcement overcomes all flawed rationalizations and protects us all from speeders.
Colleges, families, and communities that “wink” at underage drinking do so at their peril.
The military does not support lowering the drinking age, by the way because they understand the human costs associated with alcohol abuse.
Finally, a majority of the college presidents who have signed this agreement to study lowering the drinking age come from private colleges. Private colleges cater to weathier students who have been more likely to engage in underage drinking….and expect that right in college environments.
Also, these private schools rely heavily on oncampus housing revenue to make their budgets. Finally, private colleges are much more exposed to liability than state schools and nothing makes a university president (and board members) more nervous than an angry bereaved parent of a student who has been maimed or killed while in the care of the college.
Lastly, the retired university president who was the identified spokesperson for the movement to lower the drinking age was asked during an interview by National Public Radio if he was receiving money from the alcohol industry several times…each time he deflected the question and never provided an answer.
Just a few thoughts…
Environmental Management Works!
Preventionist in Arkansas
I grew up in an Italian family where wine was served at family dinners on Sunday. At the age of 13 I was allowed to have a half glass of wine on those occasions. None of the adults drank in excess. I started college (at a “commuter” school) during the time that 18 was the legal drinking age in New York State (mid 1970’s). I would go out with my friends on Friday nights and we would have a couple of drinks. Did some of them drink more than that? Yes. Did anyone binge drink? No, no one ever had to be taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. Even at that time, before MADD and stiff DWI laws, we had a designated driver. I look back now and think that we didn’t drink too much because most of us had a part-time job to go to the following day, and we didn’t want to suffer the wrath our parents would inflict on us. Today, it’s a different story. I believe that Hollywood glamorizes excess drinking, popping painkillers, and promotes general bad behavior. And, what is worse, many of today’s parents are also drinking excessively, popping painkillers, and exhibiting bad behavior. I don’t believe that lowering the drinking age to 18 will change a thing except increase the number of drunk teen drivers on the road. Parents should take a long, hard look at their own behavior and Hollywood should clean up their act.
I worked at a college in the south for 10 years trying to prevent underage drinking, intervene with students who violated alcohol and drug policies, and teaching risk management to fraternities and sororities.
I personally investigated underage alcohol deaths and met with parents of these children who died horrible, wasteful deaths due to underage drinking in an effort to share what we had learned about the incidents.
Just recently, a drunk 20 year old female driver killed her 16 year old passenger just five miles from my house in an alcohol related crash.
I bet if you polled the parents of those killed, raped, maimed, or academically ruined due to underage drinking, you would find little support for lowering the drinking age at all.
Good policy with strong community support (and strict enforcement) changes behavior. Even though drunk driving deaths among the 18-21 year old population have dropped significantly since highway funding was tied to state’s underage drinking limit, there is so much more to gain by parents demanding that law enforcement strictly enforce existing underage drinking laws.
Social Host laws that hold parents accountable for hosting underage drinking parties have also been shown to reduce underage drinking. (www.socialhost.org)
Think of the small towns in your community where the speed limit is enforced very consistently. Now…try to remember the last fatal accident you have heard about in those “speed trap” towns. People may rationalize their desire to speed, but strict enforcement overcomes all flawed rationalizations and protects us all from speeders.
Colleges, families, and communities that “wink” at underage drinking do so at their peril.
The military does not support lowering the drinking age, by the way because they understand the human costs associated with alcohol abuse.
Finally, a majority of the college presidents who have signed this agreement to study lowering the drinking age come from private colleges. Private colleges cater to weathier students who have been more likely to engage in underage drinking….and expect that right in college environments.
Also, these private schools rely heavily on oncampus housing revenue to make their budgets. Finally, private colleges are much more exposed to liability than state schools and nothing makes a university president (and board members) more nervous than an angry bereaved parent of a student who has been maimed or killed while in the care of the college.
Lastly, the retired university president who was the identified spokesperson for the movement to lower the drinking age was asked during an interview by National Public Radio if he was receiving money from the alcohol industry several times…each time he deflected the question and never provided an answer.
Just a few thoughts…
Environmental Management Works!
Preventionist in Arkansas
I totally agree with those intelligent individuals that cited brain development as the major reason to keep drinking age at 21. The reason it was switched from 18 in the first place was that the brain does not fully develop until after the age of 21. How can this evidence be disputed? Keep the age at 21 and parents and adults who provide alcohol should be the ones we get down on. Colleges are rampant with teenage drinking. Does that make it right? As parents and health care professions such as myself we should be putting pressure on colleges to enforce this, not give colleges a way out.
Lower it to age 19.
I have a son who is a college freshman. I can’t believe that with all of the money we pay, the administration of colleges want to lower the drinking age. Why don’t they focus on lowering the cost of college instead?! Also, as stated above by Amy, where are the campus police?
That would be a much more worthy cause. Kudos Jeannette, I agree that kids just aren’t mature enough to handle the effects of drinking before the age of 21.
The problem in the US is that there are many restrictions and taboos - and alot of hipocrasy. There are many adults who binge drink even in their own homes. They have “adult” parties where its OK to have alcohol and get totally drunk and then drive - BUT we can’t let our young touch the stuff. It makes it all very glamorous to break these rules for the young. Why is it that in Europe and in many other Latin parts of the world, the families drink wine at meals and alcohol is not taboo but is something shared without excess during family meals and family time and there isn’t the excessive binge drinking issue we have in the US? Its in the culture which is a very, very difficult thing to change in a short period of time BUT I believe we must to save many of our children. Think about it logically. We can send young men and women to war - are they mature enough to know when to kill or not kill? Someone must be training them. Why can’t parents and the culture at large help the young understand clearly the consequences and demystify the journey to adulthood. We have finally come to the conclusion that we can’t dictate as a society when kids can have sex - so we are teaching them about safe sex. Lets come to the conclusion that we wont’ stop young people from illegally drinking and teach them about safe drinking and the consequences of drinking in their developing bodies. Let’s put MORE responsibility on the parents - what happened to that? Why can’t parents in this country get it? It’s not the societies role to teach our kids about life and adulthood - its OUR responsibility as parents. We teach them and then society has to support it. My husband and I feel very strongly that our children will learn about alcohol , drugs, sex, etc in our home - taught by us - go to school with the knowledge of the good, bad and ugly and the consequences. We reinforce it constantly and we set a good example all the time. Yes we drink in our home - as did my parents and my in laws - but we drink responsibly with meals and NEVER NEVER NEVER have I or my husband been drunk - even while in college. Why? Because it was not a glamorous thing but a common part of life.
I agree that not only should the drinking age be dropped - it should be dropped lower and more responsibility put on the shoulders of the parents.
I have not researched both arguments. However, my personal opinion is that if they are old enough to risk their lives in the military, then we should wonder why the law prohibits them from drinking. I feel the legal age to drink and join the military should be 21. Then we know they have made a well thought out mature decision. I also agree our country has many more important issues to tackle then lowering the drinking age!!!!!!!!!
I think it is totally irresponsible of the college presidents to turn back time. I am shocked by their lack of disregard for the proven research that supports prevention of underage drinking. They even made comments which were in a tone of “shaming” parents…how manipulative! I wonder if they are getting any financial backing from the alcohol industry. We have got to get out of the dark ages and up to speed. Alcohol is a drug and any drug will impair developing brain up to the age of 25. Please review the research and be informed!! What’s the problem with teaching our children how to have fun without drugs? Prevention has saved lives and created less pain and suffering. And what does ingesting a drug ((alcohol - that effects decision making) have to do with something that is absolutely repectful & MAKING A VALUED DECISION like voting and fighting a war for your country???? Nothing. Keep it at 21 years of age period.
WOW! ARE YOU NOT AWARE of the Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 2007 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services?????
This publication is available on the Web at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov .
Don’t you know research now shows the human brain is not fully developed until the age of 25?
Haven’t you heard about the serious problems other countries are having BECAUSE there isn’t a drinking age???
I encourage people to take time to look up the new info that is out there in regards to underage drinking, the effects of alcohol on the teen brain; alcohol related car accidents of teens, alcohol related suicides of teens, and to check out the age that kids are already starting to drink, age 9. There are many websites with lots of information: SAMHSA; NIDA; NASMHPD; PARENTS THE ANTIDRUG; ADDICTIONACTION.ORG; NCADI, PARENT OF TEENS USA.GOV; JOINTOGETHER.ORG;
I strongly believe lowering the drinking age will be detrimental to the minds of tomorrow, our future!!!
Knowledge is power; and ignorance is no excuse; learn what the risks and dangers of alcohol use and abuse are to teens.
Would you give a child, whose brain is developing alcohol? Of course not. Then WHY would you give the ok for anyone under 21 the green light to drink?
The most important part of their brain, the prefrontal cortex, is still in the development stage!
I challenge you to check it out!!!
Until restrictions are placed on media advertising, the drinking age debate is moot. We are a culture of excess. The expectation that our kids at any age will have success resisting the urge to emulate glorified lifestyles shown on television and print ads is simply unrealistic.
Until alcohol and its place in our culture is treated with less celebrity status and more as a subtle compliment to life, like an enjoyable dessert, binge drinking will be a coveted exercise to our youth and even their parents because it is “wrong”. We Americans love wrong. Look at the success of the Jerry Springer show! Doing something naughty brings out the rebel in us and the combination of breaking the law, society’s rules, and enjoying the false bravado that alcohol brings are all very irresistible to someone trying to fit in when they’re not too sure of themselves. Does this profile fit a 18 year old? Yes. A 21 year old? Yes. More sobering… a 46 year old? Yea, we all know that crowd of people too. Change the image and the proper age for drinking will more likely become apparent. Doing anything because over priced institutions are feeling some heat from their liability attorneys? Nah..
NOOOOO! That is true, there is no good age for the drinking laws! To me at 18 kids cut school to begin with and lowering it could make things so much worse! I cant believe this is a issue but when i saw this on the news and read my mail I was in shock - and I really didnt think anything would ever shock me in the times we face. I feel so bad for the families who have loved ones who are alcoholics or were killed from a drunk driver. I have seen some drunk driving accidents and know some parents who have lost their children and loved ones just going to their jobs or coming home from school that were killed as a result of someone else’s stupidity. I hope I never have to go through what these poor people have been through. I dont think it will make much of a difference at all, they are going to do whatever they want to, illegal or not. To me this is a slap in the face of the people who have fought a fight some of us dont know! They have worked so hard on this issue and lost alot. I think we need to worry about stopping the drunks more than they are. I see lots of them on the road at all times, especially in the summer. It makes me so mad to see this, I wish I as a citizen could pull them over and arrest them myself. They make me very angry because I have kids and even the kids i dont know going home from work, school etc, are going to be a victim and it is just not right because in most cases the innocent person dies, not the drunk and they get off most with a slap on the wrist and go on their merry way and they will do it again for sure. Even without a legal license they will drive to their killer and not care about anyone but themselves and their next beer! Listen all you drunks, if I see you on the road drunk, I will find a way to stop you and follow you until the police come to make sure you dont kill anyones kids or my own. Im not afraid, they cant even stand up most of them so I could give a shi- less. Im so sorry Im so mad about this. I really hope there is going to be some major penalties for these killers! I say killers even though its a sickness because they full well know what they are doing when they get in their car drunk or to go to the store to by their killer beer [drinks]. There needs to be huge fines and major jail time so they dont ever drive again! I hope whatever the decision is I certainly hope our laws change with the age limits. Im so sorry for the families who have had a loss I wish all of you alot of luck with this, I can just imagine how hard it must be for you all! MADD! [HOPE FOR ALL 2006]
I have 5 children, from age 13 to 22. I support lowering the drinking age for several of the reasons already mentioned, but also because it would allow both parents and universities to establish environments where safeguards could be established. Parents could provide safer environments for parties, rather than having their kids driving to some remote location. In my community, parents risk jail due to a “social host ordinance” if underage drinking is occurring in their home. Good debate, keep it open, and realize both sides have our childrens’ safety in mind.
… St. Patricks Day, New Years Eve, Superbowl Sunday…glug, glug, glug. Binge drinking happens at all ages. It’s not just about how old you are. It’s also about parenting, and what adult society expect of its teens. I can’t say I completely agree with Colleen’s statements above, and her argument around military service and voting having no place in these discussions since they “have to do with something that is absolutely repectful & MAKING A VALUED DECISION like voting and fighting a war for your country.” If we are talking about teen decision making abilities then we need to look at all the decisions teens have to make. The “valued decision” to serve (made by an “undeveloped” 17 year old brain) I suppose is a lot easier than the day-to-day decisions these “undeveloped” kids have to make while walking into Iraqi homes with loaded weapons. Popping caps off bottles or popping off rounds? Try to win that argument with a returning war vet . When we are talking about laws and responsibilites of 18, 19, or 20 year olds, we cannot just factor some issues out. Maybe we could look at the 2008 election, and how so many young people are energized by the Obama campaign, the record breaking youth vote in the primaires, and the possibility of actually getting young people interested in politics. Are they being irrational? Do they really know what the candidate stands for or are they following a feeling? Do most adults? Like most charged issues, the drinking age debate is more complicated. For me it’s simply not a yes / no issue. Different kids in different situations with different parents facing with different pressures are going to make different decisions. But they will face these decisions all the time whether the drinking age is 18 or 21 or 31. It will never go away! We’re not solving the problem. The arbitrary age law seems so clumsy. It’s obtuse. We require a driver’s license before we send teens out on the road. We provide military training before we send teens onto the battlefield. Do we now need mandatory training about alcohol? Heck, do we need mandatory training to be parents? How about training about nutrition while we are there, and personal finances (like balancing a checkbook, and understanding credit card debt). As a society we routinely send our youth “out there” ill prepared to face many of life’s big decisions, and then punish them when they screw up - sometimes rightfully so, sometimes for not knowing better, and sometimes for not being prepared to make a good decision. Maybe it’s time for a more creative solution - to look at the problem which in many ways is about knowledge, understanding, and empowering kids to make informed decisions for themselves.
I think that underage drinking laws are absurd. Any time you make something commonly available to most forbidden to some, but not others, you invariably create a desire on the part of those not permitted to have or do the forbidden thing to use and try the forbidden thing. I occasionally drank a beer with my dad when I was 14 and 15, and we had wine with dinner now and then. When I was 16 I traveled in Europe and had wine or beer with dinner and just because I wanted some. When I was back in the states at 17, I wasn’t “old enough” to buy wine or beer, so I usually got someone else to buy it for me. When I turned 18, I was legal to drink. Then, they changed the law to 19 - so then I wasn’t legal to drink so I got a fake ID. I turned 19, started using my real ID again, and when I was 20 they - again - raised the drinking age, this time to 21, so again I got fake ID, and continued to enjoy a beer with my friends and wine with my dinner.
The point here is that alcohol was no big deal. It was always clear in my family that you can’t drive if you drink - pretty simple rule.
Today, all these years later, if I’m home with the kids and my wife is out, I won’t even drink a single beer in case I need to drive them to the hospital. It’s a model of responsibilities learned by examples, and I think that by treating teens as idiots, they act like idiots.
50% of people who begin drinking under age 15 become addicted; 25.5% who begin drinking at age 17 become addicted; less than 10% who begin drinking at age 21 or 22 deal with addiction…the laws are based on the physiology of the human body…simply put, young bodies cannot metabolize alcohol well; are vulnerable to addiction and the pre-frontal cortex part of the brian which is responsible for judgment, logic, reason and decision-making and does NOT reach full maturity until mid-to late 20’s risks ’suspended’ maturation when chemical is introduced during the formative years.
i think it doesn’t matter whether you are 18 or 21, what matters most is that you are responsible enough to take care of your mess!
Just read some of the comments on lowering the age for drinking. I lost my only brother from alcoholism. His daughter was very young at the time. His daughter became an orphan as both mom and dad passed away. Our family stayed at the hospital until he passed, and even tho he was very ill, he still died drunk. I tell the youth about his death, how traumatic it was to sit and watch him die. DO NOT LOWER THE DRINKING AGE. In our culture the family remains with the person until their spirit leaves their body. I never want to see anything like that again.
That is we would need! Allow 18 year olds to start drinking legally! Are you kidding me???? I don’t think most people have a clue to how immature most young adults are!!! I have seen it with my own eyes - PLEASE LEAVE THE LEGAL DRINKING AGE AT 21 - or we are ALL gonna have a real mess on our hands not to mention so many needless lives being taken away due to drinking and driving!
On the comment of letting your kids drink at home under a leagal age to keep them off the streets is crazy, people old or young are never in their right mind when they drink, and of course you can not hardly convince a younger person they will ever die anyway, I haved tried letting my son who is 21 by the way sit in our home where I am completly against anyway and by the time hes ready he will find a way to jump into his car and go. I have five sons and have raised them all the same way, my oldest will park his and walk a mile my second son is a minister and my 21 year old has a mind of his own as well. We can do our best to teach, hold them responsible for their actions and continue to pray, but when you start lettting these kids think they can drink in your home beleive me your inviting trouble, because after their drunk their invinisble! The bottom line is our children will make their own deceisions in the end we hope they use their mind when making them. And I mean a clean and sober mind at that.
For you older adults saying us 18-20 year olds are immature Id just like to say you’re dumb. At age 14 we can decide what parent we want to live with when our parents get divorced, at age 16 we can drive and decide if we want to drop of out school, at age 18 we can buy tobacco, go to war and possibly die or come back with one leg or arm, vote for the upcoming idiots to run our country, but we cant go to a bar with a few buddies kick back and have a few beers. We are so “mature” to do all those things but we arent “mature” enough to drink alcohol. At age 16 when we start driving us teenagers can die from you “mature” adults who had to much to drink one night. To tell you the truth, I think there is no age that defines you as being “mature”. I know plenty of older people that can drink that are very immature. Why is it that those immature adults are allowed to drink but the young adults who are mature cant drink? Whether you lower the age limit or not there are gonna teenagers trying to get fake I.D.s, binge drinking, etc. Thats where you “mature” adults come into play and talk to your kids about drinking. Which alot of you do not do since kids do it all the time, along with having sex and doing drugs. Its a parents job to talk to your teenagers about all that stuff which alot of you do not do. So if your 16-20 year old dies from any of that or gets sick, look in a mirror and ask whos fault it is that made your child do that.
I know this post was posted quite a while ago, but I would like to give my input.
I’m an 18-year old student right now. I don’t have a problem with the drinking age being 21, but for one of my classes, I’ve already had to answer this question.
My personal take is that the legal drinking age shouldn’t necessarily be an age, it should be a time. I believe that once a student graduates from high school, then they should be able to legally drink. Most students are 18 by the time they graduate. If a student doesn’t graduate from high school, then I believe that they should have to wait until they’re 21 years old. This motivates students to go to school and graduate. It also would cause the problem of 18-year old students getting drunk at lunch and going back to school. By graduating from high school, it also shows that you have a sense of maturity and responsibility.
Well, that’s my take on it.
I also don’t think it’s fair that younger people (even if they are 18) think that since they’re a legal adult, it means they’re mature and responsible.
It’s also not fair that older people suddenly assume that all younger people have no sense of responsibility.
I’ve heard from a lot of people that I’m very mature AND responsible for my age. It really bugs me when people stereotype and it goes either way.
People who drink are 13 times as likely to commit suicide. Teenagers have the highest rate of suicides. 18 year olds are still teens. And most 18 year olds are in high school. I know a fourteen year old drug dealer. Trust me, seniors in high school are dumb enough to give beer to younger students. Do the math.
Trust me, people who are 18 are already drinking. It doesnt matter if they do it in the bars or at a kegger. They are already doing it just as easy. When I was 18 I drank everytime I wanted to, and nothing stopped me.
these day younge aldults are very inrespnsible! i say no to lowering the drinking age! the age should be higher than 21!!
[...] summer I blogged about how the presidents of more than 100 colleges and universities asked lawmakers to consider lowering the l…. Then this month, comedian Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s satirical news show, Colbert [...]
as a teen I say we should lower it to 18, the main reasons teens drink is A. people r tellin them they can’t B. some parents are so bad, they drive their kids to drinking, so is it really the kids an beer at fault here? I don’t think so.