Group of College Presidents Wants to Lower Drinking Age to 18
College presidents from some well-known U.S. universities are lobbying lawmakers to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. The current restriction, they say, encourages binge-drinking, which has become a problem as of late in college towns. The thinking is that exposing students to alcohol consumption at a younger age will allow them to acclimate to drinking before they get to campus and "freak out," as one student quoted in the article put it. MADD, unsurprisingly, opposes the whole idea, citing studies that show that raising the age from 18 to 21 actually saved lives, albeit from drunk-driving accidents rather than the alcohol-poisoning deaths administrators are trying to curtail.
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14 Comments:
A suggestion has been made to let 18-21 year olds have a drinking license or a driver's license, but not both. I think it's worth some consideration.
http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_08_17_archive.html#5062282462074619740
unarata at 11:04PM on 08/20/08
Chart of legal drinking ages around the world
Good thing I spotted that missing R in the word "drinking" just now ...
It's a simple fact: The U.S. is one of few countries around the world with a drinking age of 21. College-age kids over 19 across the north can cross the border into Canada and not worry about it. Yes, I'm a Christian, but not being able to buy alcohol on Sunday mornings because of Puritan laws is also complete nonsense. If I want wine for Sunday dinner, I have to wait because of church? Fine, I'll just go back to communion and get seconds!
Bottom line: Food laws in this country are trashed. This is just another one.
LunaPierCook at 7:39AM on 08/21/08
MADD wont be happy until Prohibition is on the books again. It's the case of a few loud voices being heard while the majority has to live with their wants.
PeteRepeat42 at 9:24AM on 08/21/08
Let your kids have an occasional sip of warm Budweiser when they're young, and the allure of booze will be dashed before they even reach high school.
Thomasj at 9:47AM on 08/21/08
I definitely think the drinking age should be lowered to 18. An American 18-yr-old can go off to war, vote, get married, even sign their own lease for an apartment! And buy a gun! Why can't they buy a bottle of champagne or a six pack to mark these occasions?
Furthermore, lowering the age would get kids more comfortable with alcohol and be less driven to party and get wasted. Young people in other countries are a lot more civilized with regard to alcohol than young Americans. I've traveled abroad and felt really embarassed about my fellow Americans partying all over Europe.
LiveToEat at 10:17AM on 08/21/08
There's nothing like the sight of a 10 year old kid at a market in France, sent out by their parents to buy a baguette, a couple tomatoes and a jug of wine, with enough change left over for a Carambar.
We all want what we can't have. As long as Americans behave like chastising moralistic puritans, kids will see through the hypocrisy and act out irresponsibly and dangerously. Teach them from the start how to enjoy alcohol and they will use it in an appropriate manner.
simon at 10:43AM on 08/21/08
After being in Europe and living there for 10years it's amazing how clueless the American Public is....I was with a group of young G.I.s when we landed in Germany and lit up a cig. in the airport one of the young guys reminded me I couldn't smoke in the airport...I reminded him we wasn't in America anymore either...after that they were like kids in a candy store drinking beer until our next flight out to Saudi....I believe if a Man or Woman can fight and die for this country at 18 they should be allowed to drink!! and whoever said 21 was a responsable age to drink anyway...
Markbb at 11:12AM on 08/21/08
I agree that the arbitrary legal drinking age of 21 is completely random. Looking at the logic, I have to believe the college presidents are over-simplifying the issue of binge drinking. When I found out kids in my HS had parties that involved beer? I was outraged! Down right incensed! Why didn't the cool kids invite the loser (me)!?! The injustice! I want natty light too!
Is binge drinking really about defying the law? Or is it just kids who want to have fun but have no idea about the effects of alcohol because our culture shuns underage drinking? What do the college presidents expect? "Oh hey, I am 18. I can drink legally! Therefore I do not need to drink it all in my one opportunity to have beer!"
I feel like opportunity and scarcity have more to do with binge drinking than anything else. All of a sudden your parents are gone. And at a big party, maybe the beer is plentiful and cheap (or free), so we drink all we can!!!!
Seriously, how many of us toasted to breaking the law of legal drinking age when we had a pint as a freshman in college?
foodinmouth at 1:58PM on 08/21/08
I'm from a country where the drinking age is 18, but came to the US for college. We definitely have a more relaxed attitude towards alcohol at home, and I consumed much less, and knew how to drink responsibly (not too many drinks, water between drinks etc.). My American friends learnt to drink sneaking around with friends, not sitting at home sipping wine or beer at family functions (like I did), so their idea always seems to be to get as much alcohol into the body as possible. Maybe in their minds, mom, dad or the police are still waiting to catch them, so they'd better drink it quick.
In my mid-twenties, now in grad school and back in the States, it's so weird to me that in my current group of friends, one beer or glass of wine at lunch is completely odd, but stumbling home blind drunk at three in the morning to puke almost every weekend is routine.
As foodinmouth mentioned, it may be over-simplfying to simply lower the drinking age, but it would be nice to see a change in the drinking culture start somewhere.
islandchild at 4:24PM on 08/21/08
I think if one is old enough to go to war and die for one's country, one should be able to drink as well. Perhaps we should just raise the age limit of military service to 21...
swaaaan at 5:41PM on 08/21/08
Lower the drinking age to 18, keep the driver's blood alcohol limit at zero until 21. It works in other countries. America needs to drop the puritanical nonsense or stop bragging about how "free" it is here.
tech9803 at 5:49PM on 08/21/08
I think they should lower the drinking age to 18 as well. Better yet, do away with it altogether. Binge drinking is not confined to college campuses. It is a sad fact that the number of high school, and even middle school, aged children who binge drink is rising. Kids want what they can't have. A parent in the community in which I teach was recently busted for hosting a keg party full of underage kids. She thought it was better because "they were going to do it anyway" and at least they'd be doing it in a "safe" environment. But it would ultimately be better if parents were able to simply educate kids and legally, if they so chose, introduce their children to responsible drinking habits early. Binge drinking only stops as learned behavior through early education and guidance.
Amandarama at 11:26AM on 08/22/08
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harry2008 at 12:05AM on 09/10/08
Group of College Presidents wants to lower the age of drinking to 18. It is better to lower the age for driving license but not for drinking. It is a worst thinking by the college presidents in my point of view. This site provides the valuable information about the nice diet.
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johndavid_9696 at 10:03PM on 09/16/08