There is a problem that is plaguing the American public for far too long and must be remedied.....lower the drinking age already! Being the only nation that has the minimum set at 21 years not only puts us as the outcast but also brings with it various problems. First and foremost is the rampant binge drinking scene amongst high school students and those in the early years of college. These teens, more often than not, suddenly have massive amounts of alcohol pushed upon them by their peers and due to a lack of knowledge on the issue and tend to over do it. This generally leads to injuries, driving accidents and being socially promiscuous. One solution to the rampant binge drinking is suggested by Dr. Ruth Engs (Professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington) who states “the drinking age be lowered to about 18 or 19 and permit those of legal age to consume in socially controlled environment such as restaurants”, thus ensuring a gradual and parentally supervised weaning into the realm of drinking. (http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1053520190.html) This process would ensure that they would gain a gradual knowledge about alcohol and their own limits with help from their parents before they are on their own and basically have free reign to do whatever they please. Having the drinking age at such an elder age almost guarantees that the youth will view alcohol as the “forbidden fruit” and as such crave its liquid knowledge all the more, once again ensuring massive amounts of binging.
On a final note, doesn’t it seem a bit odd that one can vote for our president and any other elected leader, serve in the military and perhaps die for our country yet still has to legally wait 3 years before one can even have just one beer whilst enjoying mouth watering Texas smoked barbecue?
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Petro comments that the drinking age in America should be lowered from 21 to 18. I completely agree with this view. Like Petro said, American citizens can vote for the president and serve in the military before they ever can legally drink alcohol. These two points are commonly heard from the side supporting lowering the drinking age in debates over alcohol laws. However, what I think is more important, and something that Petro mentioned, is the fact that people "tend to over do it" on their 21st birthday.
ReplyDeleteBecause turning 21 occurs in the middle of the college experience, many college students have already been exposed to situations involving the consumption of alcohol by the time they turn 21. Not to mention, most kids are exposed to situations involving alcohol since day-one, as parents or relatives drink in front of children. For me, personally, I've seen my parents consume alcohol since before I can remember. It seems to be that those kids who were exposed to alcohol at a younger age are able to control situations involving drinking alcohol better than those who try it for the first time when they turn 21. There is no difference in maturity of the person between 20 years and 364 days old and 21 years old. The person does not become more mature and does not learn how to control their usage of alcohol over night. Its something you learn from experience and over time.
I had the privilege of going to Italy to study abroad last fall. While I was there, I also traveled to Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, and Germany while I was there. What I witnessed was a young population that, while submersed in cultures where alcohol was prominent at every meal, drank casually and very rarely “over did it.” In clubs and bars, the most intoxicated people were the Americans. I believe this is because the drinking age there tends to be around 18. However, even though there is “an age,” it was very common to see kids as young as 12 drinking with their families at lunch and dinner. What I presume, is that because these kids were gradually introduced to alcohol under their parents supervision, they had a lot of time before they left home to understand and experience the effects. Also, they learned the effects before they could drive, which prevents them from trying it for the first time at a party where they have to drive home after (something that happens way too often in America). And, by the time they turned 18, binge drinking wasn’t a way of life. These people were slowly introduced to alcohol and its effects, so that on their 18th birthday they don’t feel the need to test it out and “over do it.”
Alcohol is a substance that can have a wide variety of strong effects on a person. These effects can't be learned in a day or from a single experience. By lowering the drinking age to something like 18, and even loosening the law to where younger kids can drink it if their parents know about it or if its being consumed in certain situations, young Americans will learn to not abuse it as they commonly do with the current drinking age. It won't be what Petro refers to as, "forbidden fruit.” As a 22 year old, I DEFINITELY drink less and binge drink less than I did as a 21 year old. At 21, everyone drinks because, well, FINALLY, you're 21. But after a few months of celebrating, the hype is over. If I had been drinking casually since I was 13 (as they do in Italy), I doubt I would have binge-drank as much as a I did at 21. There shouldn't be this special day where I magically turn into a mature adult (aka the day I turned 21). Maturity is a gradual process. With the drinking age lowered and a looser law on alcohol, young adults will realize this sooner and possibly in a controlled situation under the watch of parents.
The drinking age, as it is now, is a problem, yes, but I don't think you have thought about a substantial solution.
ReplyDeleteI am 17 and yes, there is quite a few high school students that do engage, in what now is a social norm, in underage drinking. When parents go out of town, the temptation to invite your friends to come over and "party it up" and get someones liberal parents or someone's older brother to supply the alcohol is just as feverish as the raging hormones. I've known many that have gotten either an MIC (Minor in Consumption) or DUI, but I don't think that lowering the drinking age to 18 or 19 will resolve these consequences.
There are plenty of adults, who to this day choose to drink and drive or receive tickets for public intoxication. Although they may be 21 or over, there isn't something that "clicks" with the allowance that enables them to be smart about drinking. There are also a lot of teens that choose not to fall into temptation because of the fear of getting caught by their parents, the law, or worse by death of themselves or others. If there is no fear, then I think more teens will choose to drink along with everyone else there age, thus creating a greater range of people that drink in the liquor stores and on the roads.
Also there is the point that a lot of 18, and sometimes 19 year olds are still in high school. And while they would be allowed to drink, their younger counterparts who attend the same school as well as the same extracurricular activities, would be at greater risk of falling into temptation. Although the tempation to "taste the forbidden fruit" will be lost in the 18/19 and older kids, it will have passed to the younger generation.
You can't have the word "flaw" without the word "law". Every law is broken or has been broken before, hence the reason for the law. But I do agree with the point that if you're 18 or older, you should be allowed to drink with the supervision of a parent or guardian, whether it be in the home or at a restaurant. Parents would be able to teach their kids by a hands-on, trial basis, exactly how much alcohol is enough and what it feels like, thus making teens more aware of the substance itself and more aware of the responsibility that comes with drinking as well as the consequences that come from abusing the substance.
Alcohol, Age & America
ReplyDeletePetro, a liberal architecture student at the University of Texas and author of Petro’s Blog on Politickin’, recently wrote an article supporting lowering the drinking age in the United States. Petro centers his argument on the serious problems caused by binge drinking of high school and college students. He asserts that these young people lack knowledge and experience with alcohol and consequently over do it without knowing any better. The result is socially promiscuous behavior, injuries, driving accidents, and death. Petro cites that lowering the drinking age to 18 or 19 years would permit youth to gain a gradual knowledge about their limits and tolerance to alcohol.
I agree with Petro that the drinking age should be lowered, and I think as an added precaution to reduce drunk-driving incidents in teens, the driving age should be raised. Ideally, I think that the drinking age should be lowered to 17 or 18 years and the driving age should be raised to 18 or 19 years. Teens would have the opportunity to slowly be assimilated into alcohol consumption before assuming the responsibility of driving a vehicle. Whereas it is easy to skirt the law and drink before you are of legal age, driving a vehicle without a drivers license is much more difficult to pull off. This would ensure that new teen alcohol consumers would have one year to gain experience and maturity with alcohol before getting behind the wheel.
Important to remember is that drunk driving accidents are going to happen – regardless of drinking age. But by reducing the drinking age and raising the driving age, we can reduce the amount of accidents and keep both teens and American citizens safer on the road.