Question about being an Adult at 18 and not allowed to drink? isn't that discrimination?

Question

Age discrimination, should we raise the age of being a legal adult to 21 and also raise it for Military service you have to be 21 to sign up

Answer 1

I'll drink to that!

Answer 2

I believe so. If 18 year olds can legally be sent into war zones and vote then it seems absurd for them to not be able to drink. Since I believe drinking at 18 is not really advisable then I think raising the legal adult age to 21 would be right.

Answer 3

I personally believe that if you can die for your country, which I've done, you should be allowed to vote. Since in all reality you are told you are fighting and dying for freedom, then you should have all the rights as the people you are dying for in your country. In studies it is proven that training people is better achieved at an early age. That's why we are at 18, but think of it this way. Since we as americans want to make everyone on this planet an american we probably would love to start earlier. Don't be surprised if oneday it's actually lowered to 16. Here's another way to look at it.  The same people that think at 18 you shouldn't vote, drink or have anything to say about issues, because you aren't mature enough, are the same people that think you should die quietly and nothing to say about it.

Answer 4

you will figure out when you get older that the military and drinking have nothing to do with one another. take it from me drinking is no great life. it is really sad and can destroy your life. thats why they call it panther p**s.

Answer 5

I totally agree, but unfortunately the people that make up the rules are old f@rts.  Getting young people to vote is not easy either.

Answer 6

Not at all especially when it is coming from your parents. they care about your health so they try to protect from things that they think it's bad. from the part of people who forbids you from drinking it's because they too wants to lead you the better way  but they're not really concern about what you want to do, they will advice you once maybe twice but they don't care really about your health. so it's up to you if you are 18 or more to see what's good for you. you are old enough to know what is best for you because one day you will be adult and you will be a parent too then it would be your turn to tell your children what is good or bad, so while you're still young avoid making mistakes that you will regret in the future

Answer 7

Age discrimination is allowed for a lot of things, because everyone gets discriminated for an equal amount of time and there are genuine differences between people of different ages.

I agree though, the liquor age here is too high.

Answer 8

its the law, you will out grow the problem

besides, I  never saw an 18 year old that couldn't buy booze one way or another

Answer 9

Of course it's discrimination--but all laws discriminate in some way (e.g., between those who drive faster than the speed limit and those who don't).  An 18-year-old is an "adult" for some purposes, but not others.  There's nothing unconstitutional about states making such distinctions and setting different age limits for different activities.  There are many laws that require adults to reach a certain age to receive a benefit or privilege--e.g., to claim Social Security benefits.

Answer 10

Where does the argument stop? If you lower it to 18, then 16 year olds will be yelling and screaming, "If I'm old enough to drive, then I should be old enough to drink". Then the 12 year olds start, "If I'm old enough to become pregnant/father a child, I should be old enough to drink". And then what? A 2 year saying, "If I'm old enough to walk, I should be old enough to drink".

Answer 11

I respectfully disagree. The only 'right' denied at 18 is the purchase of alcohol. You can marry, buy property, vote, get a credit card, or join the military well before 21. At 18, most people are responsible enough to handle those things.

Why full adult rights so much later? Because the responsibility part of alcohol consumption is hugely lacking at 18 and not all that prominent three years later. You attend any event where alcohol is served, there will be young people hugely drunk making asses of themselves and spoiling it for others, whether it's a baseball game or a wedding. This behavior tapers off radically around age 25, as people learn to drink socially, joining the adults in a pleasant buzz and a loosening of inhibitions rather than obnoxious party animal behavior.

Answer 12

It's not about age discrimination... Military service is a very different ball of wax then drinking.. I'll give you my viewpoint on the whole thing.. If you go to Europe there aren't a bunch of highschool kids binge drinking at huge parties and getting totally wasted.. Why? well it's because drinking over there is not a forbidden fruit.. in a lot of places the drinking age is 16 or when you can see over the counter of the bar so it's a very common act kind of like eating lunch.. people do not make a big deal out of drinking over there as they do here. I think if you changed the drinking age from 21 to even 16, binge drinking would become less of a problem and so would all the partying non-sense. If somethings illegal people will find a way of getting it no matter the cost.. just look at prohibition and all the damage it did having alcohol illegal.

Answer 13

I agree it doesn't make sense.  However since drinking is set at 21 why not make smoking the same age as well.

Answer 14

To what end? Is there an advantage to making a few million people wait 3 years to acquire basic rights?  

Answer 15

Discrimination, in the legal sense, is aimed at a protected class of people (e.g., african americans, women, homosexuals) and although there is such a thing as age discrimination, the protected class of people to which this concept applies is to those above a certain age.  I'm not 100% sure of the exact age but it certainly does not apply to someone who is 18.

Drinking is not a right, it is a privilege.  The converse can be said about driving.  16 year olds are not adults, yet we afford them the privilege of driving (albeit a large percentage of people think that 16 is too young).  Drinking is a privilege afforded to a group of people and the qualification of that privilege is attaining a certain age - just like driving.  It's that simple.

Answer 16

During your brief attendance in a formal educational setting, did anyone ever talk about prohibition? Aside from that it's up to individual states to set laws involving alcohol and who it is sold to.

As to military service, that's voluntary. You don't want to sign up, don't.