What do you think about the drinking age?

Question

in Connecticut i was watching the news and people where complaining that the college students are drinking too much and not focusing on their studies and they want to lower the drinking age to 18 ! seriously!

but my opinion is that it makes no sense and it will not help at all and kids wont even make it to collage if they do that if any thing they should raise the drinking age

Answer 1

the government should have a unilateral standing for what they consider a legal adult is.  If you can be drafted, vote and any other "adult-level" functions... you should qualify for it all, including drinking.

kids that party underage will still get alcohol.  if the drinking limit is 18, they might act more responsible.  I know when i grew up in ND, we would all drive up to canada and drink for birthdays.  Wouldn't it be safer and even help our economy with taxes and such if we kept that in the country?

The legal drinking age is actually decided by the states, and they can set it to 18, but if they do, the federal government will take away 10% of their highway funds... that doesn't sound too fair, the federal government shouldn't punish the states, and allow them to set the limit

Answer 2

If 18 year olds can vote and fight and die for our country they ought to be allowed to drink.  

Answer 3

I agree with most everyone else... If you are a legal Adult at 18 you should be able to do anything any other adult can do... BUT Its not up to our schools or government to make sure that our kids drink responsible... Its our job as parents to teach them whats right, wrong, acceptable, unacceptable etc... kids are going to drink at all ages whether its legal or not, making it ok at 18 isn't going to increase use buy that much, its already pretty dang easy for a minor to get booze.

My mother made sure I knew from very early on that IF i was out drinking as a minor or an adult I could always call her if I had trouble or needed a ride, she also taught me to believe that I could drink in a social setting with out getting wasted and still have a good time. As well as how easy it is to become addicted to alcohol and made sure that I knew drinking wasn't the same thing as a hobby... it was a recreational on occasion type thing not every night drinking a bottle of jack and getting sloshed.

Answer 4

I think that controversy over lowering the drinking is well founded.  If people can vote and die for our country, they should be allowed to drink.  On the other hand, most 18 year olds don't have the common sense of someone in their late 20's or 30's.  When I turned 18, the drinking age was still 18 and then went up shortly after I turned 18.  By chance and the grandfather law, I was not affected by the change.  If someone wants to drink, it does not matter what age they are, they are going to do it.  I think the legal drinking was raised to prevent a lot of teenage drunk driving.  In the 80's, their was a very large percentage of drunk driving and accidental deaths due to drunk driving.

Answer 5

The real problem is that no forces exist to teach kids how to drink responsibly.  So many things like D.A.R.E. focus on absolute prevention, teaching that alcohol is a dangerous drug and will kill you the first time you try it, instead of saying, "Hey, here's how to drink responsibly in a social setting."  So the first time kids do try alcohol, whether it's legally or not, they **** it up.  Even if you succeeded in keeping kids under 21 from drinking, all you'd end up with is kids causing car accidents and getting alcohol poisoning at 21 and 22 instead 17, 18, 19.

Look at it this way: when a kid turns 16, we don't hand him or her a driver's license and say, "Here kid, go nuts."  We require that they demonstrate knowledge of the rules of the road and practice under direct parental supervision before becoming full-fledged drivers.

Now, if we don't expect young people to be able to operate a fairly simple machine like a car responsibly without a period of parental oversight, how do we expect them to handle something as complex as the human body, affected by alcohol no less, without it?

I think the law should be, kids can drink 14-15 in company of a parent or guardian, 16-17 with a 21+ adult present, and 18+ by themselves.  That way, they can learn from their parents and other responsible adults before being expected to take care of themselves.

Answer 6

you'll see an increase in drinking at first, but after awhile, people will get used to just having alcohol available to them so they won't go and binge everytime they can.

Most of the world has a much more relaxed drinking age than we do, but you don't really see too many problems with they're country.

Answer 7

I agree with everyone on here you are considered an adult you can do all these things but there are 15 yr olds that are getting alcohol no matter what age if they really feel they want it they will get it whether its stealing it or what ever else it is a matter of kids drinking and driving but they do that now maybe if kids can buy it at the age of 18 it may decrease the amount of drinking later on getting their party days out of the way.

Answer 8

if you can vote and die for your country you should be allowed to drink period.

Answer 9

I think the kids who want to drink are going to drink no matter what. Alcohol is ridiculously available. I remember knowing how to get alcohol at 13, and that is not an uncommon scenario these days.

I don't think it is fair that at 18 a person can buy a car, a house, are eligible to get a real job that pays good money, can go to war, can die for their country, but they can't buy a beer to relax with when they get home from a long days work, or they can't buy their coworker a drink at the local bar, nor can they get their comrad in war a shot when they get home from being gone over a year and a half and are happy just to be alive.