"College chiefs urge new debate on drinking age"

[1FoolishMortal]

Full article available here, courtesy of CNN.


Personally, being an underage college student myself (and a non-drinking one, believe it or not), I'd actually have to agree with the Amethyst Initiative's cause.

Firstly, a little about me....I don't drink because I'm afraid of the consequences; I don't drink because I don't care for it. I don't see the draw towards it, and a "fun" night out for me does not consist of drinking until you pass out so you wake up the next morning with no recollection of the previous night. I prefer remembering what I did the night before, and there are plenty of other things that I enjoy that don't involve drinking.

Now, despite all this, I still feel that the current drinking age of 21 isn't doing much good. By putting it at 21, the government has inadvertently created a taboo that encourages drinking amongst underage individuals. Even though I don't drink, I still know a LOT of people that do, and many of them aren't 21 yet. The appeal to drink isn't necessarily just to drink, it's partly for the thrill of cheating the law, and many of my underage friends who are avid drinkers feel they're doing just that. Moving it back to 18 would remove the taboo from it and remove that extra thrill that comes with "cheating the law." I will agree that initially there would be a big increase in drinking amongst 18-20 year-olds, but over time I feel that trend would eventually fade.

Still, there are those who claim out the wazoo that lowering the drinking age has saved lives. They claim that deaths have decreased dramatically for the 18-20 age group. While that may be true, what many of those organizations don't tell you is that while the 18-20 group deaths may have decreased, the 21-25 group increased! It hasn't stopped deaths, it's just reorganized when they occur.

Then there's the whole ethical question of becoming a legal adult. Why, when you turn 18, does the government feel you're responsible enough to watch porn, gamble, vote, and be sent off to kill people in a foreign country? Why do they feel we're mature enough for these things, but not mature enough to drink? It doesn't make sense. Either you're a legal adult and you get all of your rights, or you're not. Turning 18 is more like becoming "adult-lite" more than it is an actual adult. Either they move the legal drinking age to 18, or they move everything else to 21. At this point, I'd rather pick up a beer before I pick up a gun, and yet I can only do the latter. Talk about hypocritical.


Finally, I'm really conflicted in how I feel about these other organizations speaking out against the Amethyst Initiative's cause. While I really do respect MADD and their efforts, I can't help but feel a lot of what they do stems from an emotional gut reaction to the situation. I know the horrors a drunk driving accident can cause (trust me, I've seen the effects), but I can't help but feeling MADD doesn't realize that by keeping the drinking age at 21, they may be doing more harm than good.

Ultimately, for me this isn't a matter of completely solving the situation; it's a matter of choosing the best possible course of action with the least amount of consequences, and right now I feel keeping the drinking age at 21 is yielding far worse consequences than moving it to 18.

[Instidude]

I would have never made it through collge if the drinking age wasn't 18 when I was there (trying to make it through sober would have been nearly impossible!).

But that's just me.

[Sir_Cliff]

The legal age in Australia is 18, but the impression I get from the Americans I've talked to is that most start drinking around the same time as us (16-17). All this seems to mean is that young people have to work harder for longer to find a way around the legislation with relatively few consequences if they get caught so it doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose. But 1Foolishmortal put it perfectly: if the government considers you an adult for all other purposes including voting and being sent off to war at that age, why doesn't it consider you an adult when it comes to alcohol?

As an aside, good luck to you, 1Foolishmoral, with your decision not to drink. I personally find I'm more confident, witty, attractive and popular when I'm drunk so I'll stick with it, but I definitely respect those who choose to abstain.

[PirateGuy 815]

Last year at homecoming, we had a drinking problem. Some Juniors and Seniors (but mostly seniors) brought beer to the dance, and they drank illegally on school grounds, where your are not aloud to make any refrences to beer, let alone drink it. None of those kids were arrested.

The age is obviously not enforced well. I think that the only reason why the drinking age isn't 18 is because the government wants to crack down on drunk driving. But In my opinoin, people who aren't 21 are going to drink no matter what. Just like people buy and sell drugs even though it's illegal. Lower the drinking age, and people may actually drink less because it's legal, and looses that "edge" to do something illegal.

[KNRG]

Not all college students are having keg parties.

I'm in the artsy group - theatre, dance, art - and we have parties. Rarely drunken stupid parties. We do often have nice dinners/dinner parties. It's a little stupid to be figuring out who is under 21 at those events.

Who, in any of those activist groups, is going to say they think an adult having wine with a nice dinner is bad? If they do, most people will think they're just fanatics.

[figment1986]

if they want to lower the age, fine.. but make sure there is no way a high school student can get it.. maybe make it 18 and a college id, or 19.

Myself being 21 i dont drink much, (jaw surgery didnt cause that) and i only drink socially like after a shift at the station with the manager or at the adventures club / comedy warehouse... i may have a drink at epcot but i dont really drink to get drunk esp since you need all the brain cells to get out of college, not to mention only idiots would do that and think its cool.

[Sir_Cliff]

if they want to lower the age, fine.. but make sure there is no way a high school student can get it.. maybe make it 18 and a college id, or 19.

I imagine high school students already can and do.

[1FoolishMortal]

As an aside, good luck to you, 1Foolishmoral, with your decision not to drink.

Thanks. It's been going good so far, and I've already "survived" two years of college.

I personally find I'm more confident, witty, attractive and popular when I'm drunk so I'll stick with it, but I definitely respect those who choose to abstain.

I don't need to get drunk to bring out my good looks.

The age is obviously not enforced well. I think that the only reason why the drinking age isn't 18 is because the government wants to crack down on drunk driving. But In my opinoin, people who aren't 21 are going to drink no matter what. Just like people buy and sell drugs even though it's illegal. Lower the drinking age, and people may actually drink less because it's legal, and looses that "edge" to do something illegal.

I agree completely, especially with your last point. The "edge" to doing something illegal is lost if it isn't illegal anymore.

I imagine high school students already can and do.

Bingo.

[nemofinder22]

I completly agree with everything you said Foolish but mainly this part since Im the same way.

Personally, being an underage college student myself (and a non-drinking one, believe it or not), I'd actually have to agree with the Amethyst Initiative's cause.

Firstly, a little about me....I don't drink because I'm afraid of the consequences; I don't drink because I don't care for it. I don't see the draw towards it, and a "fun" night out for me does not consist of drinking until you pass out so you wake up the next morning with no recollection of the previous night. I prefer remembering what I did the night before, and there are plenty of other things that I enjoy that don't involve drinking.

[Lacrosse Boy]

I think I started drinking around 16-17. And I, for one, do not care for drunken brawl fests, either. My grandparents are from Germany, and it's simply a part of the culture there, and that's how I was raised with a strong German/Scandavian background.

Some of those Spring Break shows unfortunately paint college students in a bad light as far as drinking is concerned. It has been my experience that the vast majority does not drink or party to that extent. A lot of the brawls seemed to occur freshman year. Incidentally, a lot of those kids dropped out.