Drinking Age - Increase, decrease, or none at all?

macpatti

That's the way they do it in Europe. It makes much more sense than saying "NO! Absolutely not!" for 20 years then suddenly giving them a green light on their 21st birthday. Can you imagine doing that with anything else? "No dating, no kissing, no boy/girlfriend until you are 18." Then suddenly you are allowed to be sexually active. "No driving, no sitting in the driver's seat, no backing out of the garage." then on their 16th birthday they are given the keys and set loose. Sounds ridiculous right? But that's what many Americans do with alcohol. At 18 most kids are still living at home. At 21 most aren't. If the drinking age is 18 it gives the parents the opportunity to further supervise their kids' alcohol consumption in a safe environment.

Hopefully by age 21, parents have taught their children the responsible use of freedom. By no means do I believe that just because the legal drinking age is 21 that those younger do not drink. In fact, my 19 year old is "21 in the state of Georgia" (I found his fake ID). I hope that because it's illegal, it's a deterent at least.

Bahet

Hopefully parents have spent every year of a child's life teaching them to be responsible. What you teach them about responsibility betwee ages 18-21 isn't going to make a bit of difference if you haven't already taught them prior to age 18.

The fact that alcohol alters one's state of mind is all the more reason to lower the age to one when the child is more likely to still be living at home under parental supervision than out on their own with no supervision.

poisongirl6485

I do not think 18 year olds are mature enough to be handed a firearm and told to kill people to defend their country, either.

"Whose parents never slipped them at least a sip"? Mine. And I've never slipped mine a sip, either.

That's fair. If you raise the military age to 21 there's no more hypocrisy in the law. But I'm willing to bet a whole lot of generals would fight that one! 18 year olds are at their physical prime, that's who the hawks like to send into battle.

And like I said, it isn't everyone. Some people go their whole lives without a drink. That's cool. Whatever choice you want to make with your life provided it doesn't affect mine. That's generally my personal yardstick and how I think a country as diverse as ours can keep on the path of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Live your life as you see fit and allow others the same courtesy.

And the other issue with raising the age to enroll in the military is that many if not most 18 year olds use it instead of doing the whole college thing. They're relying on the military for their schooling and pushing the age back to 21 would create a whole lot of issues.

I just think that my thing is that if an 18 year old is able to legally buy a house or buy a car etc, they should legally be allowed to have a beer. And honestly, someone is an irresponsible brat at 18, they're not going to change that much between then and age 21.

macpatti

Hopefully parents have spent every year of a child's life teaching them to be responsible. What you teach them about responsibility betwee ages 18-21 isn't going to make a bit of difference if you haven't already taught them prior to age 18.

The fact that alcohol alters one's state of mind is all the more reason to lower the age to one when the child is more likely to still be living at home under parental supervision than out on their own with no supervision.

There is a great difference in maturity from the ages of 18 to 21. I totally agree with you that teaching children the responsible use of freedom should begin at a very early age, and the freedom given should always be age appropriate.

I find no compelling argument that would lead me to believe supervising my under age children to drink is to their benefit.

macpatti

and honestly, someone is an irresponsible brat at 18, they're not going to change that much between then and age 21.

I've seen many teenagers go from being irresponsible, immature high school students, to mature responsible college students.

sarah_ep

and honestly, someone is an irresponsible brat at 18, they're not going to change that much between then and age 21.

I've seen many teenagers go from being irresponsible, immature high school students, to mature responsible college students.

It is really case by case. Some will never mature. I was mature at a young age, working full time while carrying a full load at high school. I believe that in a lot of cases young adults mature more rapidly when giving the responsibility and chance to prove themselves.

There are some really good points in this thread. In general, I think it should be 18 across the board. The reason I do not believe in raising the age of joining the military to 21 is because many young adults go into the military for financial and education reasons. The military takes care of you, and if you do not have parents who will support you after 18 this can be a very viable and saving grace option.

Bahet

There's a great deal of maturity difference between 21 and 25 too. There's a great deal of maturity difference between 25 and 30 too. Perhaps the drinking age should be raised to 30.

macpatti

There's a great deal of maturity difference between 21 and 25 too. There's a great deal of maturity difference between 25 and 30 too. Perhaps the drinking age should be raised to 30.

I'm sure you would grant that there is a huge difference between 18 and 30.

TheRoadDog

I think 18 should be the legal age. If you're old enough to serve in the military you're old enough to drink

I agree with this, but... age has nothing to do with having the maturity to drink responsibly. Seen 18 yr olds in the service be responsible. Seen 50 yr olds sloppy drunk....behind the wheel.

Bahet

There's a great deal of maturity difference between 21 and 25 too. There's a great deal of maturity difference between 25 and 30 too. Perhaps the drinking age should be raised to 30.

I'm sure you would grant that there is a huge difference between 18 and 30.

All the more reason to raise it to 30. Heck, since some can never really handle it, just do Prohibition all over again.

macpatti

Even if parents allow their 18-20 year olds to drink in a safe environment in their own home (I'm assuming you mean one or two drinks at the most), this is not how they'll typically drink with their buddies. Most of the time they drink to acquire the altered state of mind, and don't just hang out at a restaurant enjoying a glass of wine. They're drinking for the effects of it. Their desire to do that won't change whether or not their parents allow them to have a sip at home or drink at home. My guess is they'll still go out and drink like their friends do. Making it illegal will at least deter some.

poisongirl6485

There's a great deal of maturity difference between 21 and 25 too. There's a great deal of maturity difference between 25 and 30 too. Perhaps the drinking age should be raised to 30.

I'm sure you would grant that there is a huge difference between 18 and 30.

All the more reason to raise it to 30. Heck, since some can never really handle it, just do Prohibition all over again.

Bahet

Even if parents allow their 18-20 year olds to drink in a safe environment in their own home (I'm assuming you mean one or two drinks at the most), this is not how they'll typically drink with their buddies. Most of the time they drink to acquire the altered state of mind, and don't just hang out at a restaurant enjoying a glass of wine. They're drinking for the effects of it. Their desire to do that won't change whether or not their parents allow them to have a sip at home or drink at home. My guess is they'll still go out and drink like their friends do. Making it illegal will at least deter some.

And how does that differ from what a 21yo will do?

KayteeBear

Where I am the drinking age is 19 but I don't understand why it can't be 18? If we can join the army, buy lottery tickets, porn, or cigarettes why can't we buy booze?

I've been drinking since I was 12 (at that age it was .5% wine coolers or a sip of my parents beer) and it was at my grandparents. My grandparents owned a few bars in their life time so our family has always been very loose with drinking. My parents never minded any of us drinking (me and my two brothers) and we've grown up very responsible...you'll never catch any of drinking and driving. You'll never see me drunk...I prefer just to drink, not get drunk. Go to family gatherings...you'll see lots of booze BUT you'll never see any of us drunk. We all grew up around it so we never rebelled and went partying and getting drunk all the time.

A girl in my class wasn't allowed to drink...ever...you know what happened? She started sneaking out every night and going to parties and drinking and getting drunk all the time.

I just don't understand why it can't be 18 if you can do so much else at 18.

ETA: In response to somebody above saying about drinking for the effects...not true for everyone. I honestly don't want to get drunk. I would much prefer drinking just a bit. Not every teen or young adult is out there to get wasted...granted most of them are..but not all of them.

Yakisoba

I think 18 should be the legal age. If you're old enough to serve in the military you're old enough to drink

This wins the debate.

macpatti

I think 18 should be the legal age. If you're old enough to serve in the military you're old enough to drink

This wins the debate.

I didn't realize you were the judge in this debate.

macpatti

Even if parents allow their 18-20 year olds to drink in a safe environment in their own home (I'm assuming you mean one or two drinks at the most), this is not how they'll typically drink with their buddies. Most of the time they drink to acquire the altered state of mind, and don't just hang out at a restaurant enjoying a glass of wine. They're drinking for the effects of it. Their desire to do that won't change whether or not their parents allow them to have a sip at home or drink at home. My guess is they'll still go out and drink like their friends do. Making it illegal will at least deter some.

And how does that differ from what a 21yo will do?

As I've stated before, in my experience, 21 year olds are more mature than 18 year olds.

macpatti

A girl in my class wasn't allowed to drink...ever...you know what happened? She started sneaking out every night and going to parties and drinking and getting drunk all the time

This happens to people who are allowed to drink with their parents, too.

ETA: In response to somebody above saying about drinking for the effects...not true for everyone. I honestly don't want to get drunk. I would much prefer drinking just a bit. Not every teen or young adult is out there to get wasted...granted most of them are..but not all of them.

I didn't say "everyone". I realize there are some people who never enjoy the effects of alcohol.

Yakisoba

I didn't realize you were the judge in this debate.

macpatti

I didn't realize you were the judge in this debate.

One way to not appear to be a great debater is to resort to name calling. Can we get past that and just stick to our arguments on the topic?

Yakisoba

I made a little comment on how I felt about this thread and you pulled a snarky remark. So, yeah.

Are you trying to be a great debater? Good job. You're no fun.

Bahet

Even if parents allow their 18-20 year olds to drink in a safe environment in their own home (I'm assuming you mean one or two drinks at the most), this is not how they'll typically drink with their buddies. Most of the time they drink to acquire the altered state of mind, and don't just hang out at a restaurant enjoying a glass of wine. They're drinking for the effects of it. Their desire to do that won't change whether or not their parents allow them to have a sip at home or drink at home. My guess is they'll still go out and drink like their friends do. Making it illegal will at least deter some.

And how does that differ from what a 21yo will do?

As I've stated before, in my experience, 21 year olds are more mature than 18 year olds.

And as I've stated before, 25 yos are more mature than 21yos and 30yos are more mature than 25yos. If it's all about maturity then you should be in favor of raising the age to 30.