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How old is old enough?
The front page of The Gazette, CNN and The Atlantic are all running the same story about the Amethyst Initiative. The Amethyst Initiative was started by John McCardell, the former president of Middlebury College, who wanted to call attention to the issue of binge drinking on college campuses. Earlier this week, McCardell and more than 100 college presidents released a petition calling for a reduction in the legal drinking age from 21 to 18.
I completely agree with the initiative. I don’t drink; in fact, I’m the former president of my high school’s anti-substance abuse club. But I do think it’s ridiculous that at age 18 I can go off to war, get married and vote, but I can’t buy beer. I think if I can be expected to choose a leader of the United States, I should be able to drink responsibly.
The college presidents who signed the initiative believe that by lowering the drinking age to 18, students will be less likely to binge drink, the idea being that if alcohol is more readily accessible, students won’t drink themselves to the point of drunkenness when it is available.
I have some anecdotal evidence with this. A few years ago, when German exchange students visited our school, there was a massive party involving alcohol. Not a single student from Germany, where the drinking age is 16, drank to the point of drunkenness. The same cannot be said for the American students.
Dieticians make the same argument. Don’t eliminate all junk food from your diet because if you do, you’ll binge when junk food is available. Don’t put an interdict on drinking because when alcohol is available, kids will binge.
MADD is concerned that a lower drinking age will cause more drunken-driving accidents. I really believe that if we teach kids at a young age to drink responsibly, we’ll actually see a reduction in fatalities.
Let me know what you think.
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9:24 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
When I was your age, I would have agreed with the initiative. (Did I just say, 'when i was your age'? My goodness.) Seriously though, my opinion has changed since I've been out of college and started a real life for myself.
Your friends from Germany are much like my friends from England. While I was living there, I noticed a better approach to the whole drinking age/responsibility situation. I believe children should be introduced to alcohol at a younger age, within the home. In that controlled environment, the risks of excessive drinking are surely reduced. A child can be properly instructed by his/her family as to the risks/rewards of such a potentially dangerous substance.
I believe this practice might completely change our society for the better. It represents a more honest approach to alcohol... giving someone the chance to experience the substance in a controlled, safe environment, rather than shield them from the effects until they reach some arbitrary age.
The problem with this approach is that it assumes every child has a responsible parent willing to guide them. We all know this is not the case.
In the short term, lowering the drinking age might have terrible effects on our society. Until we are willing to change our American disposition, the 'forbidden fruit' attitude will remain, regardless of the drinking age. Only instead of pushing the limits like I did at 19 and 20 yrs, children would be experimenting at 15, 16.
Responsible parenting is the key here. A drinking age of 21 may seem absurd to a properly instructed child who has been taught to drink responsibly. Then again, 21 may be too young for a misguided, uneducated youngster. (Did I just say youngster? Lol.) The crux is, I know I am capable of instructing my children properly. I just don't trust anyone else to do the same.
I was 17 when I went to college. I couldn't drink legally until I was a senior. Did that stop me? No, of course not. But until I reached the legal drinking age, I drank more cautiously, and never put myself in a situation where I would risk getting in trouble with the law. In other words, I wasn't a public nuisance, and certainly never drove drunk. I was just more safe about it.
FYI: I'm 28 now. Not once have I looked back at those days and said, "man, my life would have been a lot better if I could've drank at 18." The fact is, it's just not a big deal. Nothing is as important as it seems at 18. I have to side with the adults on this one.
Cheers,
Dr. Chim Richolds
9:35 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
The drinking age is a health limit not an intellectual or physical cap, thus it makes little sense to compare the draft and voting minimum ages to drinking restrictions.
Other countries can successfully implement lower drinking ages because their young populations grow up in a responsible drinking atmosphere. Also the minimum age to get a license in many countries is 18. Expecting American kids to suddenly stop binge drinking because alcohol is now legal at 18 is absurd.
We don't have a culture to handle lowered drinking ages.