<p>^I often wonder about this. When I was in school the drinking age in the US was 18 for beer and wine and 21 for liquor. There was still a huge amount of binge drinking going on and kids dying from either DUIs or alcohol related incidents and deaths. I don’t know how I feel about lowering the drinking age but I do think we need iron-clad ‘you go to jail for the rest of your life’ if you choose to get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated and take someone else’s life. There should be ZERO tolerance for this. It’s not fair that because someone (kid or not) choose to act irresponsibility that someone is deprived of their life.</p>
<p>My son is 18. I’ve never seen signs that he has been drinking but I’m not naive enough to think he never has. We have spend a considerable amount of time educating him on what binge drinking is, how to know when you’re drunk, the signs of alcohol poisoning, how to leave a party when it gets out of control, what are the signs that you need to slow down on your drinking, how to know when you have a drinking problem, etc.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is there is a fair amount of evidence that the younger one starts drinking the more likely they will end up with a drinking problem. Also, the brain continues to grow until the early 20’s and there may be some brain damage occurring when drinking at younger ages.</p>
<p>We still have a zero tolerance policy for underage drinking in our house (because it’s against the law and we don’t get to choose which laws we obey and which we want to ignore) but I think educating these kids is also very, very important.</p>
<p>This is a bit off-topic but in Georgia, underage drinking is actually legal in one’s own house with the parents present. I wonder if we’re the only state with that provision? (It does come in handy at the Thanksgiving Dinner table.)</p>
<p>This is such a complicated issue, with no solution. In reading some of the posts, I do have to wonder if some parents aren’t being a bit hypocritical? I don’t see my son’s experience in college as any different than mine or my husband’s. We drank in college, sometimes way too much. I saw lots of kids I knew pass-out, throw-up, etc. Was it a good thing? Of course not. </p>
<p>Flash forward - many of us are now productive, functioning adults and many, many quite successful after attending top schools for graduate, law or medicine (regardless of the “brain damage” caused by all that early drinking).</p>
<p>Yes, sadly some people will develop a drinking problem but I wonder if that person has their first drink at 21, is that some guarantee that problem will never occur? I don’t believe so.</p>
<p>Again, there are no answers. I know my son drinks, and does so responsibly. He is doing very well academically and has no problem staying in to study because drinking isn’t that big of novelty to him. It has never been taboo in our house (I grew up in a more European household where beer and wine were commonplace) so his attitude about it is perhaps a bit different that those kids whose parents were very strict. I do have to say, that my son often says the biggest partiers are the ones with very strict parents who still believe they don’t drink. Kind of ironic.</p>
<p>The best we can do, is teach our kids about responsible drinking. Perhaps, we have just been lucky, but all of my sons friends both in HS and now in college have a very open relationship with their parents about drinking, and treat it as a fun, social outlet but only when they have the time. They sometimes go out Thursdays, but more often Friday and Saturday and Sunday is always a “work day”. I just don’t see that as a big problem.</p>
<p>There are many states with that provision. I think someone may have posted a link on that very subject in the “teaching your kids to drink responsibly” thread. Many states also have a religious ceremony exception.</p>
<p>As TaiTai and others have said the social aspect is missing and vodka is popular because it’s illegal to drink until 21 so it has to be “hidden.” It’s just an example of our government trying something thinking it would be a good idea but in reality it isn’t. We don’t admit to mistakes well in this country so I can’t see it going back to 18 soon…unless of course we get the liquor and beer lobbies on board.</p>