<p>I’ll admit to not modeling perfect, ethical behavior for my kids. I’ve gotten speeding tickets. Also, I believe on one occasion I bought a child’s ski lift ticket for my small 13 year old who was no longer 12… It’s a jungle out there…</p>
<p>This discussion is why college presidents are so tired of the 21 drinking age. A few years ago they even tried to start a campaign to get it lowered back down to 18 but it didn’t really get anywhere. </p>
<p>The absurdity of the law is immense - it’s the old concept of old enough to vote, serve in the military (kids in the military don’t drink until they’re 21, I don’t think so), get married, have kids, etc. but not old enough to drink? We have a huge party (about 400 people) every year in the summer but we are very careful about underage drinking, we have to be, but in a more family situation our college kids drink.</p>
<p>I personally think drinking in college is an excellent training ground, I know it was for me. You learn how much you can handle in a relatively safe environment with people you know and where most often there is no need to drive after drinking. If kids truly didn’t drink in college then once they get into the business world they have no idea how much they can handle and that creates all sorts of dangerous situations.</p>
<p>Dumb, dumb, dumb law.</p>
<p>Knowing now that this is all this semester, I’d want to know what has changed. Was he not drinking last year? Maybe he was but not as much? Is it just the change in living situation? Truthfully, three times this semester seems like a lot to me. Drinking three times a semester isn’t that big a deal, but if he’s been cited three times the drinking reached a point where it came to the attention of the authorities.</p>
<p>I’d be tempted to call the college. I know FERPA won’t let them tell you a lot about his particular situation, but I’d just be curious if college policies are changing. Has campus security been told to clamp down on the drinking? I think it’s important info for parents to know, and it’s something I asked about on all college visits.</p>
<p>I am sure kids in his freashman dorm were drinking, but were much more careful based on the increased supervision by an floor RA. I personally think the increase in him and other students getting caught and fined is due to the freedom of living in an apartment with kids who are of drinking age. He turns 21 next April, all roomates are already 21. Please note I am not condoning underage drinking, but if he is going to drink underage away at college than he has to do it responsibly and not get fined or caught be security. Oh I hated to say that !!!</p>
<p>I’m with you. I’m personally not opposed to drinking 18 and up, but you can’t be stupid about it. And that’s why I wonder what’s going on that they draw so much attention to themselves.</p>
<p>I think it’s hard to get 18-20 year olds to accept the idea that they’re “underage” for a beer (or whatever), but they’re old enough for the military, get married, have sex, certainly to have babies, and make all sorts of life choices. If they’re not mature enough to drink, why are they mature enough for these other things? or vice versa? I think that’s why they often refuse to respect the law.</p>
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When D was 6 I told her to “look 4” so we could be in an early boarding group on Southwest. Now, everytime we fly, both kids get a kick out of reminding me of my brief lapse in integrity. I’m sorry, but I was traveling alone with 2 kids and needed a small break. :o</p>
<p>Good news bad news=kids drinking/smoking less, smoking more pot and using pills. It’s always something.</p>
<p><a href=“Survey Finds More Pot-Smoking, Less Cigarette Use Among Nation's Teens”>Survey Finds More Pot-Smoking, Less Cigarette Use Among Nation's Teens;
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The sign said, “No left tern 7-9 a.m.” No traffic. 7:18 a.m. Errr…</p>
<p>But I would NEVER shoplift anything, even if it cost only a penny.</p>
<p>What’s the ethical difference, and which one is underage (but over 18) drinking like?</p>
<p>Car rental agencies will charge a higher fee to renters under the age of 25. Is this a “dumb, dumb, dumb” rule, or one based on experience?</p>
<p>^If the only reason for the age 21 law is driving risk, then why cite an 18-20 yr old drinking a beer who has no access to a car? In this case (like many), we are talking about a college student drinking in the dorms or on campus where he lives. If he doesn’t own or have access to a car, doesn’t have car keys on him, and his consumption is below the legal driving limit, what is the point?</p>
<p>The overall point about underage drinking is that “**rain researchers are finding that alcohol has a particularly toxic effect on the brain cells of adolescents. That’s because their brain cells are still growing, says Susan Tapert, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.”</p>
<p>[With</a> Drinking, Parent Rules Do Affect Teens’ Choices : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127222042]With”>With Drinking, Parent Rules Do Affect Teens' Choices : NPR)</p>
<p>The point I was trying to make in my last post is that if car rental agencies, who only care about the bottom line, find it particularly risky to rent cars to those under 25, what does that say about that cohort’s ability to make sound decisions regarding ingestion of any toxic and addictive drug?</p>
<p>Sure, just lock them up until 25. Not capable of good decisions. Maybe making BAD decisions is part of growing up. Most of us made it through and were better for it.</p>
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<p>Like how consuming sugar has a particularly toxic effect on diabetics, and consuming wheat has a particularly toxic effect on celiac disease sufferers?</p>
<p>If we can put a gun in an 18 year olds hand and have them go to war, if an 18 yearn old sign a contract, if they are responsible as legal adults, then the ate should be 18. Almost all of the parents of current college students probably grew up in the era of the legal drinking age of 18, as did their parents, and somehow we managed to function.</p>
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<p>I disagree. IMHO, college is a bit late to start learning how to drink responsibly and knowing one’s tolerances. Better to start in a controlled manner sometime in the teen years UNDER PARENTAL SUPERVISION so they are in a safe familiar environment and they are prepared when they head off to college/military/employment. </p>
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<p>Not only that, some of those 18-20 year olds in the military are leading other 18-20 year olds as NCOs or sometimes even commissioned officers…sometimes in actual combat. Met a few of the young NCOs after they finished a tour in Iraq and became university students within the last few years. </p>
<p>IMHO, it is extremely insulting to tell soldiers and some of their unit leaders that they are responsible to defend our nation, responsible for the lives of the soldiers they command/millions/billions of dollars worth of military weapons/equipment, and yet…are so untrustworthy that they cannot be trusted to drink responsibly.</p>
<p>The sheer logical inconsistency is quite mind boggling here…</p>
<p>[Can</a> Parents Prevent Heavy Episodic Drinking by Allowing Teens to Drink at Home?](<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2942998/]Can”>Can Parents Prevent Heavy Episodic Drinking by Allowing Teens to Drink at Home? - PMC)</p>
<p>^^^Nice article posted by Mini - a scientific study (as well as common sense), with which I totally agree. </p>
<p>Negates the argument made by Cobrat #76 that encourages supervised underage drinking with parents.</p>
<p>The funny thing is that we should NOT trust them to drink responsibly because they DON’T!!
It is so circular.</p>
<p>Yes, we do allow young people to do things that are life threatening, like drive, fight wars.</p>
<p>The analogy to going off to fight a war is sadly accurate in that both alcohol and fighting in battles are dangerous to one’s health, yet, while pacifists and libertarians see war as unnecessary or evil, war does seem a lot less “optional” and a lot more “purposeful” than liquor consumption does!
Driving is a similarly weak analogy to alcohol consumption, IMO.
How ESSENTIAL is alcohol?
If it is essential, we should not just assume that kids learn how to drink; instead, we should have them take lessons, do training, and get licensed to drink. Maybe the license is issued only after they actually experience intoxication a certain number of times, drink a variety of liquors in a variety of situations, and after they demonstrate the ability to refuse to drive after feeling a little woozy… A period of supervised and guided drinking like this could also alert young people as to whether they have the potential to be an alcoholic in order for them to avert this tragedy before it becomes out of control (huge tolerance for liquor, cravings when not drinking, a totally wonderful feeling the first time drunk- these are all signs, and there is also a genetic test that points to a likelihood, I understand…)</p>
<p>Anyway, I am not a total supporter of free market drinking, sorry! My family has been wracked by alcoholism and motor accidents, so I cannot just leave it to the wolves, so to speak.</p>
<p>Pfm - if you have any knowledge of child development and how people learn, it is easy to understand that kids learn by modeling. Don’t drink in front of or with your kids. You can also verbally teach them not to drink, or that they carry a harmful gene. </p>
<p>It is very simple, and it doesn’t need to be complicated with comparisons to war and driving, or even by studies to support what educated people who aren’t addicts already know.</p>