<p>I just wonder how many kids drive home drunk because they don’t want to ask their parents to come get them and how many kids don’t go to the hospital because they don’t want MIP’s. I think that the worst part about the drinking age being 21 is that kids are scared to ask for help when they really need it because they don’t want to get in trouble. </p>
<p>I know of a few times we didn’t bring people to the hospital when they borderline needed to go because we didn’t want MIP’s. They ended up being okay, but if we were of legal age, we would have definitely brought them to the hospital instead of nursing them ourselves. Also, I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve taken keys away from drunk kids who want to drive home. </p>
<p>I like the way my school (University of Alabama) handles people getting back from parties. They have a bus system that efficiently runs to all the major party spot (frat row, sorority row, etc.) and the dorms during late hours of the night so that drunk kids do not have to drive home. They don’t ask any questions at all and have special vans that will come get you from anywhere near campus.</p>
<p>Also, I want to add that 18-21 year old kids will drink whether or not its legal. This will not change unless the entire drinking culture drastically changes which I highly doubt it will. Young adults (myself included) are typically immature and don’t understand when to say enough is enough. I just want help to be available without any consequences if it is needed.</p>
<p>"I just wonder how many kids drive home drunk because they don’t want to ask their parents to come get them and how many kids don’t go to the hospital because they don’t want MIP’s. I think that the worst part about the drinking age being 21 is that kids are scared to ask for help when they really need it because they don’t want to get in trouble.</p>
<p>I know of a few times we didn’t bring people to the hospital when they borderline needed to go because we didn’t want MIP’s. They ended up being okay, but if we were of legal age, we would have definitely brought them to the hospital instead of nursing them ourselves. Also, I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve taken keys away from drunk kids who want to drive home."</p>
<p>I have known several underage folks who have called the police in that situation and not received MIPs-- including the person who was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. Maybe it depends on where you are, but around here the cops aren’t going to ask questions either if someone’s life is on the line. The worst I have ever heard of in that situation was the police supervising all the alcohol being dumped out before heading on their way, and phone calls home to anyone who wasn’t yet 18. But, as I said, that could be specific to the location and the circumstances. In fact, I would expect so.</p>
<p>My sister’s social group all appears to have started drinking between 12 and 14, which doesn’t surprise me as for my age group it was 14-15 for most people. The idea that the drinking age should be lowered because underage people are afraid to ask for help, in order to be valid, would have to be applied to the 12-14 year olds that are drinking, too. I don’t know about you, but the idea of there being no consequences for middle schoolers and young high schoolers drinking does not appeal to me. My younger sister is 16 and still WAY too dumb to handle that kind of responsibility, as she has proven repeatedly the past four years. My parents do the best they can to keep her away from it but if it were legal to sell it to her that would completely undermine their efforts.</p>
<p>Speaking as an adult who could drink legally at 18, I think the drinking age should be lowered. It would be one less headache for college administrators, law enforcement and retail outlets who sell alchoholic beverages. The drinking age of 21 absolutely does not work - my older S is proof of that. All they have to is stand outside a store and convince some old drunk to buy them beer for a share of the 12-pack, or find a parent with an unlocked liquor cabinet. And what about military service? 19-year-olds who saw human beings being blown to bits in Iraq come home and can’t even order a drink in a bar. Back when the drinking age was first lowered, the rationale was “If you’re old enough to get drafted, you’re old enough to go out and get drunk about it.” I think this still holds true today.</p>
<p>I’m a teetotaler and I think that the way America handles alcohol is ridiculous. If they don’t want it on College Campuses then they shouldn’t advertise it on campus.</p>
<p>There shouldn’t be a drinking age, then people wouldn’t make such a big deal out of going to College and getting plastered every weekend.</p>
<p>Since young people are so concerned with popularity and drinking is seen as the popular thing to do in College; it would be better for society as a whole to not create a rule that hardly anyone follows.</p>
<p>My solution would be to just require a high school diploma or reaching the age of 21 before you can drink. In a lot of ways, adulthood is reached when you graduate from high school. You can’t join the military before you graduate from high school, for example. </p>
<p>The process would be simple. The DMV can simply print a high school graduate’s driver horizontally rather than vertically to signify that they are legally able to drink. Therefore, every college student will be able to drink but high school students wouldn’t be legally able to. Problem solved.</p>
<p>TwistedxKiss: I agree with what you are saying, but 12-14 year olds rarely have significant access to alcohol while anyone with a drivers license can drive up to a liquor store and wait for someone to buy it for them.</p>
<p>pramirez, I think it’s pretty naive to think they don’t have their ways, too. Irresponsible older siblings, other students, and definitely older friends. The number one thing that gets kids into trouble around here is younger kids being friends with older kids-- especially once the older kids are old enough to drive. And it’s not as if one necessarily has to even DRIVE to sit outside the liquor store. There are four within walking distance of my house, at least. And all it takes is one parent with an unlocked liquor cabinet for them all to flock. Most kids at my veeeeery large high school who chose to drink in high school started either freshman or sophomore year, 15-16, when I was there a few years ago. Now it appears to be getting even younger. If their “older friends” who are getting the alcohol get younger and younger, I fully believe it would trickle down to the younger groups. I don’t think indefinitely, I doubt you’re going to get 10-11 year olds drinking either way, but I would definitely be concerned about 13-16 year olds. </p>
<p>My friends all drank like fish in high school and I don’t think any of them ever went near a liquor store. One had a cousin that would buy, the other had a parent whose liqour cabinet was always unlocked, another had an older brother that would buy. The only major difference here is the risk of drunk driving.</p>
<p>This thread is a year old. I stick by what I said before. The drinking age should be lowered, but it’s not going to change the attitudes of youths in this country. 18 year olds will still go all out when drinking. It’s the nature of the game in our repressed country. Alcohol is the devil! Don’t let the kiddies near it! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Alcohol damages frontal lobe growth, which is not complete until ages 19-21. Therefore, 21 is a logical drinking age. Mainly because heavy drinking before that will damage the logical center of the brain, stunting its growth.</p>
<p>^Yes, because keeping the drinking age at 21 is preventing those below that from drinking. </p>
<p>The brain is always growing and developing. Nearly every other country in the world has a drinking age below that of 21. IIRC, most of them don’t have terrible problems with their frontal lobes…</p>
Just because people are going to do something anyway does not mean that it should be legal. There’s still underage smoking, should there be no smoking age?</p>
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The main growth of the frontal lobe in a typical human is complete between the ages of 19 and 21.</p>
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Just because other countries have lower drinking ages does not mean that the neurological facts change. Are there any comprehensive studies of frontal lobe growth in countries with lower drinking ages? Also, because of cultural and social differences, behavior could be different from country to country.</p>
<p>Wow, quite the old threat - but a good topic nonetheless…</p>
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<p>No, but the smoking (and drinking) ages should correspond to the age of legal majority, which in the case of the US is 18. We got it right for smoking, but not for alcohol for some reason.</p>
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<p>Can you cite a source that says 21 is when the brain stops developing? Bet you can’t. But this isn’t a medical argument - its a legal one - if you want to bring medicine into it, you had better have a compelling reason.</p>