You “can” have children at age fourteen or so. Don’t think we should let them drink, either.
Limiting consumption to beef would reduce the danger of alcohol poisoning but not other drunken stupidity.
I understand the argument about if someone can enlist in the military, then he is she should be able to drink. However, the counter argument is that alcohol isn’t a factor in the vast majority of disciplinary cases from sexual assault, to DUIs (obvious), to fights. When someone is disciplined for underage drinking, it’s not usually because of sneaking a drink in the barracks, it’s because of dumb decisions while drunk.
Yes its usually dumb decisions from being drunk. A drinking age does not stop drinking. However by not making it a taboo kids would learn how to consume alcohol under adult supervison. Now they have virtually no supervision as its illegal. Europe does not have the problems we do concerning young adult drinking and they dont have the 21 year rule. The bottom line is today kids are binge drinking becore going to a party. Drunk on arrival. Hard alcohol hidden in other drinks and flasks. I was in middle school when they raised the age to 21 and our older siblings were grandfathered. Alcohol was more accepted by parents back then and parties continued in hs with parents taking the keys. My college allowed underage drinking in the open with rules. Few problems occurred. Compare that to the stories I hear from my children kids today they are totally irresponsible until they can legally drink. Blackouts are normal, puking is normal. That was unusual in my era. You learned fast not to do that. Its far more hidden today.
I’ve always liked the idea of allowing wine and beer at 18 and hard alcohol at 21. Right now many in the 18 - 20 crowd find it easier to sneak in hard liquor (ex. vodka) and drink that to excess but I think if they could legally drink beer they would go that route.
OP, you post an awful lot of threads related to partying and drinking for someone who doesn’t have a drinking problem. I don’t know that you do, but if you were my kid I’d be concerned over your reluctance to limit your partying. Why the need to party 2 days a week every week? And why is it okay for you to party but if kids on your dorm floor do you turn them in?
The drinking age was changed when I was in college. It was a big push by MADD. Several states held out for a couple of years, but ultimately had to bow to the federal government’s pressure of increasing the age to 21 or getting no federal highway money.
Personally, I’m against 21. I can see raising the age for everything (drinking, military, voting) to 19 so that it isn’t legal to drink while you are in HS. For college, I agree with the camp that believes this has resulted in binge drinking. According to my college age nephews, they pound down shots before going out because they wanted to be a little tipsy and knew they couldn’t get anything while they are out. They definitely think it increases irresponsible drinking.
On another note, I kind of resent the fact that there are all these college kids that are drinking, and they are now criminals. IMO it creates a real opportunity for uneven enforcement, and it also creates an attitude of disrespect for the law. IMO if you have a law that is being widely broken, you need to start examining things and see whether its the law that needs to be changed or the culture, and action of some sort needs to be taken.
- The kids that lived in my dorm never had that party. It was all a joke. I mean, the risk factors of getting caught on campus drinking underage is too high. I wanted to prevent it from happening, but then I realized that it would be better if I just stayed out of it.
- I like to go to parties because I find it boring to stay in my room just doing random stuff on my laptop. It's also a waste of my time. I personally think 2 days a week (Friday and Saturday) is good enough for everyone. Most people like to go to parties at my college. But, not everyone does. It's mainly because I don't have many friends who like to stay in and I usually find staying in boring at times unless if there's absolutely no parties going on that evening. I want to be more social, so by partying, it puts in a place where I can enjoy my 2 day break from college. I could do other stuff besides partying, but it all depends on what my friends are doing that night.
Why not? If you are old enough to die for your country and get charged with a crime as an adult, you should be allowed to buy and drink booze. Kids are going to drink regardless of the law though. Minors drinking and smoking is the least of law enforcement worries anyway. Most countries don’t even enforce the minimum smoking and drinking age.