<p>The reason why alcohol is not safe for children under the age of 21 is because research shows that “alcohol has a particularly toxic effect on the brain cells of adolescents.”</p>
<p>Research also casts doubt on the notion that Europeans have a better approach to alcohol. According to the same article, “the European drinking model isn’t working… The more teenagers drink at home, the more they will drink at other places, and the higher the risk for problematic alcohol use three years later.”</p>
<p>Deaths from alcohol are much higher per capita in Europe than in the US:</p>
<p>“alcohol consumption declined dramatically during Prohibition. Cirrhosis death rates for men were 29.5 per 100,000 in 1911 and 10.7 in 1929. Admissions to state mental hospitals for alcoholic psychosis declined from 10.1 per 100,000 in 1919 to 4.7 in 1928.”</p>
<p>Given the above, I doubt that lowering the drinking age would decrease alcohol related deaths among college students, but if anyone has any contrary data I’d like to see it.</p>
<p>The reason we have enacted laws to have the drinking age at 21 is that we are trying to save you from killing yourselves and us!</p>
<p>The reason we let you join the armed services at 18 is because we can easily brainwash you into being good soldiers ( and we need our soldiers sober!)</p>
<p>I’ll teach my kid to drink alcohol safely before sending her to college. </p>
<p>Yes, there are tricks. For example, never ever change a type of drink. If you drink beer, stay with beer. If you drink vine, stay with vine (better, to stay with the same bottle of vine). One can drink vodka after beer, but not the other way round. Don’t get mixed drinks, unless you mix them yourself. Mixed drinks have too many empty calories. Never ever mix alcohol and caffeine. Never ever mix alcohol and any drugs. Red vine is always the best choice. Respect yourself, never drink cheap vine. Etc.</p>
<p>My parents opened a bottle of champagne for me and my friends on my 16-th birthday (that was not in the US). I know that in US it is prohibited … fine. Still, a glass of red vine on religious holidays is perfectly legal, as far as I remember.</p>
<p>I think caffeine and lack of sleep are far more detrimental to teenager’s brains than a glass of red vine. BTW, the most dangerous for teenage brain is concussion … my kids would never ever play football, hockey, or other contact sport.</p>
<p>Thanks to its alcohol content and non-alcoholic phytochemicals (natural occurring plant compounds), wine has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and slow the progression of neurological degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. </p>
<p>Red vine is an important part of Mediterranean diet.</p>
<p>^#44: In Ohio and many other states you may be under 21 and consume low alcohol drinks (ie. beer and wine) under the supervision of your parents, for religious purposes, or under a physicians care.</p>
<p>I have two kids, one 21 and one 19, so this has been a topic of interest in our household for some time. </p>
<p>I can honestly say I have not met one parent out of dozens of parents I have discussed this with who supports the 21 drinking age. On the contrary, families in our neighborhood vacation almost exclusively outside the U.S. (Mexico, Caribbean, Canada, Central America, Europe) - gaining experience with alcohol in normal settings being one of the many objectives of such international travel. </p>
<p>Where and how you live can definitely influence opinion on this matter. If you live many hours from an international airport and a thousand miles from the border, and gas money is hard to come by, you may well be content with the status quo (since there is no easy way for your student to “get legal”). However, if you live within a reasonable drive of the border or 20 minutes from an international hub airport with weekend get away fares from $49 to Toronto, you likely have a different perspective. (Torn between wanting your kid “safe and legal” versus spending too much time on the modern day “the underground railroad”) </p>
<p>As someone trained in the concept, the whole Common Law notion of “minority” is simply perverted by this bifurcation of age of majority and legal drinking age. Especially when violating the policy becomes a criminal/quasi-criminal offense, which of course at Common Law would be impossible given the incompetence of the minor. </p>
<p>I’m sure this legal nonsense is why for the past 35 years NO other western country has adopted the 21 drinking age - it is illogical on its face, to anyone who values logical legal thinking as well as those who do not support the “Nanny State”. Of course, to Nanny supporters, civil rights questions and the historic Common Law do not matter since they are in the business of protecting you from yourself - be it demon rum, “Big Gulps”, not wearing your seat belts etc.</p>
<p>ChicagoBear–Hi, I’m atomom. I’m a parent who supports the 21 drinking age. </p>
<p>The drinking age changed from 18 to 19 to 21 while I was in college. I was able to drink alcohol legally as a freshman, but not as a senior–until I turned 21. What is so great about alcohol, anyway? It is a drug. A socially accepted drug, but a drug whose use has a huge negative effect on public health. I do not completely abstain from alcohol, but I have seen enough of the damage (grandfather, two uncles, s-i-l’s ex, friend’s H, neighbor, etc.–all alcoholics, families destroyed, etc.) to have very little love for this drug.
Raising the drinking age has saved lives.
I remember legally drunk kids in high school, classmates killed in car accidents. No fond memories of those days. (And yes, there are still some drunk highschoolers out there on the roads–but nothing like it was in the late 70s before the law changed.)
From the NPR story cited in #41
“Parents who disapproved completely of underage alcohol use tended to have students who engaged in less drinking, less binge drinking, once in college,” Abar says.</p>
<p>And conversely, a parent’s permissiveness about teenage drinking is a significant risk factor for later binge drinking.</p>
<p>“The parents who are more accepting of teen drinking in high school were more likely to have children who engaged in risky drinking behaviors in college, compared to those children who had parents that were less accepting,” Abar says. The researchers also asked the teens about their parents’ drinking patterns and found that parents’ own drinking behavior influenced a teen’s later alcohol use.</p>
<p>As a parent, I want to be a good example to my kids–and to help preserve their brain cells!
Parents who expect/encourage/enable their underage kids to drink are not good parents, imo.</p>
I’ve vacationed out of the country a number of times but I certainly never had ‘gaining experience with alcohol’ as one of the objectives and I can’t imagine that being an objective. It sounds strange to me. “Honey, where should we vacation this year so we can let the kids get experience drinking alcohol?” </p>
<p>Certain drugs are legal in some other countries as well - maybe that should be added to the travel objectives as well so the kids can gain experience with the drugs.</p>
<p>And is 18 really young enough? There certainly are plenty of kids who have alcohol related issues when in HS. Maybe they should start their alcohol practice much younger - maybe in grade school.</p>
<p>(sorry - couldn’t help the bit of sarcasm on this one - each is entitled to their own opinion and there certainly is a bit of arbitrariness to the ages under the law but there has to be a definition of some kind in order to apply a law - of course some people may think there s/b no laws at all in this area - which would be another opinion)</p>
<p>Where have I said anything about anyone under the age of 18? I am talking about legal adults - persons who are legally able to drink in over 125 countries today and who just happen to live in the one western country where they are not legal. These are persons who can be executed for their actions - they are not infants. </p>
<p>I’m sorry you have a family history of alcoholism, but I don’t believe that the fact that some people have a problem with liquor means that it is good public policy to revoke the civil rights of all persons between 18 and 21. To me and many others this is a well-intentioned but stupid law. Unfortunately, it is just one of many U.S. laws or policies often ridiculed by citizens of other countries. As someone who travels frequently overseas, I have had to get use to comments about being the only supposedly civilized country with the death penalty, the stupid drinking age, the lack of gay rights, where are the WMD’s, Gitmo, rendition, etc. </p>
<p>If your world is just here, you can wrap yourself in the flag and chant USA, USA, USA - everyone else is wrong and we are right. If your world is just a little bit larger, you can’t help but notice that we stand alone and have stood alone on this issue for 35 years. On any issue, if you can’t convince one of your best friends (a western democracy) to join you on a quest within 35 years - you should take a hint.</p>
<p>Not sure what the definition of “supposedly civilized country” is, but the following have the death penalty: Japan, Taiwan (Republic of China), Singapore, Republic of Korea.</p>
<p>The following do not have gay marriage: Ireland, UK other than England and Wales (Scotland will probably begin in 2015), Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Skovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Finland, Israel, Australia, Japan, Taiwan (Republic of China), Singapore, Republic of Korea.</p>
<p>Glad - at every school I’m familiar with there are multiple cheap vacation options to Mexico, Caribbean, Europe for students. I and our neighbors like to treat the kids to a nice vacation, with us, but they will opt for the el cheapo student trip on their own dime if our location isn’t “appropriate”. I don’ t blame them. To them its like a freeman in 1860 choosing between a trip to Canada or Mississippi.</p>
<p>I have studied and worked in both Europe and Africa for several years, and have traveled overseas at other times. Be assured that I am an “international-minded person.” However, I’m not sure what that has to do with the health of of our youth. According to the studies quoted above, European teens have a higher rate of binge drinking (unhealthy behavior), and Europe has higher rates of alcohol related deaths than the U.S. So how is this good? Why do 18-21yo really need the “right” to use a particular drug that has been proven harmful and costly in many ways. They are fine and healthy without it. </p>
<p>According to the NIH, about 15% of U.S. adults are “problem drinkers.” 5-10% of men and 3-5% of women can be classified as “alcoholics.” That is not just MY family; that is everyone’s families, co-workers, neighbors, friends, etc. BTW, both this year and last year, the Russian legislature considered bills to raise their drinking age to 21, because alcoholism is such a huge problem in Russia.</p>
<p>Lurker - to me and many others this is a logic and rights issue which is totally separate from safety/DWI issues. </p>
<p>I agree with Glad that 19 could be a nice compromise, but from a logic perspective the 26th amendment would need modification and all other states would need to adopt the Alabama/Nebraska laws of 19 being the age if majority for everything (marriage, contracts to cold medicine). Otherwise you will be like Ontario where the age of majority is 18 for all things except alcohol which is 19. A one year “logic gap” to keep it out of HS I could accept - not 3 years.</p>
You didn’t - note my reference to my ‘sarcasm’ at the end of my post as well as my reference to the ages in general.</p>
<p>It just sounds weird to me that the access to alcohol would be an objective for a family sponsored vacation like that - especially if it’s normal for ‘families in your neighborhood’ implying lots of people have this objective. I just have never heard of anyone having that as an objective for a family vacation. </p>
<p>I know that there are some 18-21 aged people who specifically go on a spring break type of hard partying vacation to locations that legally permit alcohol consumption for those ages but there’s more to those than just having a couple of responsible drinks, I’ll leave it to you to fill in the blanks, and I’m sure in those cases having the parents along wouldn’t be a part of it.</p>
<p>If all that’s desired is for the person to have some experience of knowing what it’s like to drink a beer or glass of wine or two I think that can be done legally in one’s own home already if someone feels the need. However, I think many of the people with the major problems we see in the news aren’t necessarily new to having had a drink. They’re people who get caught up in the social aspects and don’t put a limit on themselves and the travel with a parent to another country where it’s legal would be a different social environment where the person likely isn’t going to get hammered (when not there with a bunch of other students in a frat house sans parents).</p>
<p>I had no idea college-age drinking was a civil rights issue. I’ll look forward to the march on Washington – but won’t expect most of the participants to be able to keep a straight line.</p>
<p>Regardless of where every stands on the drinking age, alcohol is very easy to come by for college students, especially those on a college campus. Changing the drinking age, may have made it harder for those under 18 to get alcohol, but for those on a campus with the will, alcohol is pretty easy to come by. </p>
<p>I am so saddened by this story of the young IU student’s death. I assume her parents did what we all did, talk about safe alcohol consumption, staying with friends, staying in control, and safe. </p>
<p>Just consider that, while alcohol was most assuredly involved, this may be more about head injuries. There is a general lack of knowledge on what to do when a head injury is sustained. As a parent with experience with a child that suffered a head injury, I can assure you that kids have no idea what to do. Adults are just as bad. My D suffered one snowboarding with school and she was moved, and then we were called an hour later. She was then transported home by bus. Three hours lapsed until we could get her treated. My son plays hockey and I have seen more than one parent try to play a child too soon after injury. People do not understand. </p>
<p>I have wondered if this is about the lack of education on how to recognize head injuries, and what to do in these cases, and when to seek medical attention.</p>
From the limited info in the article this may be exactly what this is about unless no one in the house saw her fall and hit her head and made an assumption she just laid down there and passed out in a drunken stupor whether she was drinking or not. </p>
<p>I agree with you that probably most people, including adults, don’t realize the possible consequences of head injuries. Part of the problem is that the people can seem fine shortly afterwards for a while and then all of a sudden start to have symptoms from which they really need prompt treatment or the consequences can be severe.</p>
<p>Slightly off topic, but DS had a big kid fall on him last year when he was messing around and his clavicle was dislocated to behind his sternum. Alcohol was involved and DS decided he would sleep it off. NONE of the six adults in the house noticed that his clavicle was no longer visible. More than 24 hours passed before he called me. He was four hours from home and I know the adults did not get him medical help because of the drinking. Once he arrived at Shock Trauma after being transported by ambulance from our local hospital, they would not even let him get up to go to the bathroom because of the location of the clavicle and the danger of puncturing an artery. </p>
For example, never ever change a type of drink. If you drink beer, stay with beer. If you drink vine, stay with vine (better, to stay with the same bottle of vine). One can drink vodka after beer, but not the other way round. Don’t get mixed drinks, unless you mix them yourself. Mixed drinks have too many empty calories. Never ever mix alcohol and caffeine. Never ever mix alcohol and any drugs. Red vine is always the best choice. Respect yourself, never drink cheap vine. Etc.</p>