<p>It smacks of vigilantism to me.</p>
<p>Not every single person, because that would be impossible. But at least let some people see the consequences of their actions. No wonder we have people thinking it’s okay to cheat and steal in the professional world - if they act like they’re above the law in college then I guess it carries on afterward!</p>
<p>
And not the cool kind with rorschach or bat masks
@OP: do you think that 18 year olds drinking is morally wrong when their parents could drink at 18? The drinking age of 21 is a recent societal construct.</p>
<p>This was just posted in the Brown forum (and, perhaps to the interest of the OP, by a Harvard Law student) and may be helpful for the OP to read (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13098679-post15.html[/url]):”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13098679-post15.html):</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Of course, drinking can be done in dangerous, dumb ways; but calling the police every time one sees underage drinking is not a safe, smart response.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Underage drinking is prevalent at all top universities.</p>
<p>Can I just ask which dorm you’re in.</p>
<p>@OP: do you think that 18 year olds drinking is morally wrong when their parents could drink at 18? The drinking age of 21 is a recent societal construct.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>No but regardless that is the law today and a good citizen would abide by it no matter what.</p>
<p>
Have you heard of Dr. Martin Luther King?</p>
<p>I think you should enjoy a nice cold one with the others, and relax. Maybe discuss law and obedience at a party. If your serious make sure you go with the police to break it up, so all the students realize it was your ratting them out that will cause them to be in trouble with the law and campus. Let them see you being the one who “cares for them”.</p>
<p>Can I just ask which dorm you’re in.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Hereford, in a single.</p>
<p>//</p>
<p>Have you heard of Dr. Martin Luther King?</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>That’s different, in this case the government is looking out for us.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My citation that you were arguing from authority is not merely a fancy logic term but a fundamental flaw in your thinking on this matter. That the non-legal distinction between a 20-year-old drinking and a 21-year-old drinking is almost nonexistent despite the difference of legality demonstrates the tenuousness of your logic.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So when you said “no matter what” when referring for the need for citizens to respect their government’s legal wishes, you meant “only when the government is being compassionate and scientifically correct”?</p>
<p>If it really bothers you so much, why aren’t you attending one of these schools
[Sign</a> In](<a href=“College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review”>College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review)
or
[Sign</a> In](<a href=“Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch | The Princeton Review”>Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch | The Princeton Review)</p>
<p>As people say, despite UVA’s prestige, drinking happens just as much as at other schools </p>
<p>"UVA students embody the “work-hard, play-hard” ethos. Life here “is all about balance between studying and partying. The same students who talk nonstop about how much they drank last weekend are the ones who ace their chem exams and dream of med school.” The Greek scene is popular, and alcohol “is definitely a big and visible part of campus life.” </p>
<p>Maybe you should have done more research before you decided to attend</p>
<p>That the non-legal distinction between a 20-year-old drinking and a 21-year-old drinking</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Um with age comes experience. The older you get, the more responsible you are about your actions.</p>
<p>There is a huge difference between dangerous binge drinking or alcoholism or drunk driving vs. a 19 year old having a couple beers on a Saturday night and then walking home. If someone needs help, they should get it, but I think the U. Police would laugh at you if you called them and told them someone was drinking a beer. Their main job is to keep people safe.</p>
<p>When I was a first year many years ago, the drinking age for beer was 18. We all laughed at that time when the University sent out a memo to all of the RAs telling them that alcohol must not be the primary attraction of an event, but instead must be used only as a “social lubricant.” The Dean of Students tapped the kegs at a University-sponsored 350 keg party. </p>
<p>Things were often out of control back then, and I am glad they have moderated since then.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This argument could similarly be applied to justify the legality of drinking for 20-year-olds. I mean, they are more responsible and experienced than 19-year-olds, right?</p>
<p>Oh come on… This has got to be a joke. Even though I personally don’t plan on drinking in college doesn’t mean I want everyone else not to drink it. It’s their life, they should do what they want with it.</p>
<p>silverturtle:</p>
<p>[When</a> Does Your Brain Stop Growing? - Neurology | Alzheimer’s Disease | Stroke - FOXNews.com](<a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273532,00.html]When”>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273532,00.html)</p>
<p>“The adolescent brain is still growing. Indeed, the region responsible for things such as impulse control and moral judgment is the last to mature, sometime in the early 20s, said Dr. Jordan Grafman of the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.”</p>
<p>That is why the drinking age is at 21. </p>
<p>Need me to educate you anymore?</p>
<p>Even though I personally don’t plan on drinking in college doesn’t mean I want everyone else not to drink it. It’s their life, they should do what they want with it.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Like I said, as a citizen it’s still our prerogative to report it.</p>
<p>^^^^Walk around Rugby this weekend, you will have to report over 1000 students. Have fun!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You actually haven’t educated me yet.</p>
<p>I am aware of the (still progressing) empirical evidence for the cognitive-neuroscientific factors that make “younger” people more vulnerable to irresponsible drinking and, thereafter, to disproportionate developmental damage than “older people,” wherein the age distinction is probably somewhere in the twenties. </p>
<p>This does not, however, preclude the idea that choosing 21 as the drinking age is more arbitrary than not – which, notwithstanding graduated programs similar to those for vehicle licensing, is an understandable product of the need to establish the distinction(s) somewhere. The resultant degree of tenuousness in the soundness of the legislation must be recognized. More generally, laws are not absolute truths that tap into timeless righteousness; they need not be revered, and no citizen ought to follow them blindly, let alone impose them blindly. </p>
<p>But I’m all for protecting our fellow people. However, we must do it in ways that respect their liberty for personal judgment and that are more socially responsible than just “reporting” the legal crimes to the “appropriate” legal authority; we must do these things better than you have proposed to.</p>