What happens in college is young men get away from their parents for a while, and turn to their true nature, which is being the despicable human beings they pretended not to be. Alcohol use is a symptom, not a cause, of that fundamental flaw.
I admit I drink quite a bit these days, but it has never interfered with my university life. I'm responsible enough to not let that happen. Sure, some people do abuse it, but that's hardly the fault of alcohol. More of the people who can't control themselves.
These types of things always tear at me. I know the damage alcohol can do. One of my teachers drinks no alcohol because his best friend was killed by a drunk driver. People drink because they like the feeling and it can be dangerous. If it weren't so culturally significant I would be pushing for temperance. On the other hand I am completely against restricting rights of any kind, if you want to drink fine, whatever just stay away from me. So my two opinions are complete prohibition or alcohol for everybody, including babies.
I started drinking at parties and in pubs when I was 16 (even three years ago pubs were way less strict on ID, especially in rural areas like where I grew up) and whilst I don't think it did me any harm at all, I recognise that it can do. Anyone from 14 upwards can fairly easily get alcohol if they really want to, and even though it's better for them to be pissed in a pub than pissed in a park, I don't think lowering the drinking age sends out the right message. A 21 y/o drinking age is crazy though. Can you still go to clubs if you're aged 18-21, even though you buying alcohol at the bar isn't legalised?! I would've missed out on so many awesome nights if I was American, and I'm still miles off turning 21... When alcohol use when going out is restricted and criminalised, it's only going to be substituted for MDMA, speed and ket. I haven't taken any of those, but I'm sure I would've had I not been able to drink. I'll leave you lot to decide whether that's a good thing or not. In the UK you can buy some types of alcohol alongside a meal at the age of 16 or 17 and I think that's a good thing. It's definitely the right way to be introduced to alcohol. The Challenge 25 is kinda ridiculous but I rarely get ID'd in supermarkets and I definitely don't look like I'm 25. It was disappointing when I turned 18 but it took a few attempts to actually get myself ID'd. I think workers use their own discretion but play it on the safe side. And bouncers ID everyone that comes in I suppose; it's just standard procedure. Not-so-fun fact: it's legal to drink alcohol, with a parent's permission, at home from the age of 5 upwards in the UK.
I suppose women and everyone else are somehow exempt from "being the despicable human beings they pretended not to be." ? Working at a large university, I see problems with alcohol across the board. Certainly cases among Fraternities can cast males in a poor light, but that's not reflective of all men in college. By far. And I don't think it's as easy as alcohol being a way to open a Pandora's box of people having secretly been "despicable human beings" all along. Alcohol use and abuse is much more complex than that, as any ammount of research will show. I don't mean to sound harsh, but your statement strikes me as a bit condescending and flippant.
Yeah, well sometimes a distraction from work or college is all that keeps people from insanity. Now, I'm not saying alcohol is the saving grace of the universe or anything, but yeah, people drink to enjoy themselves, to cope, to be social, whatever. What is the point of life if we're not allowed to do that?
No doubt. Where I live, even the adults drive like idiots, but that's a different story. But really, beer is one thing. The harder stuff is another.
I don't actually know... I can't handle myself very well with alcohol and I'm almost 22... actually I probably almost died the first time I really drank drank. Didn't know my limits, got a little too drunk, next thing I know I was gulping down 40% vodka straight out of the bottle, I was a lil thing with no tolerance and probably drank like 15 shots. Woke up still majorly drunk in a pool of my own puke and was hung over so bad for like 3 days. I think I never shoulda been trusted with it lol Low alcohol stuff is not so bad though. I don't think it would normally matter if teens drank that but I don't wanna make any laws lol.
I'd say eighteen, personally, seeing as that is what it is where I live, but at the end of the day it wont stop people under that age drinking. I was drinking at the age of fourteen and it's only recently, now I'm nineteen, that I don't drink as much due to my job and the amount of hours I work. I completely agree 'Challenge 25' is mental, like really? Half the time I don't get ID'd anyway when I go to buy booze and I look by no means 19, I'd say 16 at a push when I've shaved.
Here's what I said: 19. Here in Arizona, tobacco is 18, alcohol and gambling is 21. I have smoked cigars and hookah, as well as dipped a few times. I enjoyed cigars but I always had a rest period of at least 2-3 days so I didn't become addicted to them. The dip made me BUZZED off my ass and actually I felt quite sick, so I didn't do that more then 2 or 3 times total. I know that I have a predisposition to becoming addicted to a substance or behavior. So: At 18 you can buy tobacco. It isn't healthy for you, but if you don't know how to moderate yourself, you'll become addicted. Smoking too much will make you sick (literally, vomiting) but otherwise you are not INTOXICATED like with alcohol and make poor choices. You then learn that you have issues with moderation and you have a habit of overusing substances like tobacco or alcohol. After a year, at 19 you should know yourself pretty well in this regard. You've most likely had lots of alcohol at parties where there were friends to watch you. You've probably tried tobacco. You are capable of making the choice to go out and buy alcohol by yourself and drink it responsibly. I could go out and buy a small bottle of Vodka and drink it without doing anything stupid. I keep my wits about me for several shots before becoming unable to function. At the point I make stupid choice, I can't walk. At 18/19 you are an adult and begin acting like one. With great freedom comes great responsibility. Underlining ALL of this is the fact that you don't really have a full grasp of common sense and moral compass until you are in your mid-20s. You WILL make mistakes. It's part of growing up.
I'd say 18, since that's about when teenagers are considered to be adults. (Another age could be 21.) Excessive drinking and underage drinkers will probably still happen, but it's not like everyone can be monitored.
In the USA the age where you're considered adults and can legally go to war and die for your country is 18... but you can't get a glass of beer until you're 21, makes PERFECT sense... If you are considered an adult at 18, then you should be allowed to drink.
Well, judging by what people around me did when they became 18, I think that the minimum age should be about 22 or 23 because what happened to other people I know is that with all the newfound responsibility and freedom they finally gained, they went overboard with everything. I think that in a few years after all the responsibility they will get used to living on their own, and can (usually) be trusted to get a drink with their friends without going a bit loco. The problem is that everybody's different and not everybody really has the same age where they become more mentally mature. My cousin's 18, and he isn't mature yet and his parents are trying to push him out of the house, he asks for money, and drinks at least a pint every day. Whereas my Brother is 23 and has become mature since he was about 17. He's been training and now he is a pilot, he has a good income, He's always known where he's going in life and what to do next, and when to get a drink so it wont interfere with his plans. Just my bit on the side
Half my friends started drinking at 16 or earlier. Some began at 14. I had my first proper drinking experience a few months before I turned 18. I think 18 is a good age. That's when you get to vote, when you get your licence. It's the age when you are expected become more mature and responsible. Here in Finland, almost all teens are still living at home at that age, so it's a safe time to be young and explore your limits.
Opp i didnt know this was an opinion poll. My opinion is 18. If I can go to war and defend my nation then I should be able to throw a couple of beers back when I get home. IJS. 18 is legal for cigarettes and the army, but not alcohol? really?
If one couldn't vote, buy tobacco, or join the military until one was 21, I wouldn't take issue with the drinking age being 21 as well. But as long as people can vote, buy tobacco, and join the military at 18, then the drinking age should be 18. I think a good compromise would be what a few posters above have said - beer at 18, hard liquor at 21. And in regards to being ID'ed, in the U.S. there are some stores that have to check your ID no matter what your age (I've literally seen grandmas have to take out their licenses). From my experience, I get asked for ID about 75% of the time. Though I find it funny that when I buy beer, I pretty much always get asked for ID. But I've never been asked when I've bought wine. It depends. Some clubs are 21+ only, but a lot (especially around universities) are 18+ to party, 21+ to drink. Like where I go to school, there's maybe four or five bars/clubs that are 21+, out of around twenty in total.
Honestly? I don't think the legal drinking age would matter as much if we didn't have a lot of societal problems with drinking. (I live in Wisconsin, where we have the highest number of arrests for drunk driving anywhere in the country so that could possibly be why I feel this way.) We glorify drinking in movies and tv shows without any thought that kids are watching this and thinking it's cool and fun to binge drink. And sometimes it is, I'm not going to lie about it--drinking is pretty fun, but it comes with a lot of risk. And we don't teach kids about how to not drink so much that they're not safe, we don't teach them that alcohol is not an excuse for bad behavior, we don't teach them anything other than how cool and fun and normal drinking is. If we had an open, honest talk with kids about alcohol, they would drink safer. If we stopped glorifying drinking enough to completely black out, they would drink safer. If we were open about drinking, they might call us for a ride instead of getting into their own car after drinking all night. I'm all for it being legal for teens to drink with their parents. (It is, I believe, here in my state) I think that modeling responsible drinking would make it so that fewer young people get hurt from drinking like they do in movies and on tv.
