What Should Happen To The Drinking Age?

[jcreuter 0]

hello im in the NYRA (National Youth Rights Association) and im doing a poll on what they should do with the drinking age. and did you know that by allowing people to do certen things just because they are older is discrimination? if you want to do more to help our cause and make the youth's voices heard go to the NYRA website youthrights.org and see what you can do to help out.thanksjcreuter

[~Dave 0]

hello im in the NYRA (National Youth Rights Association) and im doing a poll on what they should do with the drinking age. and did you know that by allowing people to do certen things just because they are older is discrimination? if you want to do more to help our cause and make the youth's voices heard go to the NYRA website youthrights.org and see what you can do to help out.
thanks
jcreuter

Get rid of it, or Jj go to Germany!

[jcreuter 0]

Get rid of it, or Jj go to Germany!

dave u got me all exited thinking ooo someone posted but then i found out it was u and i was like oh well but i like ur comment thanks

[biscuitrat 0]

I hate that people throw their lives away by drinking when they're really young. Same thing with drugs. I don't understand the absolute fascination with alcohol, but efforts to stop it from going out of hand are very ineffective. Posters won't stop people from drinking. My peers, myself included, are still immature. To put alcohol in the hands of these children who are just getting into high school and college is an absolute travesty. We're still children, like it or not. Just because you can drink even a little bit does not make you an adult. It makes you stupid. Wait until you can handle it. I get incensed by any mention of teen car accidents involving drunken drivers because it's like...that could have been prevented so easily. You didn't have to drink OR drive, and yet, you get into your car and you kill people. It's not a personal thing either. It's a moral thing. How could you possibly do that?Ugh, also, the smell of alcohol makes me nauseous. I think that factors in at all. I don't think we should raise the drinking age because 21 is when you get out of college. If we practice moderation and make sure younger kids don't get their hands on substances while we can control it, society will be all the more better for it.

[jcreuter 0]

i belive that if everyone grew up around it then less kids would drink it to rebel from there parents witch could lower the abuse of it but i agree that too many people have messed up their life with it and i think if we get rid of the drinking age then it will lower that #

[MIGUE2k7 0]

Umm... im a bit confused about this question, but well i think that there should not be a drinking age. Alcohol is dangerous for young and mature people, so then why not make alchohol forbidden for everybody? Generally people nowadays start to drink at teenage, and most of them are aware of the consequences, but they still do it.It is just something you must decide, if stay with alcohol or not.But of course those are just my thoughts i bet there are some strong reasons for forbid alcohol only to young people.

[zyzzyvette 0]

People who want to drink, smoke, etc., are going to, regardless of what the legal age is. "Booting" (bootlegging) is a pretty common thing where I live, and its not hard to find someone willing to do it for you. I'm more concerned about ageism related to minimum voting ages. I feel that public education gets shafted in terms of government funding because students can't vote. What bugs me about our society in general is the misconception that maturity and ability to handle responsibility is directly related to age. I know kids in middle school who are very mature, and some adults who need to "grow up", so to speak. Yet, people assume that if you are young, you are more foolish than someone five years older. It most definitely is discrimination, but unfortunately it's so ingrained into our society that I doubt it will be going away anytime soon. @biscuitrat: I know you mean well, but I'm not so sure that raising the drinking age would create a generation of more responsible drinkers; it seems to me that it would do the opposite. People tend to want what they can't have, so the more you dangle it out of their reach (theoretically, since drinking laws are very poorly enforced) the more they'll want it when they get it. That's why the most successful dieters go by the 80/20 rule rather than a diet that forbids certain foods entirely- once they quit or finish the diet, the second group go binge on the "bad" foods, and eat far more than the people in the first group. I think the only way to reduce the problem of teen alcohol abuse is to have a lot of resources available to educate them before they start drinking, and help them stop if/when their drinking starts causing problems.EDIT: edited for clarity

Edited February 7, 2007 by zyzzyvette (see edit history)

[heavensounds 0]

Hm..this is a very tough and complex question and there ain't no straight answer. The thing is that kids should not get in touch with alcohol in the first place and that means that parents should not drink alcohol at all! Not just in hiding in front of their kids because they will be caught very soon, but should not drink because that is a bad and needless habit that is then passed on to children. So the first step is to TEACH THE PARENTS HOW TO BE PARENTS, because they are the first example, children see and I think the most powerful one. If one has a good base in ones home then even schoolmates will have a tough job to make someone drink...Now the second part - schoolmates and friend that drink alcohol and influence our children so they drink it too - so that they are cool. The thing is, if the above thing is respected and all parents stop driking alcohol, this will not be popular between children and teens and it will be eventually rooted out...Parents don't have a word to say if they drink alcohol!!! And that is the key thing...As far as that law is concerned - of course it should be raised - it should be raised to 120+!!! Because this is the only way to prevent people from drinking alcohol - ban it totally! Of course that is impossible because of the biiiiiig industry behind the whole alcohol-thing, but as far as i'm concerned, the age of allowence should be as high as possible...Best whishes

[sylenzednuke 0]

I agree with Biscuitrat and somewhat with MIGUE2k7.I've seen my classmates (15-16 years of age.) drinking alcohol, yup, they do it here, for what reason? Just to rebel and act as adults. it is not a good thing as Biscuitrat says, you can't handle these things when you are so young. The "rush-of-blood-to-the-head" makes you feel like you can do anything when you are a teenager but even if you want to, how dare you injure or take away the lives of others?!? It's just not right.you can't completely ban alcohol because a LARGE population just won't agree to it, it's not that alcohol is good but if consumed minimally, it can prove to be completely harmless.I don't have a personal say here because Biscuitrat already said what I wanted to, so I will just keep mum and vote.

[richierich1m 0]

the drinking age in my country is 21 and i feel it should be decrerased to 18 , why do adults dont allow the teens to take their own descision and want to take descision for them ,why they think that they are always foolish

[electriic ink 1]

Is 21 the legal age to BUY alcohol in America or to CONSUME it? Personally I think the drinking age in America is way too high. In Britain it's 16 and I think that's perfectly reasonable; however, I do think that 13/14 year-olds should be able to drink but no more than 1 or 2 units on special occasions like Christmas, under parental supervision. That might seem like a very lenient stance compared to most of you but if you let teenagers have sips of it when they're younger and enjoy it responsibly then you minimise the chance of abusing it.

Because this is the only way to prevent people from drinking alcohol - ban it totally!

so then why not make alchohol forbidden for everybody?

Prohibition was introduced in America before. It was a total failure. People made their own alcohol, speakeasies were doing a roaring trade, no-one could control illegal imports from the Canadian/Mexican borders and policemen and judges were being bribed like never before so the law never got enforced. Therefore, I doubt any country would ever considering this again.

[me_boxer_dude 0]

It wont make much of a difference anyways even if the age bar is lowered for drinking coz most of the young people are smart enough these days to get a way around. However on a second thought I think that the age bar should be lowered legally as thats the best the authorities can do to deter the youth from drinking. People would never stop drinking even if you make it costlier or whatever, still if you keep a check on the age limit atleast you are trying to convey the message that drinking is harmful for health. Personally I dont believe or rather dont want to believe the last line that I wrote.

[roseysaidwhat 0]

Go ahead and leave it. (US)To ban it is like, getting rid of freedoms. (I guess)I think it's fine the way it is,but I think police should be more strict on those who are underage and drinking.And maybe if an person of age abuses this, they sould be restricted from buying it (like it says on their driver's license that they can't buy anymore, etc.)

[coolduck123456 0]

you no what we should do- banish drinking dont do no good for you and will never ever do anything that will help you just damage your livers and eeventually kill oyu fool!

[zyzzyvette 0]

you no what we should do- banish drinking dont do no good for you and will never ever do anything that will help you just damage your livers and eeventually kill oyu fool!

They tried this already, in Canada and the US at least; people who wanted to drink just got it illegally and the law itself only lasted about ten years. If there was a referendum on whether or not to ban drinking, I have no doubts that it would be a landslide for "No". Casual drinking is a huge part of western societies, whether that's a good thing or not, and most adults won't be giving it up. The only reason the prohibition law passed in the first place was because of gross misinformation spread by groups like the WCTU.

Besides, if we ban drinking because it is bad for you, do we ban anything else that's unhealthy? That'd be an awful long list. IMO, your personal health is your own responsibility, not the government's, and I don't feel the need to give up things I can enjoy responsibly in moderation just because other people can't. I like chocolate, soda pop, hair dye and cosmetics, cell phone, TV, internet and everything else that is supposedly going to kill me one day.