Do you think the drinking age should be 18 again?

[dsirkle]

I'm of the mind, that YES! If you can fight for this country, smoke, gamble, vote, and any other number of adult things, then YES, you can drink.

Connie, the voting and drinking age was lowered in Michigan to 18 during the VietNam war for the reasons that you mentioned. I was 19 years old at the time and was in the Army. Due to disproportionately irresponsible behavior by those under the age of 21 engaged in drinking, it was put forth before the voters who overwhelmingly voted to move the drinking age back to 21 in the late '70's.

[dsirkle]

Actually, the Federal Government changed the age of consent to 16 in a bill passed earlier this year.

I was not aware of that. I knew that it had been under discussion for consideration of raising the age.

[dsirkle]

Just been at the bar? Well, lets also take into account how many old weathered people are at the bar as well?

Hey Now!!!!!

[littleindiangirl]

Hey Now!!!!!

LOL!!

Anywho, I think only in America would the lowering of the drinking age cause some catastrophic event.

I think if the rest of the world is still carrying on living and prospering with the age set to 18 or none, why is it going to be so different for America?

Just look at how many 21's you find, and how many "none" in Europe.... Me thinks the motherland is on to something! (speaking from my European descent. )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age

[SoCaliSon]

The drinking age is never fair when your underage. Fact is... No matter what the law is... 18 is still young...and Prime age for making bad decisions. Put 18 yo olds out on the roads with the ability to drive to the bar with their friends...and watch the tragedy rate jump drastically, I guarantee it. I was 18 and I know exactly how it was, at least we had to worry about getting our License stripped until the age of 21 if you were caught driving with anything in your system. As soon as I was legal to drink... The best part was NOT HAVING to drink at home. You could go order a drink wherever you were. At 18 you have barely started experiecing the harsh realities of life, and you still go about life like you are invicible. I lost several freinds afer turning 18 from auto accidents that were both the result of alcohol, and plain immature foolishness. It is rare to find an 18 yo who will be the voice of responsiblity in a group of partying friends, I see high school kids racing their cars, and driving completely erratically every day, and if you ask me to give them the option of adding booze into their system is a big mistake. There is a reason Issurance rates are so high for young drivers... It is the same reason young people should not be able to drink... You can't expect an 18 yo to be responsible with a newly acquired privledge. It was changed for a reason, people were tired of seeing their youngster kill themselves by making stupid decisions, It was a big enough problem that they put forth the effort to change the law. Soon enough you will be all grown up and able to do whatever you want... Until then I think you should accept that the current poilices are in everyones best interest. We have already learned from everyone elses mistakes... Why would you want to take a step backwards?

Shoot... Thinking about this leads me to the thought that it might be better to lower the drinking age to 18... and raise the driving age to 21. I think cars are more dangerous than booze... But the mix of the two has proven to be a horrible idea... And if you offer up both privlegdes at the same time to a young person who has been waiting for both... It is a recipe for disaster.

I was raised by very protective parents, but like was said... Doesn't matter if it is illegal, or if your parents don't want you to do it, You are probably going to do it anyway, and most of us did. Parenting is a huge factor, but You can't put everything on the parents, because all kids aim to break their parents rules, no matter how strict the 'rents are. It is part of the job of a parent to allow your kid the appropriate freedoms at the appropriate times. The parent will never be there to blame 100% of the time.

Connie, the voting and drinking age was lowered in Michigan to 18 during the VietNam war for the reasons that you mentioned. I was 19 years old at the time and was in the Army. Due to disproportionately irresponsible behavior by those under the age of 21 engaged in drinking, it was put forth before the voters who overwhelmingly voted to move the drinking age back to 21 in the late '70's.

Exactly!

[Monty]

i think it should be a state to state desicion honestly. for the less populated states yea go for it but for crowded states like new jersey new york places like that i would say keep it as it is.

[Wh00h0069]

Either it should go to 18 or they should raise the age for people to enlist in the army to 21.

[Nate]

I find it interesting that the countries that introduce alcohol to the young don't seem to have anywhere near the amount of incidences as we do here in America.

Another thing is a lot of people do it because they're not supposed to. For a lot of people, the thrill of getting away with something they're not supposed to gets their jollies going. I know I was like that when I was a teen...we all were. When 21 rolled around, I was like "eh...booz...whatever...."

[Ironhead]

Nope nope....we weren't allowed to drink on any of the US bases if we were under 21, when I was in the Army.

Well things must have changed. I went in the Army at 18 (1979) and was able to drink on any base that I went to.

I'm kinda split on how I feel about changing the legal age to 18. On one hand, I see how allot of the kids are with alcohol around this area and I dont like it...on the other hand, if 18 is when you are an adult, then an 18 year old should be able to do anything any other adult can do.

[littleindiangirl]

I was raised by very protective parents, but like was said... Doesn't matter if it is illegal, or if your parents don't want you to do it, You are probably going to do it anyway, and most of us did.

Is drinking and driving the SOLE reason you believe the drinking age should be 21? Nothing else comes to mind? Is drinking to blame for it all??

I too was brought up strict, I didn't drink until I moved out... I drank, then when I turned 21, I drank some more in public. In all, I drank heavily after turning 21 for only a few months... Now I haven't really had a drink since.

If raising a child in a super protective environment has bad results when they get out on their own and party hard, then how is it any different if we "protect" them from alcohol and then let them loose? I don't see the difference, and I strongly believe that making alcohol not a BIG deal, we'd see less stupid mistakes made when kids are either out of the parents house or turn 18.