Do you think the drinking age should be 18 again?

[Jay_Bunny]

I think one of the main reasons we have such a problem with alcohol here in the U.S is because of the drinking age. Alcohol is made taboo by so many and it is the fact that is such a "bad thing" that is causing so many issues. Take for example my best friend and I. In my friend's house, she was not allowed alcohol at all. I believe the only bit of alcohol she got was when she was about 17, she got a sip of wine from one of her parents and the other parent wasn't happy about it. When she went to college, she began going to parties and getting drunk and carrying on. She went a little wild.

In my house, (before I moved out) alcohol is not taboo. I have been allowed a glass of wine for dinner when I wanted it. I was allowed alcohol in general if I wanted it, as long as I left the keys with a parent and didn't leave the house. Both my brother and I were raised like this. Given this freedom with alcohol, neither of us felt a need to drink and it wasn't a big deal to us. Neither of us have ever driven under the influence of alcohol. We always have a DD or do not leave the house. When I hit college, I was still underage. We went over to a friends house once a week (or less) for a few beers. We either stayed the night or had a DD.

When I finally hit the legal age of 21 (this past May) I celebrated by having a single glass of wine while watching t.v. I have not been to a bar since turning 21 or ordered an alcoholic beverage while in a restaurant.

Its all about being mature about it. If its something that is off limits and "only for grown-ups", you know there are going to be kids trying to be "grown up" and drinking. They want to prove they are adults so they drink. Its like a right of passage they want to take early. If drinking and alcohol was not made such a big deal of, we wouldn't have half as many problems as we do. Instead of saying "no alcohol" we should promote responsible drinking, educate about the effects of alcohol and the safe way to drink.

[snakey68]

Its all about being mature about it. If its something that is off limits and "only for grown-ups", you know there are going to be kids trying to be "grown up" and drinking. They want to prove they are adults so they drink. Its like a right of passage they want to take early. If drinking and alcohol was not made such a big deal of, we wouldn't have half as many problems as we do. Instead of saying "no alcohol" we should promote responsible drinking, educate about the effects of alcohol and the safe way to drink.

You sound very responsible and reasonable, the only thing I would say there playing devils advocate a bit is:

If it is all about being mature unfortunately people mature at different stages and you get alot of people who take a long time to mature.

The whole point of it being off limits is not everyone is as mature or responsible unfortunately.

Kids wanting to be like adults and drinking just emphasizes how immature they actually are. Your right in they think its a right of passage and also that it is Early thats the problem there ...Early is not good.

If drinking and alcohol was not made such a big deal of then we would have drunken kids all over the place how can that be a good thing?

we should promote responsible drinking, educate about the effects of alcohol and the safe way to drink, I agree with this part completely and part of being safe is drinking when you are allowed to not before.

just my opinion however, I remember drinking too early as a kid and it did not serve me well or make me a better or mature person.

Kids imo need to try to be mature about it and realise everything (or most things) come to those who wait , when the time is right.

I see parralells with sex in society as well with kids wanting to be like adults and do that as well before they are legally supposed to but thats another thread in itself.

[Jae iLL]

You can join the military at age 17 and go straight to the desert to die for your country. Now, you can't vote for the leaders of that country or have a beer or two. At the same time, you couldn't even vote to change that law if it ever came up! But the law makers and enforcers sure do appreciate you dying a year before you could ever vote and 4 years before you could ever drink a little beer.
To me, that's ridiculous. How can anybody say that someone under the age of 21 or 18 is not "fully mature" or can't handle the responsibility of drinking alcohol? So this person is not ready for this crazy dangerous thing called beer, but he's definitely mature enough to go kill people and be killed and watch his battle buddies die and so on and so forth? I think the business of killing takes a much more responsible person, than the big huge scary responsibility of drinking a beer, or two.

[butters!]

absolutly not.i think it should be pushed up to 25 and drivers licences should be upped to 21

[butters!]

to the people that say 18 is ok cuz of the military wow!the only reason our government allows 18 year olds to enlist is there bodies are fit for war.at 18 90% are not close to mature and to put a gun in there hands to fight for our country is wrong.being in this young state going to a war and fighting is severly damaging them to the point were when they come back they are never the same.look at all the wars faught and tell me its not true.this is way more irresponsible than letting kids drink because at 18 you are a kid period!who cares you can buy ciggerettes or lotto tickets.it doesnt make you an adult.im not saying no 18 year olds are mature but parents if your out there how would you rate your 18 year old on a maturity level?would you be confident after a night of drinking they would find a safe way home?even fully grown adults have this problem and to lower the age would only give older high school kids the ability to buy for all the underage children alchohal and some would do it just to be cool and gain friends.i am disturbed by this,as if the roads werent dangerous enough already.come on people!

[mikeamy2007]

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

If they up the enlistment age, theyd never get as many people. They gotta catch these kids fresh out of school when they dont know any better !!!

[butters!]

[QUOTE=littleindiangirl;856951]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??

drinking alch severely impairs ones judgment and decision making and an 18 year old kid has a hard time with this sober.i can also see a rise in violent behavior in bars/clubs due to the immature/drunk state of mind(there are enough hard asses at bars clubs already,and i see this making it alot worse).also at 18 your brain is still under construction and does not need brain cells being killed when indeed the brain is working hard to develop.also having the option to buy alch at this age is horrible in the sence that they can get booz any night of the week leaving them very prone to becomming a alchoholic at this age.note,none of this is driving related

[daniel1983]

Do any of you really think the drinking age really matters to a teenager that wants to drink some booze? It is just a 'technicality'....

....lmao....this is funny question to argue over. People have been making the push to stop kids from smoking and drinking....yet the most abused substances for teens are not alchol or tobacco.

When I was 15, I could get pot, pills, etc. just as easily as I could get alchol. It has nothing to do with laws. I could have gotten anything I wanted.......but I didn't

EVERY child has access to drugs and alchol....if you do not believe so, then you need a reality check. Laws mean nothing. Parents put too much focus on 'laws' instead of focusing on raising their kids to be able to resist abusing substances and making bad decisions.

Funny thing though......a recent survey stated more parents were concerned over their children playing violent video games than drinking booze.....priorities I guess...better to have a child become a drug addict than a mass murderer....

I like the 'nothing until 21' comments too......people baby their 'kids' too much.

I know people that were responsible 'adults' when they were 16 years old.

[dadspets]

I say no to changing it to 18. I have a brother - n- law that gets real stupid when he drinks, he still acts alot like an 18 yr old at times. Don't get me wrong their are plenty of " age " drinkers that act stupid but adding a younger drunk to the many problems are ready is not a good thing

[blackcrystal22]

I personally despise alcohol and have many reasons to hate it.

Most of you couldn't understand how much alcohol has effected my life to a point of hate. I will never drink. People think I don't mean that, but really, I'd rather not shut down my brain.

No one who has personal contact as family or good friends is allowed to drink around me and they respect it and understand.

I don't have to tell anyone why I hate it. It's really none of your business, so please don't ask. There are some specific people on here that I would tell if they asked but unless you suspect your one of them, don't.
I don't personally think alcohol has any similarity to military, cigarettes, or any other reasons involving the age 18. It's a completely different subject but I do understand your reasoning. I just can't stand what alcohol does, and I don't want it to ever exist in my life again.