Drinking age
- Thread starter Andrew
- Start date
I'd rather see the drinking age stay where it's at. If grown adults can't make good decisions and be responsible with alcohol then why would you ever want to let younger folks get their hands on such a product? Sure they can get it from these same older irresponsible people at parties and such but that does in no way mean that they should be able to drink. I just don't see enough positives to allow a younger drinking age. I've worked at a college campus at residential halls and have seen numbers upon numbers of underage drinkers coming back from parties and some times situations got to be really bad.
I completely understand that some people at 18 could be responsible enough to handle drinking. Unfortunately I see these kind of people to be a minority at any of the younger ages with drinking. I rarely see anyone be smart when it comes to drinking and then having to drive home. There's also numerous aspects about lowering the age that I don't think many people would consider thinking about as they are all uncomfortable topics...
I just don't see why the drinking age should be lowered after I consistently hear so many negatives aspects about it. I honestly just have never seen what's so great about alcohol. I waited till I was 21 to have my first alcoholic beverage and even then nothing was that exciting about it. I don't get what's so cool about something that can inhibit your basic functioning. Especially if you drink way too much of it...
I completely understand that some people at 18 could be responsible enough to handle drinking. Unfortunately I see these kind of people to be a minority at any of the younger ages with drinking. I rarely see anyone be smart when it comes to drinking and then having to drive home. There's also numerous aspects about lowering the age that I don't think many people would consider thinking about as they are all uncomfortable topics...
I just don't see why the drinking age should be lowered after I consistently hear so many negatives aspects about it. I honestly just have never seen what's so great about alcohol. I waited till I was 21 to have my first alcoholic beverage and even then nothing was that exciting about it. I don't get what's so cool about something that can inhibit your basic functioning. Especially if you drink way too much of it...
I apologize if some of this doesn't make any sense - I'm in class and am kind of freewriting my thoughts.
My prom is today, and this entire week was focused on teenage drinking. I was never for alcohol before, and still think it's silly that teenagers (or anyone for that matter) insist on drinking it, or that the age must be lowered so younger people can access it even more easily. It physically and mentally harms you. Even though I don't think even 21 year olds should drink - I definitely don't think the age should be lowered. It'll just make it even easier for younger people to have access to it and let them think it's okay to actually drink it. I'm 18 and I've never had one ounce of alcohol, nor any desire to even try it. I've seen the effects it can have on people - no matter the age. It definitely shouldn't be lowered.
I know teenagers drink anyways, regardless the legal age, but that doesn't mean they should.
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My prom is today, and this entire week was focused on teenage drinking. I was never for alcohol before, and still think it's silly that teenagers (or anyone for that matter) insist on drinking it, or that the age must be lowered so younger people can access it even more easily. It physically and mentally harms you. Even though I don't think even 21 year olds should drink - I definitely don't think the age should be lowered. It'll just make it even easier for younger people to have access to it and let them think it's okay to actually drink it. I'm 18 and I've never had one ounce of alcohol, nor any desire to even try it. I've seen the effects it can have on people - no matter the age. It definitely shouldn't be lowered.
I know teenagers drink anyways, regardless the legal age, but that doesn't mean they should.
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You can't use that because all of these people could have different stances on the appropriate age of tobacco. Whether you're making a comparison or not, it's still assuming that all of these people feel that the age of tobacco is fine where it's at. That's a red herring fallacy. You're starting a whole different debate inside one debate. Stick to the topic
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Not once, in my entire life, have I witnessed my parents, grandparents, or siblings drink alcohol. As a teen, I've seen my sister post a pic of a glass of wine and I've found alcohol in my other sister's room (which she lived in with her underage boyfriend - fun times). I've never seen anyone drink it (unless medicine counts). Wine is for cooking in my house. Something my grandfather has always said is something along the lines of "I never want to be in a position where I don't have control over my actions". With being raised on those words and knowing there IS a line of alcoholics in my family, I'm personally choosing not to drink because I'd rather not risk flipping the switch. Hangovers and the potential danger of it does NOT sound appealing, anyway.
In college, my mom was always the designated driver. She teamed up with her friend who worked at a film developing store and she'd basically blackmail the people she drove into gas money by taking pictures of them drunk/puking and threatening to send them to their parents. Best (or worse) part was that these people would keep coming back to her.
Drinking, as its always been, is the social norm and it's the cool thing to do underage. Peer pressure and popularity seem to be the root cause of most teen deaths. Even adults who don't drink are pressured and teased, just as casual sex is becoming the norm and young and old virgins are bullied. How on Earth does it hurt you? The foolishness and danger of drunkenness is what hurts. Why are people blind to that?
Personal stories/off-topicishness aside... (hoping this makes sense)
I think it's fine how it is. Why go through the trouble of changing it? I think arguing that kids/teens are going to drink anyway is a silly excuse. Teens are going to smoke/do drugs "anyway", but does that make it OK? No. WHY should we really lower the age? It's obviously not going to make teens more mature or responsible, so all it would do is make alcohol more easily accessible to MORE immature and irresponsible people. I see no benefit in that. Sure, it's everyone choice whether to drink, but it makes more sense to make the legal age where people have to wait to make the choice until their brains are closer to full maturity (by age 25, I believe). What was said about transportation is also a huge factor, as well as it making it more difficult for the underage to obtain it. The law changed 30-some years ago and for good reason. Teens drinking despite the law is no reason to make alcohol more accessible to young people. I don't see the logic in that.
In college, my mom was always the designated driver. She teamed up with her friend who worked at a film developing store and she'd basically blackmail the people she drove into gas money by taking pictures of them drunk/puking and threatening to send them to their parents. Best (or worse) part was that these people would keep coming back to her.
Drinking, as its always been, is the social norm and it's the cool thing to do underage. Peer pressure and popularity seem to be the root cause of most teen deaths. Even adults who don't drink are pressured and teased, just as casual sex is becoming the norm and young and old virgins are bullied. How on Earth does it hurt you? The foolishness and danger of drunkenness is what hurts. Why are people blind to that?
Personal stories/off-topicishness aside... (hoping this makes sense)
I think it's fine how it is. Why go through the trouble of changing it? I think arguing that kids/teens are going to drink anyway is a silly excuse. Teens are going to smoke/do drugs "anyway", but does that make it OK? No. WHY should we really lower the age? It's obviously not going to make teens more mature or responsible, so all it would do is make alcohol more easily accessible to MORE immature and irresponsible people. I see no benefit in that. Sure, it's everyone choice whether to drink, but it makes more sense to make the legal age where people have to wait to make the choice until their brains are closer to full maturity (by age 25, I believe). What was said about transportation is also a huge factor, as well as it making it more difficult for the underage to obtain it. The law changed 30-some years ago and for good reason. Teens drinking despite the law is no reason to make alcohol more accessible to young people. I don't see the logic in that.
1. Theft happens, and that's illegal. Doesn't mean that we should legalize stealing. Even if the drinking age is going to have minimal effect (I think it will have an effect), the law should reflect what we believe, which is that alcohol is dangerous.
2. It's not going to have a minimal effect. As of now, no high schoolers can purchase alcohol. Drop the age to 18, and some will have that ability, and will distribute it through high schools to freshman. Again, high schoolers certainly drink, but it's not nearly as pronounced as in college, because high school drinkers have to find other channels (siblings, parents, stealing) to illegally obtain their alcohol.
3. The USA is not other countries. What works there doesn't work here. We have different geography and a different culture. As has already been stated, the United States has incredibly different driving habits than the European countries where alcohol is illegal at 18. We are largely a suburban nation, and everyone has a car or two. We drive everywhere. If people drink in Europe, they're a lot less likely to take control of a ton of steel and smash into other human beings.
It's not even the going off topic that's the problem here. It's just a bad comparison.
Tobacco doesn't mentally impair people the way alcohol does. A night of drinking has the potential to kill or severely injure innocent outsiders. Smoking is only going to send some secondhand toxins through the lungs of others. It's bad, but unless there's an army of chain smokers outside of a store or something, it's not going to do any kind of significant damage.
2. It's not going to have a minimal effect. As of now, no high schoolers can purchase alcohol. Drop the age to 18, and some will have that ability, and will distribute it through high schools to freshman. Again, high schoolers certainly drink, but it's not nearly as pronounced as in college, because high school drinkers have to find other channels (siblings, parents, stealing) to illegally obtain their alcohol.
3. The USA is not other countries. What works there doesn't work here. We have different geography and a different culture. As has already been stated, the United States has incredibly different driving habits than the European countries where alcohol is illegal at 18. We are largely a suburban nation, and everyone has a car or two. We drive everywhere. If people drink in Europe, they're a lot less likely to take control of a ton of steel and smash into other human beings.
It's not even the going off topic that's the problem here. It's just a bad comparison.
Tobacco doesn't mentally impair people the way alcohol does. A night of drinking has the potential to kill or severely injure innocent outsiders. Smoking is only going to send some secondhand toxins through the lungs of others. It's bad, but unless there's an army of chain smokers outside of a store or something, it's not going to do any kind of significant damage.
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He was saying that since at the age of 18, many people begin drinking anyways. Drinking doesn't have anything to do with detrimental violence. Do you assume that every person who drinks will text and drive too? That's an ignorant assumption. Do you believe that because a teenager wants to drink they aren't mature enough to not text and drive at the same time? America is the only country, that I'm aware of, with a 21 drinking limit. Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and many other European countries ALL have the 18 drinking age.
Are you just going to keep trying to twist what people are saying to start an argument or are you actually going to try to have a civil debate?
Alcohol hardly hurts your body when you drink. It lowers the risk for type 2 diabetes, it helps your survival rate in case of heart attack, and it relieves stress. Did you know it can actually be good for your brain cells if you drink properly?
Drugs have many positive effects too (depending on the drug you're talking about)
Drugs have many positive effects too (depending on the drug you're talking about)
Candy and fast food don't usually kill.. drinking usually does. There are other ways to relieve stress other than killing yourself slowly and painfully. Not to mention drinking ruins your family, your friends, and everyone associated with you. It ruins lives, candy and fast food don't (usually) do that.
Slowly over time the alcohol kills your liver cells. If you aren't addicted and drink it, let's say once a year, then you can easily gain those cells back. But if you drink daily, your cells keep dying and dying until there's no more left. The more you drink the faster your liver cells die, so unless you drink alcohol very rarely then potentially, yes it will kill you. Although signs may not show until years later on, it's slowly killing your liver.
