Interesting debate
Posted
#209821
(In Topic #34003)
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There's 100 college and university presidents and chancellors that have signed on to support the debate of lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. FAU President Frank Brogan, according to this web site, is not on there. And neither is the no. 1 party school's president.
My thoughts: Even though drinking is a privilege you earn by age, it's also a privilege that needs to be dealt with responsibly - like being able to drive a car, gamble in a casino, etc.
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Posted
Wise Owl
Member since 2007
Re: Interesting debate
You ought to be able to have a damn beer.
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Posted
Soaring High
Member since 2003
Re: Interesting debate
Posted
Wise Owl
Member since 2007
Re: Interesting debate
Interesting debate
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Posted
VIP DONOR
Member since 2006
Re: Interesting debate
Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
Posted
Bird of Prey
Member since 2007
Re: Interesting debate
They raise some concerns that don't really hold water. First, of binge drinking, they offer no reason to believe that students won't binge drink if you lowered the age. Is it the drinking age that's the problem? Or because they are on their own, maybe for the first time in their lives, with little, if any, adult supervision? And plenty of people over 21 binge as well. Just other possbilities to consider.
As far as the "old enough to be drafted, vote, go to jail, etc." argument, the draft argument was a popular one used to lower the voting age to 18 (26th amendment). The argument was that if I can be drafted, then I should be able to vote for or against the people sending me to war. There's a relationship between the two. I don't think you can make the same argument in favor of drinking.
However, I think they are correct in noting that abstinence doesn't work, but really, does it work with any other education initiative, particularly sex and drugs? Obviously, there's no good way to legislate how parents should raise their children. But one reason you don't hear about a lot of binge drinking in Europe is because children are often raised with a certain amount of alcohol, a glass or two of wine at dinner, in the supervision of parents, so when they get to college age, drinking isn't a big deal. In the U.S., we have these moral taboos that dictate there are certain activities reserved to adults that are off-limits to children.
Posted
Wise Owl
Member since 2007
Re: Interesting debate
Conclusions: Get kids drunk and make them walk home.
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Posted
VIP DONOR
Member since 2007
Re: Interesting debate
walty12 said
To anybody that thinks drinking at 18 is a good idea…take a look at the statistics on fatal drunk accidents during the time when 18 year olds could drink legally compared to when they couldn't…it is staggering.
For some reason other countries can drink at 18 and be fine but it doesn't seem to have that same effect in America.
Something just different about Americans…
Posted
Wise Owl
Member since 2004
Re: Interesting debate
The said
In fairness, I don't think that they're necessarily advocating going back to 18, but rather they want to restart the debate and perhaps find better solutions.
They raise some concerns that don't really hold water. First, of binge drinking, they offer no reason to believe that students won't binge drink if you lowered the age. Is it the drinking age that's the problem? Or because they are on their own, maybe for the first time in their lives, with little, if any, adult supervision? And plenty of people over 21 binge as well. Just other possbilities to consider.
As far as the "old enough to be drafted, vote, go to jail, etc." argument, the draft argument was a popular one used to lower the voting age to 18 (26th amendment). The argument was that if I can be drafted, then I should be able to vote for or against the people sending me to war. There's a relationship between the two. I don't think you can make the same argument in favor of drinking.
However, I think they are correct in noting that abstinence doesn't work, but really, does it work with any other education initiative, particularly sex and drugs? Obviously, there's no good way to legislate how parents should raise their children. But one reason you don't hear about a lot of binge drinking in Europe is because children are often raised with a certain amount of alcohol, a glass or two of wine at dinner, in the supervision of parents, so when they get to college age, drinking isn't a big deal. In the U.S., we have these moral taboos that dictate there are certain activities reserved to adults that are off-limits to children.
You make some good points. In response to the italicized statements/questions, it seems that university culture is the real culprit. Not to say that people who are not in college don't binge drink as well, but there truly is something about the specific cultural context of university life that leads to a substantial amount of binge drinking. I think that is why we see this discussion being brought forward by university presidents. I don't think changing the drinking age will change student behavior. The atmosphere that promotes binge drinking needs to change and that is something that is very difficult to accomplish.
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Posted
VIP DONOR
Member since 2005
Re: Interesting debate
So this becomes a two faced monster…can dropping the age curb some of binge drinking in college? I think it can help a little bit. But how do we change the mindset of many americans to get them to not even think about driving after a drink?
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