Drinking Age

[RubySlippers]

Then we should be fair and raise the age of legal adult age to twenty-one that includes for the selective service and everything else including voting. Is it right to take away the rights of the majority that were earned and respected for the handfull off fools who are not responsible, including these fools parents if they failed to do their jobs?

[Sherona]

Once again not all parents are fools. They try their best but frankly young kids and teens don't always listen, been there done that I got lots of 't-shirts and other paraphenalia for souvegniers of that age and immortality complex. Frankly I think they should raise the age of many things to 21. *shrugs* Just because a few are mature enough to handle things does not mean the majority.

As far as the age to serve their country, well that is quite a different matter. Before you are given a m-16 and sent to war there are months of preparations, (I went through these preparations but never finished so didn't get enlisted) that help prepare these boys and girls. They have the initial visits from recruiting officers, they have to get into shape to pass the physicals, they have to sign 100000 forms, and depending what they are enlisting as, such as I was enlisting for defense foriegn languages and had to take a DLAB test on top of ASPHAB and quite a few other tests. Its not a spurr of the moment lets just go down to the corner market and fly to Iraq for the night.

As far as voting, well hell most people dont really understand politics as much as they like to profess to, so meh 18 year old has just as valid opinion as a 35 year old.

You wouldn't let your 95 year old grandmother with alzhiemers disease sign papers for the deed to her house or other properties so no need to allow reckless teenagers buy as much alcohol as much as they want..at least now their parents have to buy for them or they have to go around and find friends to, who could go to jail and I know in LA they could get their driving license revoked as a punishment for buying alcohol for minors, or get fake ID's which just puts another step in between and makes alcohol consumption a bit less spurr of the moment idea.

Its a buffer, parents should be the protective wall yes but as we have seen in zoos everywhere sometimes things get around protective walls. Kids will always find ways to illegally do stuff..do drugs, buy guns, drink, but its not really a good excuse to just legalize everything.


Added: I actually think that people with a military ID should be able to buy alcohol at 18..the Military kind of makes people grow up and face real life, and get over the immortality complex.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

A better perspective to look on rather than maturity and parenting would be the life events of that age.  Seventeen to twenty-one are the years in which a person typically moves away from their parent’s house.  Some go off to college, many get their first apartment with roommates and some leave for the military.  All this during a time recently plagued with uncertainty and insecurity.   That is a lot to place on someone’s shoulders, so there is stress and isolation during that time.

Alcohol is wonderful for relieving anxiety.  Readily available and socially acceptable, this substance makes perfect sense for such a situation.  Also there are parties to attend where unfamiliar faces are gathered.  Drinking is involved and our newly unleashed young adult is left without a sober ride.  Driving while drunk is an obvious danger here.  So the social situations and the remedy are a dangerous mixture. 

[RubySlippers]

Parents are to teach children when they have them to not use alcohol in an abusive manner like everything else. And I for one am tired of the all-mighty Nanny State telling people what to do. They have in Florida mandatory evacuation laws  give people the information about the storm and let them decide if they want to stay or leave. This is no different there is plenty of information binge drinking is bad so if the person is a legal adult and gets the information they can choose not to or not. Smoking people knew that was dangerous for many years and its common sense putting smoke into your lungs is bad so why bail them out with lawsuits for being stupid? Same with recreational drugs why make this an issue there is plenty of information, ban the most dangerous drugs like Meth and legalize soft drugs with the information for those age eighteen or older.

Sorry for the rant a bit but either people are an adult or not the law has to pick an age if its eighteen then fine lets allow all adult activities at that age and get this settled.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Well, mandatory evacuation has alot more to do than just everyone leave.  Along with mandatory evacuation comes special consideration for employees, emergency services, evacuation services and other government agencies.  A mandatory evacuation does not mean you must leave, simply means that no one is to impede your leaving and all emergency services are to enter this mode.  Considersations are made by the state police for contraflow traffic and such as well.  So mandatory evacuation is more of a announcement that the government and various agencies are going into this mode. 

As for smoking, at one time this might not have been common sense.  If I was to stand in a smoke filled room, I begin to cough alot.  I feel short of breath, black stuff starts coming up in my sputum and in general I know I have inhaled smoke.  If I smoke, those symptoms do not appear.  People do not die of smoke inhalation but from cancer which can take many years.  Yes, there was a label on the package but there are alot of labels that nobody heeds.  There are also no laws against smoking, people are mainly trying to make sure that others are aware of the risks.  Most laws banning smoking in certain areas has more to do with second-hand smoking.  Civil suits have little to do with law making.

As for drinking at age 18 versus 21.  I do believe there was documentation of the incidents of alcohol related accidents and death occuring between those ages.  Odds are the incidents were dramatically higher than the other time frames.  So that is some sort of objective data marking that period as at risk.  Maturity and being responsible are subjective and so cannot be measured in such a matter.  That alcohol contributed not only to that person's injury but also endangered the lives of others probably had far more bearing on the case.  Someone signs a contract or casts a vote, in essence they do not have the potential to hurt anyone else.  Insurance compnies also came into play since this evidence would justify a massive increase in rates without some sort of intervention.  I believe that was the main reason the federal government used highway funds to get this settled into all states.

[ShrowdedPoet]

I am of the opinion the laws making drinking illegal till 21 is in place for those kids whose parents are not guiding them. It makes it that much harder to obtain what they are not ready to handle.

Actually I've noticed that those kids whose parents do not teach them are more likely to break the law and get what they want.  Either the parents have it lying around.  They have older friends.  They have fake IDs.  They look older than they are.  So many things contribute but I understand your point.  Maybe they should have a class in school?

[ShrowdedPoet]

It makes since to me that if you are considered an adult for everything else you should be considered an adult to drink.  If 18 year olds are not old enough to be mature enough to handle alcohol they shouldn't be old enough to be considered mature enough to vote, go to the army, sign documents etc. . .  But I think there is a time in childrens lives that they have to be given the space to make their mistakes maturity aside or else they will never reach this golden age of maturity at all.  It won't matter how old they get they will still remain immature.

My little sister will be 19 in February.  She has serious issues.  Acts like a 3 year old most of the time.  She is very intelligent but she lacks in maturity.  Why?  May be hard to believe but the same family and most of the same events that made me more mature caused her to regress.  I moved out at 16.  She still lives with my parents.  She doesn't make her own choices.  She isn't given the choice to.  If she had been given more freedom would she have gained more maturity?  I really do think so.  But she wasn't and now she is almost 19 and will very likely get kicked out of the house.  This might force her to grow up and gain that maturity but really will it be too late?  I don't know.  I just know she needs to get out of the house and far away from Helena-West Helena.  Live in a dorm at a college or something.  Get away from the help that's so readily available here and find her maturity. 

So we need to kick our kids out of the nest at some point and I think 18 has been that point.  So kick them out of the nest completely or suffer the consequences.  That's just another in site into the "18 is not mature enough".

[Lilias]

A lot about the drinking problem in many countries stems directly from their culture. I couldn't grasp that until I came to live in the UK.

In Greece there is NO drinking age limit at all. Nobody IDs you, whether at the supermarket or the club door. People think nothing of sending the kids to the corner shop or kiosk for a six-pack when someone drops in. Cafes serve alcohol at all hours. I learned most of what I know about wine at my parents' table, starting when I was no older than 10. Drinking is not fussed over or made to seem like a big deal. There's no temptation to 'break the rules' or binge. You don't see sloshed people making asses of themselves in the streets in broad daylight. What drinking problems we have are linked to adulterated booze and DUI accidents, not alcoholism or drunken brawling.

I'm told that if the age limit in the UK (18) were dropped altogether, there would just be people rolling drunk in the streets in mid-morning instead of just late at night.

Adulthood is in the mind, not in the calendar. You're not much more mature on your 18th birthday than you were the day before, right? Some people never mature enough to handle drink responsibly. But not a taste of alcohol before you're 21? Is taking communion breaking the law too?

I hate the term 'nanny state', but yanno...