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Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18?N.C. Headlines |
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Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18?N.C. Headlines |
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Recent comments
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lowering the drinking age
What an absolutely horrible idea. How could anyone advocate something like this. Look at how teenagers act nowadays. You're gonna let them go drink LEGALLY? I think it would be bad, bad policy. Alcohol-related crashes (and deaths) would skyrocket. Start giving them beer legally and see what happens.
I'm not some old stick-in-the-mud either. I'm barely 30 and I go out and have lots of fun. But today's kids are different. They are rude, insolent, violent, and, perhaps most importantly, are too just plain stupid to be allowed this kind of dangerous privilege. Obviously I am generalizing a bit here, but more people will die in this scenario, I am sure of it.
Guesticle, I am so sorry you
Guesticle, I am so sorry you feel this way. Before you continue making such stronger remarks, I recommend you do some research outside of "[going] out and [having] lots of fun." It would be beneficial to you to learn some about the actual numbers before you make ignorant assumptions that "more people will die". With that in mind, I hope you can go and learn about the problem and possible solutions and broaden your mind before you make any more scathing comments.
i agree.....
i may be only in my teens, but i totally agree. because if you really think about this do you want your children drinking and getting into trouble or even worse, wrecks. that would be terrible. i don't think that this should change to 18. it is bad enough the way it is.
If you are old enough to
If you are old enough to vote, be sentenced to death, fight for you country, serve jury duty, and get married and have children then you are definetly old enough to drink. Eighteen year olds drink anyways so why not make it legal. That way parents can teach "safe drinking" and colleges can regulate drinking instead of students doing it anyways and getting alcohol poisoning. If the age is lowered to 18, 18-20 year olds won't be hiding in cars, houses, hotel rooms etc. to drink! Our jails are full enough as it is without all the underage drinkers! Lower it! And NO, more teens won't die because they will be going to bars where bartenders keep an eye on how much they drink and they will most likely take a DD because they are responsible! Just because you're under 21 does not mean you're careless!
You are off the chain
I think you have lost touch with reality and are therefore off the chain if you honestly think that enlisting in the military and drinking alcohol are equivalent experiences. Your logic is that if you can fight for this country, you should be able to drink. One hardly equals the other. By your logic, I could say that just because I can go out and legally get an abortion, I should be able to kill ANY baby at any time. Do you see the fault with your logic? Just because you can do one thing does NOT mean you should be able to do something else.
Look at statistics regarding young drivers and compare them to statistics of older, more experienced drivers.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-20 year olds. Teens have the highest involvement rates in all types of crashes. 77% of teen crashes involved avoidable driver errors. 31,000 people were killed in crashes involving teens between 1995 and 2004. In a 4-year period, over 4,000 American soldiers were killed in incidents that were war-related. In the same time period, over 27,000 teens 15-19 died in car crashes on U.S. roadways. (SOURCE: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.)
Teenagers are far more likely to be involved in auto accidents than any other age group. Adding alcohol to that scenario is just plain ridiculous and irresponsible. This is part of the reason why the drinking age was raised in the first place. Young, inexperienced drivers are enough of a hazard on the road as it is; fueling that risk by lowering the drinking age puts even MORE citizens at risk of being involved in accidents.
You argue that parents and colleges would be able to regulate teen drinking if the legal age for drinking alcohol was lowered. Are you serious?? As you noted, many of those under age 21 already drink. If parents and colleges can't regulate it NOW, what makes you think they would be any better at regulating it if the drinking age was lowered and even MORE people under age 21 were drinking? They can't even get a handle on it now!
I also find it interesting that each of your scenarios involves underage drinkers not assuming responsibility for their own actions. You say the parents and college administrators should be the ones governing teen drinkers. You also note that bartenders should be responsible for making sure those under 21 don't drink too much. One thing you are correct about is that being under age 21 does not automatically mean you are careless. The flip side of that is that it also does not mean you are responsible.
i agree
I'm 15 and i dont wanna see drunk seniors at school every day.
Do not change the drinking age to 18!!!!
Absouloutly not, The drinking age should not be lowered because we already have enough people dying in this country. Especially, what is happening with drinking and driving
can go along but,
I can go along with you on this but, then do not ask, order or expect an 18 year old to defend his country and risk his life. If you are old enough to die by order of the government then the government should not bar you from anything any other adult may do. So it is easy. If you may enlist at 18 and die at 18 then you should be able to participate fully in every other adult activity. On the other hand, just raise the age of recruitment to 21. Then again, all things would be equal.
But do not even think about saying no, to a less than 21 year old coming back from a war without a limb, or and eye, or any scars to the heart! And don't even think about saying no to the "kid" you are sending off to his father's or grandfather's war!
drinking age
i think it should be lowered bc if men and women are old enought to fight in the war and go in the army why should they not be able to drink .its not like they are not drinking anyway bc they are
age of drinking
My comment is why do you have to drink period.
Geez I can have a good time without my brain being screwed up and knowing the next day I will probably have a hangover. This generation needs to sober up and leave drugs and drinking alone. As it looks now you are going to need a clear mind to save whats left of USA
Selective Government Control
The drinking age used to be 18 - I never understood why it was raised in the first place. If a teenager wants to drink, they will drink regardless of the law. I may be wrong, but I think MADD had alot to do with the decision to raise it. My two cents: The issue should not be the drinking age, rather, it should be increased checkpoints, education, and more extreme penalties for driving while drunk. If they are mature enough to fight a war and vote to elect our government officials, they should have the right to drink - Or, the enlistment and voting age should be raised.
I am a parent of two young
I am a parent of two young adults ages 20 and 18, I have never had a problem with alcohol with either of them and they are both very social. My youngest went off to college last year and still no problem... with that being said I am not oblivious to the fact that either of them have drank while away from home. I have always trusted the honesty we have had with our children and explained the responsibility of drinking and driving, alcohol poisioning and how alcohol makes you do crazy things that you would not otherwise do sober. I have to believe that I have trust in them to be responsible when being social. That leads me to the conclusion that I feel if you teach your children to be responsible and they know what kind of trust they have with thier parents...( there are always exceptions) the age of drinking doesn't matter as long as you are of legal age. I agree if you are old enough to fight for your country, sign legal documents, vote for your countries leaders, serve jury duty, get married, buy cigarettes and defend yourself in a court of law if need be at the age of 18, you should be old enough to buy a drink. They give you the right at 16 to decide if you want to go to school. I also think that if the age were lowered to 18, it would not be such a challenge to these kids, they seem to always want what they can't have. They are always gonna find a way to get what they want.
Hmm
I think your right on some levels,but... why would you say it's ok to your kids that they can be hurt or do things they don't normally do? If you don't give your kids challenges they wont have a mind of their own and they'll expect everything to be easy. I'm eighteen, and it's great that you are able to trust your kids but they are only human and they will always make mistakes. It's true that we get to have many other privilages but 18 doesn't exactly mean your an adult and by the way 18 year olds abuse alcohol trust me you would think differently!Lowering the drinking age can only mean things could get worse than what they already are. 18 year olds do drink despite what their parents say but why would't you care?
Yes it should be lowered
I completely agree. When you are 18 you are an adult and why shouldn't an adult be able to order a drink and decide for themselves. Why should they be treated less than other adult American citizens.
Hell lets just legalize
Hell lets just legalize marijuana too! We're going to be able to get it anyway! Cocaine should be as well! I could find that easier than pot! Yeah! I'm a genius! No wait, there's a reason its at 21. The human brain is still developing. Boo hoo! They'll do it no matter what, but with 18 it would be legal for one to be drinking and then driving and have a collision with your family member...at 21 you typically would think before driving. Use your brain, unless you already lost it before you even turned 21.
A 21 year old is NO more
A 21 year old is NO more responsible than a 18-20 year old. Age is just a number, i know 10 year olds more responsible than 30 year olds.. If you can legally marry, fight for your country, have kids, vote, serve jury duty, buy cigarettes etc.. You can most certainly drink!
NC Drinking Age
The drinking age in NC should be lowered from 21 to 20. At age 18 or 19, you're considered a teenager. Hint the word.
Teenagers
Do you mean like the teenagers that are fighting in Iraq?
Guest1022, you mean those
Guest1022, you mean those teenagers that are trained to fight in Iraq? Will there be some sort of training for teenagers before they legally drink? I highly doubt it.
good point !
good point !
Teenagers in Iraq
YouYour argument that it is ok that we have teenagers in Iraq because they are trained is crap!! No one is ever sufficiently trained to fight in a war or to be in a kill or be killed situation. If we can allow people that are 16 to drop out of school and then at the age of 18 to fight in wars, die for our country and vote to make decisions about our country, then they should be allowed to decide if they are old enough to drink.
In Europe and Australia the drinking age is 18 and they don’t seem to have the binge drinking problems that we have here. No one even at the age of 21 has it wired on how to drink and not go overboard. So arguing that 21 years olds are better trained to handle drinking is again dare I say it crap! Talking to your children on the dangers of drinking does help! Education is the key to many of our societal woes, not sticking our head in the sand and say no kids!!
The sufficency of the
The sufficency of the training is certainly a subjective argument, and completely beside the point. There will be NO training for younger drinkers, will there? No. There will not. And you did not see me say that 21 year olds are better trained, but one could make the argument that they are a bit more mature. Again, beside the point.
How much time have you actually spent in Europe or Ozland? Clearly none, if you believe there are not issues with binge-drinkers right on par with what we have here. Been there...done that...lots. Their attitudes are surely not as uptight about it, but make no mistake, they have the same issues there.
Until penalties are more severe for DUI/DWI, I will absolutely NOT support the age being lowered. Period.
...
If you can go off and die for your country you ought to be able to get a drink. and about the training argument... kids are taught all through school in their health classes the dangers of alcohol. I'd call that training... When they're 18 and they are legally an adult then there is no reason why they can't drink. the studdies actually show that drinking slows rapidly or even stops once people reach 22 and older. why? because its simple psychology that if your told that your not allowed to do something your gonna do it. Alot more than if It was allowed. Drinking age should be lowered to 18.
Drinking age
The drinking age has always been a controversy for years. But I believe that is these young men and women can go to war and defend our country than they should have the right to drink legally at 18.
If the argument is drinking and driving, I think cell phone use is more of a threat on the road right now than alcohol!
How true.... cell phones
How true.... cell phones seem to be more distracting these days!!