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sorry im English i just dont understand you are classed as an adult at 18 if you live in England is it the same in America? if not why cant you drink until you are 21? it seems a bit contradictry to me.

2006-12-25 15:58:14 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture Etiquette

29 answers

yes, we can also go to war at 18..but no drinking.

2006-12-25 16:05:28 · answer #1 · answered by xidontwanttotalkaboutitx 2 · 2 2

I don't think lawmakers see drinking as an adult privelege.

It is really not about being old enough to vote, or old enough to be drafted into war. What it really is about is maturity level and the college campus atmosphere.

18 may be an adult age ( exit high school), but people are still young and immature and engage in risky behavior as not all 18 year olds think of themselves as adults with responsibilities.

Here, kids just start to go off to college at 17/18. They think it's freedom= freedom to do whatever. As a result, the average college/university campus (public) has a very "party"like atmosphere, which means drugs, sex, and drinking. Drinking has caused too many deaths and incidents(car accidents, fraternity/sorority houses, rapes), so many colleges have become "dry" or alcohol free.

At 21/22, most kids have finished college,and therefore will have more experience to learn responsibility.

Simply put, even though 18 year olds assume the adult label, they do not yet tihnk they are fully adult, and still engage in what psychologists view as risky behavior in which they think they are immune to poisoning, car accidents, fights, etc...

2006-12-25 16:14:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

You can do everything including vote at 18, but drinking, that comes at 21.In some states, like Alabama you must be 19 to buy cigarettes and lotto tickets, but in most places you can do that at 18. It had to do with the draft. Back in the day, WWII, drinking age, voting age, draft age was 21 (Selective Service and Training Act of 1940, signed by Wilson). In Vietnam, the powers that be decided that they needed more bodies, so they lowered the draft age to 18. Protests ensued, they can die in a war, but can't vote? Voting age was lowered first by the Voting Rights Act of 1970 and made a constitutional amendment in 1971 (the 26th amendment). In 1984, public pressure (people thought that young drinkers were more likely to drive drunk) led to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which stipulated that the minimum drinking age in the United States be 21. Technically, a state can have lower drinking ages, but if they do, they will lose basically all federal money for schools, roads, and other public works projects.
Hope that helps.

2006-12-25 22:21:58 · answer #3 · answered by joanby 3 · 2 0

The real reason for the draft age of 18 and the drinking age of 21 is that draft age is set by the national government and is federal law. As far as this country is concerned, you are adult at 18 (hence you can vote in NATIONAL elections). However, the federal government has NO CONTROL over drinking age as this is a STATE law. Your state dictates the 21 year old requirement. Therefore, it is not a contradiction but rather a question of jurisdiction.

I win.

2006-12-25 16:08:20 · answer #4 · answered by James 2 · 2 0

It's true that people can't buy alcohol until they are 21. However, being an adult involves other things. For instance, if you are 18 or over and you are accused of a crime, you are tried as an adult. Also, 18-year-olds can vote.

2006-12-25 17:44:21 · answer #5 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0 0

Well yea according to congress , by 18 ur considered urself as a legal adult. gives u independence, voting rights. and so on,, But i think the one responsible for making the legal drinking age is the states...According to the states, u aint got the mental capability to make wise judgments when ur under the influence of alcohol. Just like there are no state peace officers under the age of 21, who can carry a firearm,,,, hoped this help.

2006-12-29 02:15:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

one of the answers before mine is only partially true. it is up to states to set drinking ages. however the federal government still has a hand in it. Wyoming had the age limit at 19 for a few years when i was 18 til i was 20...then the federal government threatened to take away all the tax money set aside for our state highway fund if we didn't change it back to 21....so i could drink from age 19-201/2 then they changed the age to 21 and i couldn't go to bars for 6 months or so...

2006-12-25 16:50:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

People used to be able to drink at age 18 until the government decided to raise it to 21. They threatened to withhold grants from the states if they didn't comply, since it is up to the states. Louisiana didn't for a long time, and had horrible roads for many years because of it.

2006-12-25 19:49:26 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

gold: Here, in Canada, we have a drinking age of 18 years. For the most part, it needs changing because at 18 years of age, the 18 year-olds behave like they are 14 years old when they are plied with alcohol. This may sound like an extreme generalization, but ... I have had 19 year olds tell me that the drinking age needs to be raised to 21 years and some have wanted it raised to 25 years. With drugs running rampant in our society, the last thing needed is kids plied with alcohol to boot. Just because 18 year olds are classified as "adult", doesn't mean he or she is mature either, emotionally nor mentally .

2006-12-25 16:06:02 · answer #9 · answered by guraqt2me 7 · 1 1

nicely ingesting age was once 18 yet highways had to be geared up so the government pushed the ingesting age to 21 so all and sundry under who will pay an excellent for being caught ought to help fund the line enlargement around the U.S. And sure it would not make any experience that 18=adulthood if brains arn't stepped forward completely till mid 20's yet i think of the government felt it may complicate lots greater to push adulthood age to 21 in terms of militia and cigarette tax shrink.

2016-10-18 23:55:44 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

Some laws in the US are federal, while some are state. Federal law establishes the age of majority, for example, but state law established the legal drinking age.

I'm Canadian, and there are a great man things about the US that make no sense to me, either. For example, in the US, you can be on the ballot for president in one state but in none of the other 49. Really, you can. But one state isn't enough to get you elected, so why would a single state allow this?

I don't know about you, but sometimes I don't even try to understand. Sometimes, it's just not worth it.

2006-12-25 16:13:37 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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