18 to serve the country, 21 to have a drink? What's up with that?

Answer 1

at 18 you can drink on most military bases...

i did a paper on this on school.. and it really does make logical sense.

your brain is not fully developed until your 21...

however, your brain is able to make educated decisions and understand consequences at as young as 16...
that's why some 16+17 year olds can get convicted as adults in some cases in court...

at 21, your brain fully develops the ability to control things that often cloud ones mind who plans to drink... like hormones and peer-pressure... at 21, your brain is supposed to be able to put logic before outside forces like peer pressure, etc.. Your brain is also supposed to be able to control itself, like not drinking more then you can handle...

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the drinking age is state-law...

however, the government provides millions of dollars of much needed state highway funding (which is used for tons of different costly things) to states that have their drinking age set to 21. If a state changes its drinking age to 18, it loses that funding.

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Answer 2

The voting age used to be 21 as well, for a while. When there was a draft for Vietnam, there was an outcry against this, since the draft age was 18. The voting age was lowered, but the drinking age remained. It's technically a state decision; but the states in this case are highly pressured by the federal govenment to keep the drinking age the same. I personally think it is rediculous- almost everyone in college drinks, of age or no- the ones who do not drink rarely abstain from drinking solely because of the law. Also, almost every other country has a drinking age of 18 or younger.

Answer 3

Ok, I can speak from the idea of "been there, done that".
Years ago, 18 year olds could buy drinks, serve in the military, etc. Drinking on base was legal at any age as long as you were active duty.
But over time, too many 18 year olds showed they couldn't handle the freedom of drinking. The states then upped the age to 21, but the bases still allowed the active duty rule. So young military people started buying their alcohol on base then went into town. So now, you have to be 21 on base also to buy alcohol. Stop the whining, the young ones did this to themselves.

Answer 4

I have had 18, 19, and 20 year-olds work for me over the years. The 21 year-old drinking age is a good decision.

Choosing to enlist is quite different from having the judgment to handle the combined pressures of late adolescence and intoxicating beverages.

If we must have balance--consider increasing the age for military service. That would balance this equation and end the argument once and for all. I'd settle for all my new troops arriving at age 21 or more.

There would be ZERO problems with underage drinking in the dormitories! If I had to guess--I'd bet it would also reduce DUIs among first-term troops, unintended pregnancies, property damage to living spaces, on-base traffic violations, shoplifting at exchanges, and the list goes on.

PLEASE don't let them drink any younger--it's bad enough already.

Answer 5

18 to vote, as well. The government trusts that at the age of 18, we are mature enough to handle MOST adult decisions--volunteering for the military, voting, representing ourselves as adults.

The federal government set the drinking age limit at 21 because of dissension between the drinking ages of the individual states; imagine having two states on the east coast, one with a drinking age of 18 and one with a drinking age of 21... you'd get a lot of kids going from one state to the other, only to drive home completely sh**faced and cause accidents. Because this wastes law enforcement funding, the federal government set an arbitrary age limit of 21; states have the option to reduce the age, but at the cost of federal funding.

Answer 6

it means your congress passed a law doing away with a drinking age of 18, and replaced it with a drinking age of 21.

since it is federal law, and not state law for the drinking age, even military establishments cant serve drinks to anyone under the age of 21.

yeah, its the pits. you can die for your country at 18, but you cant drink a toast to it with alcohol untill you are 21.

Answer 7

The legal drinking age in Australia is 18yrs the government changed it from 21 after the Vietnam war they figured if you could get conscripted at 18 you are classed as an adult so you should be able to do all the things adults are legally allowed to do makes sense to me.

Answer 8

That is why Britains better than you

DOODAR DOODAR

Thats why Britain is better than you

ALL THE DOODAR DAY

LOL


No its 16 to join the Army ( cannot go on operations until after 18th Birthday and its more like a college course with drill ), 17 to drive ( its 16 in the US right? ) 18 to vote and 18 to drink ( although the unofficial drinking age is anything above 13 as long as your not caught. lol. at least you would think if you came here ).

I have always though it strange the US doesnt trust its kids with a beer but does trust them with a gun. INTERESTING to say the least

VERY INTERESTING

Answer 9

As a young man, I ask this very question to a much older friend and his answer was a very good one.

At 18 or so I can trained to react in a situation and trained how conduct myself and fire my weapons and such.

I cannot be trained how to act while consuming alcohol or drunk and furthermore, most young adults cannot regulate or control their alcohol intake. I have seen this many times where they slam a pint of vodka for example, then suddenly they are too torn up to enjoy the party, so they puke their guts up. Sounds like fun to me!

May not be the best answer, but it is a good one.

Answer 10

once you're in the militia, they coach you the thank you to be a soldier....weapons guidance, drilling, cleansing, obeying orders, etc...they coach you the thank you to act on the battlefield. as quickly as you're out of boot camp, somebody of an superior rank is often protecting a watch on you to ensure you're doing what you're meant to do. And, there are severe repercussions in case you screw up. In different words, you're taught and monitored. no one can "coach" you the thank you to drink responsibly, the thank you to act once you're eating.... it quite is a found out habit that an 18 twelve months previous isn't mature adequate to handle. often times you are able to earn the appropriate to get grownup privileges......