What is your position on Teen drinking?

Question

I just finished writing a paper on it, and I'm curious to know your positions on it. It was more an opinion article than a paper, really, and I decided that when (if) America, as a people, learn to be more responsible drinkers, then the drinking age should be lowered or even abolished.

What do you think?

Answer 1

It's an interesting debate.

I think that American society glamorizes drinking way to much, making it appear to teens as the forbidden fruit. I've seen it happen to many kids going to college that they can't handle their new found freedom - thinking that they have to party like rock stars, failing out of school and waisting $1Ks. They spent the years leading up to college watching MTV Spring Break and think that every day in college has to be drinking festival.

Watch any sporting event, a majority of the ads glamorize beer drinking. Where I live, the 6:30 news is followed by Entertainment Tonight or similar knock-off on every channel, which does what - follow the escapedes of Britney & Lindsey - America's degenerate celebrity teenagers. How is a teenager supposed to develop a sense of responsible consumption when this is what they have beamed at them every day?

I'm not sure lowering the drinking age helps the problem. I don't really think the age limit is the problem. Very few kids wait until they turn 21 to start drinking. I tend to agree with the argument that if someone is old enough to be sent into war they should be old enough to buy a beer legally.

Answer 2

I think allowing kids under the age of 18 to drink would be a mistake. Largely because a law like that would rely on parents being responsible for their children and teaching their child responsibility, which we seem to have a big problem with in this country. 18 year olds can purchase cigarettes which cause many more long term problems and there are far more people addicted to cigarettes than alcohol. The drinking age being 21 here is pretty stupid. Once someone hits 18 they should be considered an adult. People that age drink, the law doesn't stop them, and I think it's ridiculous to say the law not being in place would cause them to drink more. The ones that don't do so responsibly will still drink and even if they didn't drink they probably wouldn't become any more responsible before they are 21. Responsibility is something you are taught at a young age, it isn't typically something people just acquire over time. We could save a lot of police man hours and court time if the drinking age was 18. As with everything of this nature, it all starts with parents teaching their kids to be responsible and safe.

Answer 3

Really, lowering or abolishing the drinking age would not make that great of a difference, aside from the loss of fines paid out by all of those who get caught, and for some, the novelty would wear off sooner.

Those teens who really want to drink are already doing so, regardless of what the law says. Maybe things are different in some places, but in rural areas, a lot of teens already drink. Getting a "minor" (ticket for minor in possession or consumption of alcohol) was almost like a rite of passage when I was in high school. Of course, now the laws are tougher and the schools more strict, so there aren't as many kids drinking as there used to be, but there's still plenty. And there will continue to be, legal or not.

Answer 4

My opinion is that I think the whole 21 thing is rediculous. They will send you off to war as early as 17, send you to prison even, but you cant have a single beer until you are 21?
I understand the whole responsibility issue, too. There are alot of fatal teen accidents caused by alcohol, but If it wasnt forbidden or against the rules, would it be so "cool"?
I myself have been drinking for a while. I had my first drink at 12. although I never actually got "drunk" until I was 16. I am 20 now and I still drink on the weekends and stuff, but I feel that I am mature enough to do so. I have NEVER drove drunk, or ne thing like that...

Answer 5

I am against teen drink 1 reason being is that I feel like teens are still kids and can't handle the responsibility of drinking...Hell I am 24 and can barely handle the responsibility of drinking. Many people drink to grab hold to this false sense of confidence (loss of inhibitions) but besides that you lose much more like good judgment. It simply isn't worth the trouble you're still young and I'm sure teens your age can liven up a party or get together without drinking alcohol.

Answer 6

It's not likely to happen in America. Some people here will always continue to shirk their responsibilities or deny them. It's deeply embedded into our culture. It will take a very long to change. We stress individualism and that's one of the cons of individualism as far as I'm concerned and one of my biggest angst's with this country. We are all connected. Freedom comes with a price called responsibility and accountability. Take the good with the bad. I think if we allowed teens to drink then teens already drinking might drink even more to excess, especially if they have alcoholic parents or relatives. It seems likely that we would have more problems. I don't know anyone that drinks because it's illegal. Who cares? If people do then they are really boring and kind of pathetic because aren't there better and more fun things to do? Who are they hurting by illegally drinking? The law is designed to protect, not punish. It also saves us all money because if it were legal then we would have a lot more problems to deal with as a result of irresponsible drinking. The law deters the smarter and more conscientious kids.

Answer 7

Are you from the States?

I'm from London and our legal drinking age is 18.

I'm 18 now and enjoy it.
Yes, I drank illegally between the ages of 12 and 18 but that's just in a teens nature. I didn't do it out of moderation until I was well into my 7teens.

However, I hate it when I see drunken little 13 year olds thinking they act older than they look.

There were apparent talks about the drinking age here going up to 21 but that would cause so much uproar!
I know I wouldn't be happy.
They can't just take away human rights like that.
So, yeh...
My views are pretty varied.

Answer 8

Disagree.

It's already legal for parents to give their kids alcohol in the home. Also in the off-season I let my 12 year old daughter have a tiny fraction of a glass of wine with her meal at her favorite Italian restaurant - from which we walk home. That's like 2-3 times a YEAR. And we're talking 3-4 sips' worth of Merlot or Malbec - enough to get a taste of it to wash down your veal. She sees a very small amount of wine with food, outside of the soccer season, as appropriate. This is one of the few things my mom did right was allow me to have a beer with dinner, again not during the season and not if I was going out afterward. And what did I do in college? Yeah I had a few nights where I drank too much but 'too much' was 3-4 beers, maybe 1-2 times I had 5-6, but not 8, I never drank during the season and a car was never involved. After exams in law school yeah, I drank the hard stuff, but again that would be one time per semester and no car involved.

So your concept works but you don't have to make drinking legal to do it, and it works only if there's a responsible parent involved.

Answer 9

I am personally against teenage drinking. Teenagers have enough going on with just learning how to drive, peer pressure, raging hormones just to name a few. Add to that the possibilities of maybe getting into a car after having a couple of drinks and a mother looses a child or a child looses a father or mother. So that is why I would be against it.

Answer 10

Look at every other country compared to America, why do we have way more issues with teen drinking....because its illegal. You tell someone dont do this and dont do that, they are going to do it. When my mother let me drink in my young days I did it but I did not like it so I have never drunk since then. Make it legal and make the parents be responsible for the childs actions.