College Presidents Lobby to Lower Drinking Age
Last week a group of more than 100 university presidents - including those from prestigious schools such as Dartmouth and Ohio State - made a proposal to lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. The effort is being led by former Middlebury College President John McCardell, who argues that the 21-year-old drinking age has had disastrous consequences on college campuses, including giving rise to a culture of dangerous binge drinking.
Not surprisingly, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the organization that lobbied Congress to raise the drinking age in 1984, had a negative response to the presidents' proposal. They claim that the law has helped save more than 21,000 lives on the roads since it was passed.
However, the college presidents say that binge drinking is becoming more and more of a significant health issue on their campuses. Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks in a sitting for men, and four for women. Nearly half of all college students say they binge drink, regardless of their age, at least once every two weeks. One in five male freshman indicate that they regularly drink more than 10 drinks at a time.
Dozens of students are admitted to hospitals each year with alcohol poisoning, and 1,700 people between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol related injuries.
McCardell points to Europe where the legal drinking ages are, for the most part, 18 or younger, as an example of how policy changes can build healthier drinking cultures.
"Prohibition doesn't work. Why not make it available earlier as a way of preparing young people to deal with alcohol responsibly?" said McCardell in a recent interview.
In those countries where parents introduce teens to alcohol and model how to drink it, drunkeness occurs only in 1 of every 10 drinking sessions. In the US, where teens typically learn about drinking from peers, drunkeness occurs about half the time.
Comments
I WOULD SIGN A PETITION FOR
I WOULD SIGN A PETITION FOR THIS!!!
me too! about damn time. you
me too! about damn time. you can die for country but you can't buy a budweiser. where is the justice?!?!
That is a very good point!
That is a very good point! At 18 you can go to war but can't drink?! Isn't that something?!
Only in America can you get
Only in America can you get such absurdities.
Good points!
This makes sense!! In places, such as Europe, the drinking age is lower and there are fewer problems and alcohol related deaths among college age students. (At least thats what I got from the article). I also agree with exposing teenagers to healthy drinking practices along with parental involvement!
Drinking Age
Face it kids cant drink all of the time but when they can, they drink a lot in a short amount of time! There has to be a change to make young people be more responsible...
well...
i DEFINITELY think this is a good idea. HOWEVER, i would make the drinking age 19, not 18. Only one year, you say? Here's the difference. In May or June when the school year is over, high schools are littered with 18-year-olds who have just graduated. In high school, it was much harder to get alcohol than in college because in college, you just ask a senior to go buy for you. Let's not make it that easy for high school.
Drinking Age
As the mother of two college students, I would like to see the US drinking age mirror Europe and be 16 so that kids are taught to drink responsibly. There was already an alcohol posioning incident on my kids campus and it is day 3 of the new year.
Plus, don't forget MADD does
Plus, don't forget MADD does not allow independents to audit their studys. Their flawed stats are nothing compared to the truth of underage binge drinking. The "outlaw appeal" alone leads several teens to consume one of the last leagal drugs out there. Plus with so many peers available to buy it, underagers having access to booze is easy and cheap.
Do it. Do it now.
Do it. Do it now.
My college's president has
My college's president has signed this and we couldn't be more proud.
Darmouth? I'm not familiar
Darmouth? I'm not familiar with that school...
its not about
its not about rights/justice, it's about safety. the problem is that it's easy for MADD to say "we've saved 21,000 lives, yada yada" and ignore factors like antilock brakes, harsher criminal penalties, etc. the point is that introducing alcohol at a younger age, with parental supervision breeds maturity. if you tell someone "i don't trust you" (drinking age=21), they'll say "screw you". if you tell someone "i trust you, this is the proper way to do xyz", they'll say "cool, whatever".
Are you serious?
There are other IMPORTANT things that needs to be focused on than legalizing the age limit for 'booze'.
The number 2-1 stands a reason why that is the legitimate age to purchase and/or consume alcoholic beverage.
The government should not approve this at all. Look around you and the teens out and about, they don't know how to act! Especially if they consume alcohol in their systems! NO! NO! NO!
I disagree
I don't understand why people think that making something legal at a younger age will automatically make those young people involved more responsible. I don't think lowering the age will do any good and I don't think it will make young people more responsible. I think that it might just encourage more young people to drink.
Drinking age
I am totally in agreement on this. The MADD numbers are skewed. Yes it is true lives have been saved since 1984, but how much of that has to do with seat belt laws and air bags. These are not factered into the numbers.
Also if you are adult enough to get married, sign contracts, serve in the military, pay taxes, then you are adult enough to drink.
I also believe this is discrimination of the highest order. Maybe all those under 21 should be tried as juveniles for all offenses since their rights are being trampled on. Of how about this. since they do not have all their rights any contract they sign is null and void, or their parents are responsible for them until age 21 not 18.
drinking
It's clear, college presidents are attempting to relieve themselves of burdensome responsibility. If it becomes legal to drink at age 18 then they no longer have to monitor or control this scurge on their campuses. If the age is lowered to 18 then far more in school will begin drinking while there.
Good Idea
I am currently in the military and I have seen this in action. In Japan they lowered the drinking age to 20, and with in three months underage drinking was reduced dramatically but the alcohol related crime went through the roof. Rape, assault, theft, and destruction of property were the highest. I agree that lowering the age so that kids can learn better drinking habits would be an improvement, but there needs to also be stricter laws and much harsher penalties for public drunkenness, and other alcohol related crimes. With a lower drinking age and better laws/punishments I would say that in about 10 years are kids would be more responsible drinkers, as well it might help give them a little more responsibility and make them feel like they are more adults.
Germany
I agree with lowering the drinking age like like they have it in Europe, with one caveat: the FIRST drunk-driving incident should be met with revoking that person's driver's license for life like they do in Germany. You know what? Germany doesn't have a drunk-driving problem. Let the idiots who want to kill themselves do so with alcohol poisoning, but make sure they're not taking out the rest of us with drunk driving. 18-year-old majority, and zero tolerance for impaired drivers.
I am an underage college
I am an underage college student at one of the most notorious party schools in the country, and I see first hand why a 21 drinking age is a problem. Everyone in college drinks, regardless of their age, and that isn't going to change. The problem is that someone underage really only has access to alcohol at large frat/house parties. Since they cannot go buy some alcohol or go to a bar, this is the only option many underclassmen have. At these parties, it is not only encouraged, but basically mandatory to get completely trashed. There is no moderation. If you are of age, you can go to a bar and have a couple of drinks to relax. There is no pressure to get drunk. But, when alcohol is a forbidden fruit, people can't help but over-indulge.
Also, at 18 one can: get married, smoke, vote, fight(and die) in the military, and even bartend! So someone underage can make you a drink, but can't taste it themselves. This is outrageous.
Drinking Age
This Line of defense must be kept at 21 - no questions.
By lowering the limits you are pushing potential problems to even lower -pre-legal drinking age. If you want to tech your kid to drink responsibly - nothing prevents you to do it now on your own premises as long as it does not effect others - your neighbors - your visitors... And if you as a parent can't do it responsibly this way at your home - what will you be able to achieve by lowering drinking age - creating "responsible teens drinking parties?"
Just imagining a bunch of high school kids attending one of those and spilling out on the street makes me fill creepy. Kids these days barely can keep their boundaries of respect to authorities - forget parents, add a little buzz to it and you get yourself highly volatile explosives! Don't be crazy - teach your kids to respect the law and if you need to tech them responsible drinking - do it in privacy of your own family - do not try to hand over responsibility for that to our overstretched police and other institutions - this is crazy!
republicans versus democrats once again
how funny that you can totally tell who is voting for barack and who is voting for mccain just by their comments here. ha ha
IM NOT A MORON!
Just look at how retarded you are all being right now,and you think you should be able to drink at 18. Most 18 year olds already drive like they are drunken idiots, imagine when they really are. There is no good reason to actually change the legal drinking age, all of the statistics will just move down three years and increase. When your in war your facing a gun at your enemies, when driving and under the influence you're pointing a one and a half to two ton missle at innocent civilians. I can tell you now that the majority of these children will end up driving under the influence. You see im not for lowering the age because IM NOT A MORON!
all amateurs want it
all amateurs want it lowered.
your a moron
your a moron
shut up
i think you can drink
Both Sides*
Being only 17 myself, I think it would be cool if the age was lower but that's the teenage part of me. If we step back and look at the broad picture.... just by lowering the age you're not necessarily going to limit kids from drinking. Believe me, there are kids in my school who drink all the time! If they were allowed to buy alcohol for themselves and not through some outside source, they would most likely become alcoholics. Maybe lowering it a year but 18 in my opinion is too young.
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