Drinking age lowered to 18?

[devonin]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

but FYI I didn't insult anyone in this thread

You called a number of users collectively pathetic. That's an insult.

[RawrInc]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Dumbasses at this age will give into peer pressure

You are calling a lot of people a demeaning name.

Not everyone will go past there limits, most people who get alcohol poisoning do it accidentally.

[UnkownMan]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

You called a number of users collectively pathetic. That's an insult.

He is right, you know. How could we be pathetic? We aren't flaming, to be honest. We're just making discussion.

*hides from thread*

[awein999]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

rzr: that might be true in a small population of people that encounter a close or personal experience related to drinking, but that had no effect on people around the world because most think "aww whatever that will never happen to me" and forget about the incident.

[-Yukari-]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Oh tru dat Devonin I didn't mean it in a bad way though. I mean it kind of is if you think about it. Anyway my apologies.

[-lolwut-]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

You are calling a lot of people a demeaning name.

Not everyone will go past there limits, most people who get alcohol poisoning do it accidentally.

no, you dont accidentally put down 10 beers and go whoops... gee i might have drank a little bit much. and im not calling everyone who drinks dumbasses. just people who try to test the boundaries and see how far they can push their luck before hurting themselves

[MrRubix]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

I just figure that kids are going to drink anyway regardless of the age limit. How many times do we need to learn the lessons of prohibition that history has clearly laid down before us? We may as well lower the limit and put a focus on the realistic implications of drinking, instead of cutting away a potentially useful open arena and then leaving kids to figure out the effects of drinking in an environment where they are essentially on their own.

At least when someone's 18, they're finishing up high school. That is a good time to learn to drink responsibly -- where you won't feel like you're doing something illegal and essentially drinking behind closed doors. It's fun to get drunk once in a while, but a lot of kids come to college having NO IDEA what their limits are. And the reality is, bad things do happen. I've seen countless freshmen get sent to the hospital as a result of alcohol-related incidents. I also know two girls firsthand who have been raped because they were too drunk to know what was going on. The US's limit is considered high compared to the rest of the world, and they seem to be managing relatively fine.

I think lowering the age to 18 and giving teenagers exposure to alcohol before they go off to college is a healthier alternative. Lowering the age removes the "forbidden fruit" aspect to alcohol, and gives teenagers a chance to experience/discuss it in an open manner such that it isn't simply a function of "bypassing something illegal."

I also agree with Shash that driving is far more dangerous. It never made *any* sense to me why I could get a license as early as 16, and yet I wasn't allowed to have a beer until 5 years after? Seems very backwards to me.

[rzr]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

rzr: that might be true in a small population of people that encounter a close or personal experience related to drinking, but that had no effect on people around the world because most think "aww whatever that will never happen to me" and forget about the incident.

Which is sad, but true. And then they try it. And they mess up. And they experience it. And they realize they shouldn't do it. And for those who don't mess up... Congratulations.

[devonin]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

The problem is that all age limits on things are by definition completely arbitrary. As there is never any appreciable difference between your ability to reason, consider consequences and make rational, affirming decisions on the day before your 21st birthday and the day of your 21st birthday, setting the limit at 21 is completely arbitrary and worthless.

So we make it 20, and we say the same thing of the two days between 19 and 20, and so on and so on.

But then you shouldn't just remove the limit entirely, even though you can logic it out of existance, nor should you render these things all completely illegal, I'm a firm believer in individual rights.

The trick seems to be to pick an age where you as a nation feel comfortable assuming that the -majority- of that age are sufficiently intelligent, mature and reasonable, as compared to years previous.

It just really shows America's puritanical background that they have basically the strictest alcohol consumption laws ON EARTH besides countries that for (usually) religious reasons have simply banned alcohol consumption outright.

[RawrInc]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

no, you dont accidentally put down 10 beers and go whoops... gee i might have drank a little bit much. and im not calling everyone who drinks dumbasses. just people who try to test the boundaries and see how far they can push their luck before hurting themselves

You haven't drank you personally don't know what drinking is like at all. Hearing about it and doing it are two completely different things. You are talking about something you know nothing about.

For example ; One time when I was still testing my limits. I had a glass full of alcohol. Shortly after I blacked out. (which is not being able to remeber anything within a certain time period.) I kept drinking till I had had a few bottles. I woke up in a hospital. I definitely wouldn't have done that knowing what I know now.

My whole point is don't talk about something you know nothing about.

[MrRubix]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

devonin: I think 17-18 is an appropriate cutoff simply because at that age, most students are still in high school. Most 21 year olds will be in college, where they're technically on their own when it comes to day-to-day decision making, independent of the direct influence/orders/wishes of their parents. I don't think "average judgment" is significantly different at either age when it comes to 18 vs. 21, but I do think there is a huge difference when it comes to situational and environment differences. I simply feel that you're better off learning in one environment versus the other.

[rzr]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Well, the thing about calling people who drink too much dumbasses is they can be addicted. The smartest person in the world could be an alcoholic and never know it. But I don't think any of us want to debate the meaning of the word dumbass.

[devonin]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

That sounds eminantly reasonable to me. Mind you, I'd be more inclined to move those limits more towards 16 if only to try and fight against the ridiculous over-parenting that has been getting worse and worse in the past, call it, 120 years.

Time was, by the time you could walk, and talk and dress yourself, you were an adult and pretty much on your own. It's only been since child labour laws, and mandatory education that there was even such a thing as a 'teen' you were a child until you were an adult.

We've socially engineered into our society this whole range of years where we ever so carefully coddle our children into picking up little bit after little bit of adult responsibility before finally letting them go, and it's pretty much entirely responsible in my opinion, for the majority of the problems facing teenagers in society.

[rzr]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

I don't know what it is, but a gut feeling tells me lowering the drinking age to 16 or 17 would be too bad. Putting it at 18 where one can smoke and die for their country seems reasonable. But 16 or 17?

[devonin]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

If you read all of my post, you'd see my reasoning, and why your objection doesn't really need to be made.