This is actually a hard subject, I kinda think both ways but don't. I mean I do have to agree people in other Countries where there is either no drinking age or there is a low drinking age, the country is just better all the way around but at the same time I think the drinking age should stay at 21. But at the same time there really is no point cause a lot of people will not wait till there 21 to get alcohol. So, it's kinda 50/50 for me. :-/ And I do not think that someone waiting till there 21 is going to make them want to get drunk. I tried alcohol at 13..just a sip of beer and had some wine before I was 21 but I didn't actually drink a lot until I turned 21...I have never been drunk. Basically, when it comes to alcohol, I don't think it is the alcohol that is the problem but the people who abuse it.

I agree.

agreed.

I agree.


Prohibition did NOTHING but bring up incredible amounts of "illegal" liquor. People who think that making drinking illegal will actually help "prevent" anything are dumb.

WHAT?! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. He have a drinking age for a reason. To be safe. Of course there are people out there...like me, who don't listen to it. Kids who generally drink underage are with people who have done it before. So, they are being supervised by professionals. Hahahha. But you know what I mean. Look at the countries who allow drinking at any age. They're fun, but have tons of problems.

Oh, and when you said that when people reach the age that they can drink, you said it was dangerous cause they would get dangerously wasted....What do you think would happen if we took away the age restriction? Huh? Haha.

Oh, and plus...Do you think that lowering the drinking age would make people more mature? That's not the answer. By far it's not the answer. That's dumb. Lower the drinking age..Pfft.

Well, if you don't follow the drinking age, then why do you support it? I mean, you obviously have no regard for it, and there are plenty of others who are the same as you. Many of the teenagers who don't already drink don't drink because there's an age limit, they don't drink because of their morals.

I've been to drinking parties, but I have refused to get drunk and act like an idiot like the other people there. I would do the same if drinking were legal for me.

this is how i look at it. the drinking age is 21. people can get a permit and get in a car when they are 16. however, it is quite evident that many teenagers can get alcohol whether or not they are 21. so therefore, we have dumb, drunk teens being able to do both drinking and/or driving.

however, if the law was flipped. let's say the drinking age is 18 and the driving age was 21. cars are much harder to obtain than a bottle of beer. therefore, kids would just be drinking without the privilege of a dangerous vehicle.

wow, i never looked at it that way. this is an extremely good idea! ^_^

except i'd be irritated if i had to wait longer for my car. :/

actually, i think many people would disagree with this b/c kids around 16 and older need jobs, etc to prepare for college. :[

Well, just because I don't follow it doesn't mean it shouldn't be so. I am one of those, and there are others, that feel that things must come with maturity. Kids back in the early twentieth century used to drive because their parents thought they were mature enough. This age restriction is because there have been too many injuries or deaths from minors drinking, so they generalize people and say that we can't drink under 21.

I'm not saying I'm the most mature person in the world, sober or drunk, but I feel it's up to the individual. Nuff said, nigga.

I kinda disagree. You say that it's harder to obtain a car..not really...all they have to do is buy one or borrow one from a friend, if they never break the laws of the road and look old enough to drive, chances are they will be able to obtain that vehicle. But of course, if they look under the age or do break the rules of the road..then okay.

Secondly, just because a car isn't involved doesn't mean there isn't other dangers. Lets see theres alcohol poisening possiblities and of course violent acts towards others.

Either way if your behind a vehicle or not, a lot of people are dangerous under the influence of alcohol.

^ Yeah, seriously. I know a kid who was 14 and driving. I mean, alot of kids look young and how can looks determine how old a person is? It can't. Oh, he drove drunk and was 14. Haha. How ironic to this topic.

your brain matures at the average age of 21. i saw on a video that teens who drink damage their brain because it isn't fully developed and do worse at school then kids who have never touched alcohol. i kinda just wished that alcohol was totally illegal.. but then again, the points a lot of members have made here sound better off. i'd totally either go for completely illegal (but then it'd 'cause a lot of problems also), but yeah.. no age is good too.

I totally disagree on that one. Your maturity is NOT based on your age. I've seen 35 year olds who are as immature as a 10 year old child. I actually became mature at a young age..I think I was 16, I'm 24 now.



What video is this? I'd like to see it! I don't believe the teens brains were damaged because of that reason..it doesn't matter if your 15 or 31...your brain will be damaged either way...alcohol is damaging but it also depends upon how much you drink..they actually say red wine is good for your heart.

I personally think that we are focusing on the wrong issue here. No matter what the drinking age is, people who want to drink will. Lowering/Raising/Abolishing it won't solve that problem. The common aspect in all drinking problems is that kids these days believe it's some heavenly ambrosia that they're just waiting to get their hands on. We should work toward getting them to realize the reality behind alcohol - the fact that it is basically poison for your body in excess and does little to no good the way teens regard it.

i meant your physical brain; the actual brain. not your mental one. i know people mature at different ages, but you're talking about the way they act/think. yeahhh.




It was a video we watched in sex ed. class. alcohol tied in with rape, so we watched it. Since, like I said up there, your brain doesn't fully develope until age of 21 (some people's develop earlier and some develop slower), it damages your brain more easily when it's still immature. But you're right, it damages anyone's brain who drinks alcohol. It's just that they were focusing on teens and alcohol on the video and made a point why teens shouldn't drink and should wait until the legal age.

That makes no sense at all.

Your totally confusing me...I mean what do you mean your actual brain...your mental brain is your actual brain and maturity IS based on actions and the way you think and that is the whole purpose of your brain. I don't believe people are immature have more chances of brain damage...I just don't believe in that.

IMMATURE: emotionally undeveloped; juvenile; childish.

Now, if your talking brain capacity..then okay, but you put "immaturity" into it not brain "capacity"...



Well...yet I disagree again..one reason is because the only reason people think a young person should wait is not because of our the brain functions but because of the maturity level...when your older your more likely to be responsible when you drink...it has nothing to do with your brain being damaged...cause even if you do wait till your old enough, there are still chances of damages accuring.

okay, maybe i'm just wording it really badly because you totally missed what i really meant.
I mean the video made a point why teens shouldn't drink and should wait until the legal age. I didn't say what points and what they told the class. Even though you can already tell that something they mentioned was about the brain maturing, it wasn't fully the 'point' of the video tried to get across.

As for the brain thing, i meant it MATURED fully.
Like you'd say someone has a MATURED body after puberty,
or someone who's preadolescent is IMMATURE. That kind.

I feel like a lot of underage teens drink because it IS restricted...gives sort of a rebellious feel. It sounds ridiculous, and it is, but I bet it is true in some cases.

Yep! Afterall, rules ARE made for breaking lol...that's the way I see it anyways...people break the law because they can and because of the adrenaline rush.

People always want what they can not have.
With a lower drinking age there will be less of a thrill with underage drinking.

(And ill be honest i only opened this because i was intrigued with the title, because i partake in underage drinking )

you can't buy a car without massive amounts of money (which most teenagers do not have), a license/insurance/registration, or at least, someone 21+ to back you up (which usually would be your guardian).

as for friends lending their cars to underaged teenagers. highly unlikely. if the underaged teenager gets caught, the lender can potentially go to jail. also, how many drivers you know will give a teenager a car?

a six pack of beer is EXTREMELY different from a two-ton car.

maybe there will be kids who can get cars. however, it would be extraordinarily lower than kids who can get alcohol.

as for the other dangers, it could be applied to adults too. so should be ban for everyone? last time that happened, organized crime and mounds of wasted cash happened.

it's such a touchy subject. my grandpa was an alchoholic, and it tore my family apart. i think lowering it to 18 makes a lot of sense - i mean, if you're a legal ADULT at 18, why wouldn't you be able to drink? if children were allowed to drink, they probably wouldn't think of alchohol as such an "untouchable" and wouldn't be as interested in getting drunk. so ditching the drinking age MIGHT be a good think. but on the other hand, getting rid of the drinking age might make kids MORE interested in drinking, and make them think alchohol is OK to have a lot and could become alchoholics.

its true..adults can hardly handle themselves when alcohol is involved. so a younger crowd shouldn't get the right to intoxicate themselves.

what good would letting a younger crowd intoxicate themselves bring?

you agreed that adults can hardly handle themselves. then, they shouldn't be allowed to drink also.

^yeah. thats what i said in my earlier post

f**k yeah. no drinkin age. its tru tht many ppl get hospitalized or even die when they hit 21 cuz they are finally able 2 legally drink. and then i wont get in troubble @ parties any more.
no drinkin age like in argentina is better. thts why im goin ova tha summer.

Incorrect. What if the parents give them that money. I've seen young teenagers driving around my town in fancy cars, speeding down the highway, I see it all the time. There's always ways to get that money, it doesn't have to come straight from a teenager not only that true most likely they wont get to buy the car but they can have someone else buy the car for them a.k.a parents.

Incorrect. Friends will allow others friends to drive their car. I've seen it happen before. Plus there is a chance that person could also steal there friends car to take a spin.

Yes, true a lot of adults are careless but most adults are more mature when it comes to alcohol for the most part, I am sure the percentage of teens with alcohol is probably a lot higher then adults. But that's just my opinion.

Yes, alcohol is different then a car but the thing is both can kill you. Cars=car accidents especially when alcohol is involved and alcohol can cause severe brain damage or even death, hence "alcohol poisening".








I used to know someone that got hospitalized for drinking too much in one night, he almost lost his life (I don't think you'd be laughing or even saying what your saying now if you were in his position) oh and I also read in an article a 15 year old lost her life to binge drinking from alcohol poisening.

Stats? Are you only talking about the States?

I'm talking in general. Not meaning all teens are this way so don't get me wrong but a BIG percentage are.

How do you know?

Because I've seen it and I've been around adults and young teenagers.

a car is still nevertheless harder to get than alcohol. maybe it's because we're from different places. i'm from nyc and most parents would not get a car for their kids here. insurance in the city is extremely expensive. and not that many kids know how to hot wire a car.

and adults are not more mature. there are alcoholics for a reason. there are adults out there who can't go through the day without their daily gin and tonic. alcohol is a dangerous substance. anyone at any age can fall victim to it.

here's the thing. i advocate a reasonable drinking age (18) and a higher driving age (21). someone binge drinking only (most often) does harm to themselves. it's their fault for drinking so much. but with a car, they potentially become a threat to everyone and themselves.

Alcohol involvement (AI)* among young drivers under age 21 and drivers ages 21 and older in fatal traffic crashes, United States, 1982–2004.

Adults get into MUCH more car crashes... why? cause they can drive AND drink at the same time. which is why the drinking age should be lower than the driving age. because if the driving age is earlier, teenagers can do both at the same time because it's quite easy to get alcohol. however, if they can only drink, it would drastically reduce the amount of alcohol related car crash fatalities because a car is harder to obtain than a giant bottle of grey goose.

edit:

QUOTE

Because I've seen it and I've been around adults and young teenagers.

just cause you've seen it doesn't mean it applies to the entire nation. you hang out with people your age and only see them consume alcohol. there's also adults at bars and taverns and pubs. adults you have wine/beer/alcohol with their dinner.

You've been around all the adults and teens in the US?

When I say in general or when I was talking about teenagers & adults I am not saying EVERY teenager or adult is that way but a huge ammount of them are. I just think adults are more mentally mature in a lot of cases, not all but a lot. No, I haven't been out of states, as I have stated, I am not referring to everyone.



Well last time I looked, it was teens that have gotten in more car accidents than adults. While a lot of people get into car accidents all together including adults teens pretty high up there. Everytime I watch the news and I hear about a car accident, it ALWAYS involves a teenager not being responsible, either due to drinking & driving or just driving carelessly.

that's because news is selective. they are going to pick fatale teenage car crashes because it sends a message. people view teenage drunk driving as a huge problem which is why they would have news stories about it.

in nyc (i don't mean to sound racist), a lot of the crime news stories involve african americans. does that mean that african americans are criminals? or there are more african american criminals than other races?

and no. if you checked the link i gave you, in 2004: 1820 out of 8100 teenage fatale car crashes involved alcohol while 12269 out of 49397 adult fatale car crashes were alcohol related. even by percentages, adults overrun teenagers.

Just because you drink does not mean you are mature. It just makes you drunk... and we don't need drunk 14 year olds running around. I believe there are ups and downs to having the drinking age so "high." People get curious and do really stupid things, but people who are well above the drinking age go and get drunk- and crash their cars and kill people. It's not just the 21 year olds.

I think if drinking is done responsibly, even under age, great, go ahead and do it. Just don't kill people in the process.

Your right. But from what I hear NYC has one of the biggest crime rates in the U.S. but then again it's a big city and all big cities have major problems like that. I live in a small town. Not all African American's are criminals but a big proportion are just like other races.



EXACTLY.

There are young kids out there drinking, I've known 10 year olds to do it because older people are allowing it. There are even 30 year olds out their that drink that are immensly immature.

yup...i agree

everytime I drink, do I get drunk... NO
drinking doesn't mean gettting drunk
there's a big difference

thanks for everyone's input

I started this topic a year ago... and who knew I need to do a project on it this year :)

in ohio it used to be 16 or 18 i think. my mom and her freinds used to sneak across the border to get some

I agree that a lowered drinking age would make drinking less exciting among teens. Most teens do it to fit in witht he others who do it because it's bad and cool.

i say either no drinking age limit or put her down to 18. the whole example of going to war and dieing but not being alowed to drink is a classic example of how stupid the 21 age limit is.

as far as drinks go i'll drink w/e to get f**ked up, red wine is my drink of choice.

laws are being retarded.
ppo who propose laws should think.
and a drinking age limit thing w.e isnt going to stop whomever wants to drink.

some laws are just plain stupid.

ioono if anyone mentioned it, but it has to do with development too. legally, you're an adult at 18 but there are still consequences on body and mind development. you also have to look at the consequence of taking away a law that was once there, or giving a freedom that once wasn't there legally to a certain population.

I think UNITED STATES (I mean as a whole) is to IMMATURE to lower the drinking age, compared to the other countries.

yep, that's kind of what i think. there are a whole lot of other factors going into it.

And to people talking about completely banning alcohol, please look up prohibition in the US on wikipedia or something. It DID happen, for like a year. If you're gonna argue for it, be intelligent about it.

i dont think the drinking age shuold be lower
just think of all of the problems we ALREADY have with immature people drinking and driving.

and besides.
why not listemn to wise words of dane cook?

"i've never had a drink or a drug. i want someone who wants to feel the moments of life and doesn't need a substance to enhance or decrease the experience." - dane cook, to people.

you are going there just to drink? i dont even see why drinking is such a great thing anyway.

well by the time your 18 you get wasted ANYWAYS. so they shouldnt eliminate but maybe lower a tad bit.