Should America Lower the Drinking Age?, 21 to 18? Rating Options

[pandamonium]

with the drinking age at 21, this is what's going to happen.

i'm going to go to college
my roommate will offer me a beer
i will take, but have never had beer, so i'll drink too much and become drunk.
i will not know now to drink responsibly.
sophomore year, i get to have a car at college
and i'd still drink irresponsibly

if the drinking age were 13, then

at 13, my parents would let me drink some beer
they'd teach me to drink in moderation.
they'd teach me the dangers of drinking too much
and the effects of drinking on driving.
and at 13, i'd probably still listen.

at 16, i'd be a veteran drinker. but under parental supervision.  i'd have never been drunk, and ever drinken too much.    when i start driving, i'd know the penalties of driving drunk.

at 18, when i leave for college, i will have been drinking for 5 years and driving for 2 years. 

so, when my roommate offers me beer, i do not foolishly play a drinking game with him, decide to drive to the drugstore to get something to help the hangover, and crash van, killing the family inside.

thats a really good point but not all people are like that. not that many teens are that responsible. but also im not saying that there arent any.

I was watching oprah and well they showed how women from all over the world relax. and they happened to show the countries of mexico and kuwait (is that correct?) but the women they interviewed were very intelligent and beautiful and also rich lol . but they said americans take everything to fast. they try to get "wasted". The woman from mexico said you should drink in moderation and relax. and the woman from kuwait said that americans were too stressed from their work or school that they wanted to get wasted. i believe this is very true. i mean you can still have fun and drink just do it responsibly . i mean i admit i have drank but not to the point were i was intoxicated.

[Spirited Away]

showing is much more effective than telling.

Come over to Texas and I'll show you those consequences myself! I'll get drunk just for you.

[misoshiru]

i believe it should. in taiwan, the legal drinking age is at 18, when you become an adult. and i think that in the states, it should be lowered till 18 as well. afterall, they've become adults. they should have the freedom of choice.

[Domonic]

Like I said, it would make alot more sense. But we do live in America. What DOES make sense?

[agirlnamed_aly]

Like someone else said, it's the attitude that matters. An exchange student from Holland my sister met told her the drinking age there is 16. They go to the pub a lot, but none of them have an alcohol problem.

I don't really know, maybe it's the fact that the alcohol is available and open to them that doesn't make it as appealing as it is here. I think the reason teenagers like to drink or start drinking is because it makes them feel rebellious and as if they're "living on the edge". Since it's not available to them it makes them want to try it.

Sorry if I'm stereotyping, but it's how a lot of teens these days are. Hey I'm one of them.

Mucho love,

Alyson

[freeflow]

no because all it would do is cause more accidents and deaths .. alot of accidents are involved with drinking .. soo the more drinking the more accidents and the lower the drinking age the more people that will begin to drink

[fameONE]

Whats the point of an alcoholic beverage?

[smile4me]

Whats the point of an alcoholic beverage?

agreeed. my grandfather died of alcoholism. and since then..i've vowed to not drink at all.

[Domonic]

Whats the point of an alcoholic beverage?

That has absolutely nothing to do with this topic, but some people drink to feel good. They get a buzz. I dont drink....I absolutely hate the taste of beer, but I understand why people go out and have a drink and socialize. I think it's absolutely ignorant to say "DoOd! I chugged a whole case last night!". There's a difference between drinking to drink, and drinking to get drunk.

"Please drink responsibly."

[chippy]

the whole age limit isnt really stopping anything from happening when it comes to crap like drunk drivin anymore cuz its just too easy to get alcohol so theres really no point in lowering it raisin it or gettin rid of it

[*islandgirl4eva*]

If you look at the example of most European nations, it would show that overall, lowering the drinking age wouldn't unleash the hell that some people think it would.

When people are exposed to it at a younger age, they generally are more able to make well thought out decisions. That's my experience anyway. My dad has allowed to me drink since I was 14, but since I got the taste of it at that young age, I never felt the desire to do so. I don't know, it's all IMO.

[sadolakced acid]

because of the drinking age think: i can and do drive, but i have no idea how to tell if i'm drunk, and if i ever get offered alchol, do you think i'll know if my senses are impaired, and to let my friend drive?

i think not.

[Eryi]

I think it should go higher. Then less people would get into injuries, but drunk driving or etc..

[Lifeguard]

I would have to argue Yes. Yes, People do it anyways now adays is true, how ever that doesn't make it right. People in Spain are allowed to drink at younger ages, & who has the higher alchohalic rate? The United States. If kids are allowed to drink at 16 than their parents can teach them to be moderate & temporate. Perhaps there could be a restriction on how many drinks are bought. If its illeggal, people do it just for the thrill of doing something illegal. Therefor I think that the drinking age should be lowered!

[kryzcoak47luv666]

with the drinking age at 21, this is what's going to happen.

i'm going to go to college
my roommate will offer me a beer
i will take, but have never had beer, so i'll drink too much and become drunk.
i will not know now to drink responsibly.
sophomore year, i get to have a car at college
and i'd still drink irresponsibly

if the drinking age were 13, then

at 13, my parents would let me drink some beer
they'd teach me to drink in moderation.
they'd teach me the dangers of drinking too much
and the effects of drinking on driving.
and at 13, i'd probably still listen.

at 16, i'd be a veteran drinker. but under parental supervision.  i'd have never been drunk, and ever drinken too much.    when i start driving, i'd know the penalties of driving drunk.

at 18, when i leave for college, i will have been drinking for 5 years and driving for 2 years. 

so, when my roommate offers me beer, i do not foolishly play a drinking game with him, decide to drive to the drugstore to get something to help the hangover, and crash van, killing the family inside.

Thats damn smart

nevertheless minor that drink are more likely to become alcoholics, and when they get to the drinking age they usually drink a hell of a lot more than they used to, I've seen this happen to many of my good friends, and yet there is nothing anyone can do about it, kids should be taught about being responsible with their drinking, and it doesn't help that the adults sometimes parents supply the alcohol, its a sad world we live in.

I really don't see a point in changing the legal drinking age, because if they start young they will continue to drink and then die young, I'm not anti drinking or anything but people really do need to learn to drink responsibly or don't drink at all.

[simx]

Should be lowerd to 18... technically you're an 'adult' and you can also vote at 18... and you can join the army and whatnot, so I think it should be lowered.

[funbobby]

Whats the point of an alcoholic beverage?

Duh! To get laid, dumbass!

[loljuliana]

i dont think it should be lowered. .but i dont think that it would really matter becaues underaged kids would probably keep on drinking illegally.

[jue]

i dont think it should be lowered because they made a certain age to drink for a purpose; drinking could lead to doing drugs which is bad.

[*iNyCxShoRT*]

I think not cause then there would be more drunken car drivers meaning more car accidents, and a chance there will be more unwanted pregnancies.

[rOckThISshYt]

Of course not. I believe that many people drink underage anyway. But at least with that, if they get caught, it might stop them. That will just promote drinking. In Europe, it's different. People grow up to learn that drinking is okay as long as you don't get drunk and can control yourself. In America, it's okay to get drunk at all ages and it's incredably intolerable.

[sweet_devil]

No, I personally think definetely not. There are enough deaths caused by adults getting drunk. Also, there are such big problems when there are parties where beer is being served to like 18 years old. Go to http://www.nobac.org/swanson.html it's a poem about a drunk driver.

[sweet_devil]

if you want to see more poems about drunk driving go to: http://www.nobac.org/poems.html

[rOckThISshYt]

I think not cause then there would be more drunken car drivers meaning more car accidents, and a chance there will be more unwanted pregnancies.

I agree. There are many other things that could happen, as well. I mean, cops are getting serious about this now. My mom, bro, and I were driving home from a stand-up comedy show and there was traffic and cops and stuff. When we got closer we found out they were doing a DUI check on everyone that went through. My mom had had some wine that night but thank god the man couldn't smell it on her breath. But she wasn't drunk or anything.

[KELLYYY]

It shouldn't be lowered at all. Many people died from drunk driving, right? So what's the point.