Should the legal drinking age be lowered?
Yes
Side Score: 69
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No
Side Score: 13
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I agree with both of your points! They were the same I was going to point out for this argument. I do think that an 18 year old is still a kid and may not always have the best judgment, but if they can make the decision at that age to fight and die for their country, they should be able to decide for themselves if they want a drink. Drinking and driving in this young population does worry me though.
Side: Yes
I see it the same as well. I even think that they should stretch it out enough to say that if you are with your parents, or some type of responsible guardian, you should be able to have a couple drinks at dinner or a family party before 18. As pointed out in other points, things like this exist and for some reason kids in those countries do not turn out to be the bingers we are (or they at least handle it better than we do). In addition, if at 18, kids are allowed to choose to start smoking and become addicted to nicotine which is by far more addictive than alcohol, then they should be able to dabble in something that they have more of a chance of quitting or cutting back on later in life. Of course alcohol can have more dramatic short-term effects if the kid does not know how to handle himself/herself and does something stupid, but long-term smoking can lead to a greater variety of health problems (not 100% proven) for yourself and those around you. Also, when it comes to the drinking and driving issue, this affects drinkers of any age, whether legal or not. That can only be solved by personal accountability or a fear of getting caught or crashing. Everyone knows that there are great risks in drinking and driving, however, many people who drink choose to drive at the end of the night anyway. In some cases, they do attribute their talents at doing so to the fact that they have "been doing this since they learned to drive and nothing will happen," but this does not mean lowering the drinking age will increase this occurrence. I'd say in many cases, kids will be more willing to call their parents for a ride if they weren't afraid of getting in trouble for drinking in the first place. Lastly, and one that we do not want to acknowledge as much, is parents and older siblings set the example for younger high schoolers. I have seen or rode with my friends siblings and parents after I knew they had been drinking in many instances...."if they can do it, it must not be that bad, Right?"
Side: Yes
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I must disagree on one point because I was proven wrong on the topic of European countries having less a problem with binge drinking than US. And they are actually having the same issues and it effects about the same % of binge drinking cases. On that note it must also be known that if they have the same problems with binge drinking then it really doesn't matter if you lower the drinking age because it will happen regardless. Side: No
This has become a major issue that even the colleges are concerned with. I believe that anyone responsible for their own actions may choose to drink or buy alcohol. Side: Drinking age not working
The drinking age should be alltogether abolished, not just lowered. This will place the burden on the parent's to properly educate their children as to the pros and cons of drinking. This would be evident of a truely free soceity, somthing America apparently lost over the years.
Side: Yes
I live in Mexico, our legal drinking age is 18 and I think that... the law is complete bull. Let's face it, who actually waits until that age? I'm 20 now and I drank more when I was 16 than I do now. Lowering the drinking age would actually benefit. I'm going to be real general here but let's face it, many teenagers drink just because they shouldn't, or at least they start that way. Think of it in this way, if you are 18 and know that you can buy alcohol anytime you want, probably at first you'll be all excited and drink anytime you want, but it'll get old pretty soon.
Side: Yes
ok im seventeen and i do think the drinking age should be lowered because everyone thats my age when they do get alcohol they take advantage of it they drink as much as they can when ever where ever cause there parents dont no and they always lie and tell them there staying at someones house but there really at a party getting trashed if it was lowered kids could tell there parents and they wouldnt have to drink and drive to hide it and it would mature us alot more if we new what it was like to have it avalible to us and we wouldnt drink that much we would just get bored of it Side: yes
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Just realize that regardless of the potential long term benefit, you will destroy one generation of 18-20 year olds if you do this, as they will inevitably combine their learned binge drinking habits, with their newfound ability to purchase booze themselves, and drink themselves to death. But more importantly:
Screw the little bastards. I had to wait, so should they! Side: No
I don't think that we'll necessarily destroy a generation of kids just by changing the drinking age to 18. I think that these days it's so easy for kids to get alcohol (especially over the age of 18 when most of them are in college) that there wouldn't be a huge uptick in drunk driving if it were changed. Kids are going to drink regardless of how many obstacles you put in front of them, as they say "where there's a will there's a way". A large part of the reason kids get so drunk is because they think it's "cool" and the fact that it's illegal just makes it more appealing to them. If we made it legal for 18 year olds you would at least take away the "getting away with something illegal" aspect that seems to cause more binge drinking.
Side: Yes
While i agree that it should be lowered, the only downside would not be increased availability for 18-20 year olds. It would be the high school seniors who are 18, and buying hooch for minors. Booze is not that easy to get when you are 16, but it would be if seniors could buy it. This could easily be combated, by a simple addition to the law that would revoke the right to drink, until the age of 21, if someone is caught purchasing alcohol for a minor (in addition to whatever the current punishment is). That should be enough to deter mostly anyone. Side: No
I agree that part of the allure of drinking is the "forbidden fruit" appeal. What I was saying is that will not disappear overnight. So the generation of kids that just happen to be in that in between zone when the law changes, will inevitably overload, as they'll be able to do something legal that's felt illegal their whole life... But I repeat, "Screw the little bastards, I had to wait, so should they!"
Side: Yes
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