Should the US Drinking Age be changed?

I say leave it as it is but make a new stipulation that if you are caught under the influence before you turn 21 then you can't have a drivers license for 5 years after that!

 

If at 18 you can go to war and die, you should be able to have a beer.

 

Then they lose them for 5 years!
Too many teenagers nowadays seem to think it's all too cool to drink and get drunk .
Drinking in moderation is one thing but when they go hogwild on the booze that's a different story!
I don't have anything againist people who drink responsibly and all that.

 

I happen to agree with that statement. We expect our teenagers at age 18 to be adult enough to fight for our country but we don't trust them with alcohol. Other countries with lower drinking ages don't have the same problem with over drinking as us. We need to teach them how to handle alcohol responsibly.

 

Not everyone grows up around alcohol, wine with dinner and so forth and don't learn how to behave properly using it. And when teens start it's often in a "party" situation where they are encouraged to over indulge, for what ever reason. Teens don't always reason things rationally anyway, and alcohol doesn't help.

My opinion is not favorable to 18 year-olds drinking.

 

True enough for some teens, perhaps, but surely not all. We're not all that terribly stupid. I won't lie, my parents have allowed me to taste their drinks--albeit rarely. And bear in mind, I live in a house where the presence of alcohol is rare in and of itself--MAYBE you might find a bottle in the fridge for cooking. However, in eighteen years, my total alcohol consumption is less than eight fl. oz.

I think that's pretty good for a teenager living in this day and age! Teens can be responsible--if that's the way they're brought up.

 

Very true John very true!
In this crazy hustle and bustle world we live in alot of parents don't make the time to educate their kids in these kinds of situations!

 

I think that's exactly it. It all comes down to responsible parenting and trying to give them the right tools to succeed in life.

The thing is that if you have a kid who is taught responsibly how to handle alcohol growing up than when they turn 18 it's not that big of a deal, likely they are still at home and not much will change, the parents can still supervise to an extend.

Fast forward 3 years to age 21 when they have been out of the house without supervision and it becomes more of a party atmosphere.

 

I am currently living in Germany, probably the most lenient country in regards to alcohol consumption, where kids at 16 can buy a beer and drink it on the street if they want to . . . and in Cologne is perfectly acceptable. But I have also lived in North Carolina, and there are some key differences . . .

One key difference is the drinking culture: Here in Germany, having a beer is a cultural activity, and is for young people too. When sitting down with family or friends it is polite to offer a beer, and to relax. In the US, the drinking culture with young people seemed mostly purely just to get drunk and make bad decisions.

Another difference is transportation: We have good PUBLIC transportation here in Germany, with trams, buses, and trains in every city and town. There is never an excuse here to have to drink and drive, as in the city, most residents don't even have a car, because it is not needed. We are also a walking culture. We walk to the grocery store, to work, or to dinner. In the US, cars simply mean status. If you do not own a car, there is something wrong with you. If public transportation exists, it is only used by poor and homeless. In most situations travel distances are not walkable, and leave driving yourself, or by someone else the only option.

So, in my conclusion, well it is a difficult situation. One can easily say if you can go to war, you should be able to buy a beer . . . however when someone signs up for the military, they are letting themselves be trained into a soldier that the military wants them to be. If someone turns 18, there is no training or education in regards to drinking, and parents often fail at properly training their children.
In other respects, people under 21 are drinking anyways, with or without the law, and the law is not going to stop that. However, if someone under 21 is drinking and causes problems due to drinking, having the drinking age at 21 can allow the law to give bigger punishment to those that cannot drink responsibly underage.

I suppose in the end, I think that for the US, the drinking age is appropriate. Followup comments welcome! . . .