Aaaahhhh yes the question of whether or not the drinking age should be lowered.
well this is my views on it. I've lived in Europe where there really is no drinking age...legally it was 16 for beer and 18 for hard alcohol. But you were never carded if you looked of age. And in America it's 21 and it's very strict. I believe Europe--well France--has the right idea. They have a very strict policy on driving and it is a very long and hard process one has to go through to get their driver's license. You have to go through 2 years of driver's ed and also you have to be 18. They also have a very very very good sytems of public transportation. This combination helps prevent a problem that we have her; drinking and driving.
In the U.S. teens feel like getting drunk every weekend is the cool thing to do. The fact that it's illegal makes it even better. But with young teens having their driver's licenses and well face it, easy access to alochol drinking and driving is more common.
Europeans have allowed teens to drink at a younger age buy provide other means of transportation. By the time people get their driver's license they have already been exposed to alcohol and they know how to handle themselves in a situation where alcohol is present.
So i think, the drinking age could possibly be lowered, but only if the driving age was raised. To some this seems like a fair trade off, for many others it is not.
my point...America needs to be more like Europe!
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really good point. in the states we're all talk and no action at times, on certain issues such as this.
and long hours of drivers' education and they have to pay for those classes and stuff before they get to drive...i do think that it is ridiculous here in the US because we haven't figured a way out how to impress the importance of NOT drinking and driving
but the fact of the matter is many teens drink and then drive and so many of them get killed in car accidents, okay--- I know the vast majority don't make stupid decisions like that but even losing one of your friends in drinking/driving accidents is too much.
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A lot depends on drinking culture also. Countries like Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, have huge drinking cultures, they also have some of the highest age restrictions on alcohol in Europe, over 18 to purchase alchohol. You might see a coralation there between higher legal age and heavier consumption of alchohol, but then you must also consider that in countries like Holland where the drinking age is lower, they also have huge alchohol consumption, the second biggest binge drinking nation in Europe, just behind Ireland. Countries like Finland and Iceland have big problems with alchohol abuse too, despite the fact that in countries like Sweden there's remarkabley low levels of alchohol abuse. In Spain they don't drink particularly heavily, in neighbouring Portugal they consume considerably more, this is because of differing cultural attitudes to alchohol, they both have the same legal drinking ages.
I think countries like France and Germany foster a responsible attitude towards alchohol consumption culturally, as well as lowering the legal age accordingly. As opposed to the lowered legal age being entirely responsible for the responsible attitude to alchohol. Lowering the drinking age is something which needs a lot of groundwork in education before it will prove truly beneficial towards promoting responsible attitudes to alchohol.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
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I completely agree with you. France has a very strong presence of alcohol in their culture. They are HUGE fans of wine and it is not uncommon to see younger kids having a small glass at dinner with their family. Growing up with the teachings of how to be responsible with consumption makes a really big difference. I think that's where we lack in the U.S. we don't start from a younger age and slowly expose kids to things like this. If we didn't shelter kids as much maybe the real world wouldn't be as harsh.
This is a great article. I totally with your point of view. In my state you can drive without a parent before you are even 16. Guess What most kids in my high school drink too so I believe lower the drinking age!
Yes, but changing a law just because many people commit the crime doesn't solve anything. Almost every American has stolen something before, but that is no reason to make stealing legal.
F*** Religion. Read more here:
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it is a really good point, but americans are stubborn and would flip out if there was a change. i wouldn't mind, there really needs something to be done.
haha half&halfgyrl I like ur point!!
America is the only country that uses lbs/mls/inchs and the only country that calls football SOCCER! what the heck is soccer anyways? football is football..that sport that people play with their FEET. That boring American game with those fat guys that americans call "football" should be called...i dont know..."handball wrestling"?
Anyways but let me get on topic here. You are right about the drinking and driving thing. In Greece I used to go buy beer for my dad when I was 10 or younger. In Europe drinking is not cool because it's something we can do whenever we want to. I mean there is nothing wrong with drinking every now and then, but don't make alcohol the main way to have fun. It's usually in the human nature that something that is illegal or immoral gives us more satisfaction for some reason. Personally I don't like drinking because I don't want to be one of those "cool" students at my college that end up being called Alcoholics when they are done with college.
Yes, exactly. It's not horrible to let your child have a glass of wine at dinner. If you avoid the subject of alcohol or don't allow your kids to be exposed to it, they won't know how to handle themselves at parties when they have no supervision and they are offered shots/other drinks.
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All the believers, they were smiling and winking at each other, I could honestly say I was scared for my life.