my letter to editor about college kids and drinking

[iowaguy]

Shoe---I agree with the college presidents that the 21 year old drinking age isn't working.

http://www.amethystinitiative.org/about/

We are one of only 4 or 5 countries in the world with a 21 year old drinking age (the others are mostly in the Middle East) and yet we have developed this culture of binge drinking. I do agree with the others that kids drink more to "get drunk" today. I grew up when the drinking age was 18 and it wasn't quite the forbidden fruit it is today.

[XOXO]

Oh Jim, I don't know. My brother was just a bit older than me and his class was grandfathered because they turned 18 and were legal. My class had to wait until 21. I am confident that they were very very wild and binge drank quite a bit--much more than my class. I don't think being 18 and able to go to the bars legally made them any less inclined to indulge in the "forbidden fruit".

Actually, I felt pretty sorry for them because they were able to legally buy alcohol and were often asked to do so by underage friends (sometimes classmates who were just a few months younger). If they got caught they got in trouble for contributing to a minor. It happened a lot. I think it put a lot of pressure on them.

I do not think being 18 and legal made them any more or less wild. I have noticed that sometimes kids want an excuse to do the right thing. Imagine if 18 year olds can legally go to the bars. I just disagree that making 18 legal is better than 21.

That is my 2 cents I will take a look at your article--my experience is different than yours Iowaguy--you were probably just a good kid!

GG

[toes in the sand]

While I am not sure if your point was that the current drinking age of 21 is causing binge drinking or fines are exhorbatant or speeding tickets are expensive or we should be allowed to break existing laws when we feel that we are capable of handling ourselves I disagree with most all of them. Perhaps the 21 age limit is a factor in binge drinking perhaps not. The euro way is not a complete solution, there are still alchoholism problems in european countries. Fines for underage drinking and speeding are high because it takes resources away from where law enforcement is truly needed in a time when resources are thin. You can argue that the fines are high to fill city coffers but the counter-argument is always there, Dont want the fine? Don't break the law! If you are saying that we should be allowed to break existing laws when we feel that we are capable of handling ourselves then I will not waste the time in discussion with that one.

[shoemak38]

great view points all around thanks everyone, lets close out this topic

[soxfan22]

i think that the biggest issue with the drinking laws is that it makes drinking a forbidden fruit so to speak--
when I was in college the drinking age was 18--now it is 21--at orientation freshmen are told that statistically speaking at least 3 of them will end up either very sick or dead from binge drinking by the end of the year (and this is in a small class)
we NEVER had that problem when i was in school since it was no big deal to go grab a beer with friends--
no one died, we knew how to drink 'responsibly'
I am not saying we were all angels--but the climate created by the 21 yr drinking age is dangerous

I agree with you on the "forbidden fruit" analogy, Loria. I like the way my parents handled this issue with me, and I hope I have the courage to handle it the same way with my kids...From the time I was probably 11 or 12, my dad would tell me that if I ever wanted a drink, to come to him and ask him and he would give it to me. My father (who passed when I was 16 of a heart attack) never drank, other than the occasional 7 and 7 or Kahlua and milk at a wedding...I never once saw him drink a beer...But we had it in the house for guests.

Because of the way he handled this issue with me, I went through high school and three years of college before I ever even became buzzed...I had a good time my senior year of college.

I drink now (wine and painkillers!), but have never in my life felt the need to become obliterated. Just never interested me. It has never been "The Forbidden Fruit" for me, because, well, it was never positioned that way to me.

On a side...My dad's dad was an alcoholic, and my pops would always tell me about how he would have to drive his father to the bar on saturdays, and sit in the truck for 6 or 8 hours while my grandfather went drinking...My dad would drive him home - not yet old enough to even have a license.

[XOXO]

I have 2 brothers and a sister. We all had the same rules--our parents talked to us about drinking and making choices--but if we called in the middle of the night we all knew they would get us no questions asked. I hardly never called them and I was a little like you. But my older brother partied every weekend and the folks got him and his friends almost every weekend his junior and senior years. Heck they got him and his wife from a Halloween party a couple of weeks ago! It seems to me that there has to be something more to it besides the "forbidden" fruit. My younger brother made his share of late night "I am drunk will you come get me" calls.



GG