College Presidents call for discussion on lowering drinking age - Are these people serious?
A bunch of presidents, mostly Baby Boomers I’m guessing, have called for a discussion on lowering the drinking age to 18 because “the current law isn’t working.”
Are these guys serious? So, the law isn’t working because people who are under 21 are drinking. So, lowering the drinking age to 18 will stop them from drinking? Huh? Or would it just relieve the problem on college campuses of having to deal with policing underage drinking? Seems to me that the college presidents just want to make the drinking problem go away, so they can focus on sports <er> education.
As a boomer, I can remember that drinking on campuses was a problem back in the 60s. I went to a small private (Methodist-based) school in the Midwest. The campus was dry, so we just walked to the nearest bar and drank. The police came around every so often (not very often, actually) and cleaned out the place. For a few weeks, no underage drinking at the bar. Then, soon, things were back to usual.
Binge drinking certainly is a problem on college campuses, and it seems to be much more of a problem now than when we were in college.
I do NOT buy the “if they’re old enough to die in Iraq, they’re old enough to drink” baloney. That is a specious argument. It doesn’t address the problem that if they are in Iraq, sure, they have the possibility of getting killed. But if they are drinking in the US, I and MY FAMILY have the possibility of getting killed - by them- while they are drinking. And I don’t care if they can vote at 18 - voters don’t kill people, drunk drivers kill people.
If just a few of these under 21- year olds can be persuaded not to drink, and if the law keeps them from driving while they are drinking - illegally or not — I’m in favor of keeping the law as it is.
What do you think? Comment, or use the Poll to vote.
Tags: Amethyst Initiative, college presidents, raising legal drinking ageRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Boomers Remember, Politics, baby boomer voters
4 opinions for College Presidents call for discussion on lowering drinking age - Are these people serious?
jennydecki
Aug 22, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Assuming all 18 year olds would automatically be drunk drivers is a complete breach in logic.
Actually there are about three base fallacies in this, because it reads like emotion as opposed to a shred of logic.
This sounds a lot like a “those darn kids” argument. No facts, no statistics from countries where 18 is the legal drinking age, just complaining about how if given the chance all 18 year olds would be irresponsible.
Jean
Aug 23, 2008 at 6:23 am
You have a good point, Jenny. I was reacting to the thought that the college presidents had anything except their own best interests in mind when they made this proposal.
My husband actually reminded me that when he was drafted in 1965, he was upset that he could be responsible enough to go to Vietnam, but that he wasn’t considered responsible enough to drink.
Miranda
Aug 28, 2008 at 4:38 am
I find it interesting to look at drinking in different cultures. When I went to Austria, I was interested in how responsible the kids were. Most of them didn’t drink to get drunk, as we do here. It was social, yes, but they still wanted to be social, rather than get plastered. My husband came back from France in awe of the fact that they had many wines in the university cafeteria. Nearly everyone had a glass. ONE glass only, and enjoyed it throughout the meal.
Never having drunk alcohol, I can’t really speak to its effects on me personally. But I have observed, in my narrow experience, that a culture like ours sort of encourages people to drink for the purpose of getting drunk as soon as they can get away with it.
Kids are just told not to do it. They are never taught to be responsible about it. It’s sort of a forbidden fruit, and that makes it seem more fun and desirable.
MAPping Company Success
Sep 7, 2008 at 11:17 am
[…] (Hat tip on this to Jean at Small Business Boomers.) […]
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