THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Teens are going to drink whether or not parents condone it. Should we just lower the drinking age?
BY MIKE CETERA
Following a fatal crash earlier this year involving a number of Oswego teens, parents, legislators and community leaders have been looking at ways to keep our kids safe. Many have sought answers to how we can encourage or prevent teenagers from drinking.
But a recent Parade Magazine article features people who advocate just the opposite: Give kids as young as 18 "licenses" to drink.
Advocates of a lower drinking age argue it will help reduce the number of kids who end up drinking at unsupervised house parties.
"It’s bad social policy and bad law,” says John McCardell, the former president of Vermont’s Middlebury College, who in January launched an organization called Choose Responsibility to urge lower drinking ages in conjunction with education and heavy regulation of 18- to 20-year-olds. “ Prohibition does not work. Those [under 21] who are choosing to drink are drinking much more recklessly, and it’s gone behind closed doors and underground and off-campus.”No one is suggesting that 18-year-olds should drink themselves into a stupor. Rather, critics of the current drinking laws point out that a sizable minority of 18- to 20-year-olds, and roughly a fifth of 16- and 17-year-olds, already drink heavily often or on occasion. Indeed, the 21 drinking age isn’t so much a law as a slogan: Even supporters concede it is widely flouted and often not enforced. Yet, because 18-year-olds—adults in most other senses —generally can’t drink legally in bars and restaurants, they tend to drink in dorm rooms, on isolated fields and at unsupervised house parties, where adults can’t watch them. And in those environments, the drinking can be dangerous—especially among young people who have no practical experience with alcohol yet years of exposure to a social and advertising culture that encourages drinking.
A number of anti-drunk driving and government groups have condemned the notion of lowering the drinking age; the latest is the chairman of the the National Transportation Safety Board.
Board Chairman Mark Rosenker this week called for stricter enforcement of the current drinking laws and more "early intervention" efforts.
Rosenker cited data through 2005 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that estimates that nearly 25,000 teen traffic deaths have been prevented by age 21 laws. In 1982, 56 percent of teen drivers killed in traffic crashes had a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit. By 2005, that figure was 23 percent. "Why would we repeal or weaken laws that save lives?" Rosenker asked. "It doesn't make sense."
Human nature and common sense tell us that kids are going to drink no matter what the law says. Is it responsible for adults to essentially give them permission because we can't find another way to curb their curiosity? That's a tough question. But we can't continue to be naive and think that what happened to those teenagers in Oswego can't happen to our own children.
Are there other answers out there?
I heard that in Germany that there is a low rate of DUI's and teenage drinking because they can drink beer as children. They view it as a beverage and not as a means to get drunk and stupid. Maybe prohibition is actually working against responsible actions. Just a thought? Anyone out there been to Europe?
Actually, it is legal in Aurora for minors to drink "small amounts of alcohol" at home, under their parents' supervision.
And my 2 kids have always been given a little beer or wine with dinner whenever their dad & I have some. We're German-American, and both hubby & I were raised that way. I feel that denying kids alcoholic beverages entirely can lead them to view beer & wine as "forbidden fruit", and when they go to college they overindulge.
My kids are like, "so what"? It's just a beverage! They have seen their parents & other relatives drink responsibly, and have seen kids their age get drunk and make fools of themselves. They appreciate being treated as the young adults they are, trusted to use alcohol in moderation.
And all 4 of us, whether we're 18 or 52, know that we are never to get behind the wheel of a car when we've been drinking. That rule is non-negotiable!
With all the damage and destruction alcohol creates why not just go back to prohibition for everyone!
prohibition was the stupidest law ever created. why do you think they repealed the law? prohibition just caused organized crime and increased deaths and arrests. do you really want our kids going through that?