The thing that completely gets me is the united states has an awesome source of information directly to the north of us. It's called Canada
I'm so surprised that people have so many opinions on the drinking age without having any actual concrete proof or data of what the outcome of lowering the drinking age may actually look like. What the US SHOULD do is fund a research project to get statistics that show the number of alcohol related injuries, deaths, accidents, incidents, etc. of persons under the age of 21. vs. persons over the age of 21. This would give us a very large look into whether or not lowering the drinking age will solve problems or create more.
The problem with alcohol is that it is a battle that cannot be won. People are going to drink no matter the drinking age or the laws, or whatever else is put in place to prevent it. However, speaking as a 19 year old, who is in college, I do not believe the drinking age should be lowered. If every person my age was responsible to know when enough is enough and how to say no, I would be all for an 18 year old drinking age. Unfortunately, this is not true most of the time.
I'm a peer educator at my college and I teach a class called Alcohol 101. Through this class I see hundreds of kids who have gotten in trouble with alcohol related charges. THIS WILL NOT CHANGE if the drinking age is lowered. These people will still get in trouble for doing stupid things. In fact, I believe MORE people would be sent to my class for acting stupid while under the influence.
I've seen too many deaths and injuries related to alcohol poisoning and drunk driving. I've spoken to far too many people affected by deaths due to drunk driving. Lowering the drinking age will make it legal for 18 year olds to buy alcohol before and after prom, after graduation, at the beach, etc. Granted, this still happens now, but I can't even begin to imagine what those numbers will look like if the drinking age is in fact lowered. If every one of those young adults were responsible people, there would not be a problem. However, peer pressure plays a HUGE role in our society. I truly believe that in order to successfully lower the drinking age, we would have to first change our ENTIRE culture. Just because it works for Europe does not mean it will work for us. We are two very separate entities.
Just for the record, I do have a drink every now and then here at school. I DO know when to say no and I am ALWAYS responsible. I see nothing wrong with this sort of behavior, even if a person is underage. What I DO have a problem with are those people who go too far and not only risk injury to themselves, but to others.
As for the driving age, I am very much against raising it. I starting driving with a permit at 16 and got my license at 17. Many of my friends waited until they were 18 and some still have not even gotten their licenses. This is a HUGE burden on their parents, as they depend on them for rides everywhere. As soon as I started driving, my mom no longer had to pick me up at school after club meetings (school was 15 minutes away), she no longer had to drive me to work, and I was able to run errands for both her and my dad. I do see a lot of irresponsible drivers on the road, but surprisingly new drivers are generally MORE cautious than those drivers who are relaxed and not quite as braced for situations to arise. In my personal opinion, a 17 year old is not going to be any more dangerous than an 18 year old on the road.
I know it helped my parents out that I was able to drive at that age so they could stop chauferring (sp) me and my sister to after school activities and my job.
