Why is there so much underage drinking?
Is underage drinking a problem in our society? Why/why not?
What would be the advantages and disadvantages to changing the legal drinking age?
If you were in charge, what would you make the legal drinking age?
Justin Henrichs (9:00)
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37 comments:
I think that the reason that many teens drink now is because of the fact that they want to look cool. They may also be trying to escape the everyday stress that they encounter. Underage drinking is really a problem in our society because of the simple fact that so many people are willing to provide underage teens with alcohol. Many parents think that their kid will be okay as long as they are providing the alcohol, monitoring them, and as long as they are drinking at home.Studies have shown that teens bodies cannot handle alcohol and that is really why the legal drinking age is 21. I think that the age at which we can drink is just fine, and we should wait until that age to drink. If I had to choose i would pick the age of 21 to be the legal drinking age just for the fact that it is said that a persons body is fully grown at the age of 21.
Frankie Gaskill (9:00)
I believe that there is so much underage drinking because everyone sees everyone else doing it, so they decide that they want to do it do. A lot of people drink socially. They do it because it seems to be the cool thing that everyone else is doing. People should learn to be leaders instead of followers. Underage drinking is a problem because people dont do it responsibily. People drink and drive and get into car accidents, risking the lives of others because they want to be "cool" and drink. I really dont think that changing the drinking age would really make a difference. People will still fin a way to get the alcohol if they want it regardless as to what age you have to be. Just like now. People that are underage still find ways to get liqor. Thats how they are able to drink underage... People are going to do what they want to do regardless.
Janyce Burks
I think that underage drinking is a big problem in our world today. Younger people are doing it to make themselves feel older and try to look grown up, but really just looking more immature in the process. But, i feel that underage drinking is something that is here to stay, whether you lower the legal drinking age or higher it. In high school, that is the cool thing to do, until something serious happens. My senior year, I had 2 of my friends die from drinking-related accidents. After that, we all learned a lesson. Young adults don't learn until it hits them hard in the face one day. You've got to learn from your mistakes and mature from them. But, no, I don't think the legal drinking age should go down, because it wouldn't make a difference. Maybe the only difference would be that more younger people start drinking. Honestly, I don't see one good reason there would be for lowering the age.
Alyssa Surber (9:00)
I definately think there is a problem with underage drinking. Maybe the drinking age should be lowered. I mean I have read about other countries that have no drinking age. Typically, they have less problems with underage drinking than the U.S. I think it stems from a desire to rebell. It's the thrill of doing something illegal possibly, or waking up somewhere new five minutes before class. I don't really know the draw that drinking has really, but I know that underage drinking is pretty out of hand. I dunno if lowering the drinking age would really change anything. It might make things worse. Even if you lowered it or raised it, people would drink in my opinion. Poeple drink when they are happy and when they are sad. If it were my choice, I don't know what I would do.
Dustin Piercy (9:00)
The drinking age is fine the way it is. As Gaskill's post said, teenagers bodies are not yet able to handle alcohal like an adult. There is a reason the age is 21. Underage drinking is a problem I think. It causes way to many car accidents resulting in death amongst teens. It causes kids to start failing in high school and leads to problems at home. People say marijuana is a gateway drug but from my own experience it is alcohal that is the gateway drug. Kids will try anything that there parents do. And yes there are way to many opportunities for underage people to drink. I was given loads of opportunities and I took advantage of them like most teens would. But I can look back now and see that drinking as a young teenager did way more harm than good.
post begining with drinking age is fine the way it is on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:53:00 PM
Brett Hall
Because America makes it so attractive, and when we're young we're in such a hurry to be adult. If we were a little more relaxed in this country I don't think we'd have all these problems w/kids "country cruisen" But I think it's to late to go back now. I don't think our country is going to get a second chance on a lot of things. I think drinking age should be 16 or 18. You probably assume that I'm a drinker but I'm not. I actually came from a long line of alcholics and kind of loathed alcohol for a long time. I think that there would be less of a problem if we weren't so uptight. What did you do when your parents told you not to touch something and then they left the room? People are always going to abuse b/c there are fundamental problems w/life. Maybe if we focused more on that, we would drink less.
Renee Hart
Underage drinking is definitley an issue with this country. Teens tend to look to media sources to understand what type of behavior is expected of them. So when an impressionable youth watches MTV spring break that young person believes that underage drinking is the norm. Binge drinking is a commonly accepted behavior among college students even though every year the death toll rises. The problem isn't with the drinking age. The problem is what our teens view as normal behavior.
With that being said, I think that the legal drinking age should be the legal age of consent. If the age of consent is 18, the drinking age should be 18. Why should someone be allowed to go to war and die for their country, but not be able to drink. That same 18 year old could put themselves in financial ruin through bad credit choices; but they cannot take a drink. Basically what I am saying is: whatever age it is decided that you take full responsiblity for your actions should be the age you can drink.
Underage drinking is definitley an issue with this country. Teens tend to look to media sources to understand what type of behavior is expected of them. So when an impressionable youth watches MTV spring break that young person believes that underage drinking is the norm. Binge drinking is a commonly accepted behavior among college students even though every year the death toll rises. The problem isn't with the drinking age. The problem is what our teens view as normal behavior.
With that being said, I think that the legal drinking age should be the legal age of consent. If the age of consent is 18, the drinking age should be 18. Why should someone be allowed to go to war and die for their country, but not be able to drink. That same 18 year old could put themselves in financial ruin through bad credit choices; but they cannot take a drink. Basically what I am saying is: whatever age it is decided that you take full responsiblity for your actions should be the age you can drink.
Scott Kimball (9:00)
There is so much underage drinking because it is fun to do, it's that simple. Sure kids know that it is illegal, but that is half of the fun, doing something that you know isn't right. I think that the legal drinking age is fine where its at because if it was lowered to 18 or something like that, then teens from about 14-17 would still be drinking and the problem that we have now would still be there. As long as there is an age limit, people younger than that limit will still be breaking the law. The best thing to do would to get rid of the age limit all together. If there was no limit, kids wouldn't drink as much at one time, because they don't have to drink to get drunk. If you know that there is a possibility of getting caught and being in trouble, then you usually try to make the most of what you're doing, such as getting really drunk. So if you want to get rid of that problem, do away with the whole drinking age limit.
Chris Bohnhoff (Noon)
I think that underage drinking is way out of control. It seems like I can't go a day without hearing someone talking about how they can't wait for this weekend so they can get wasted or can't wait for the next party. And I think it is mostly due to people wanting to be cool and fit in, just like smoking. Come on is that really all you think about? In countries that have a lower drinking age or none at all they have much less of a problem with underage drinking. But I don't think we should raise or lower the age either, I think 21 is a good age. And if I were in charge that's the age I would set.
Abby Dillingham (9:00)
I think that underage people drink because that it is fun. It's fun and exciting because every time you take a drink you know you are breaking the law. Drinking is a way for you socialize with other people. It helps you relax and have a good time. There is a lot of underage drinking because alcohol, from my experience, is very easy to come by. A lot of people are willing to buy it for you. I do and I don't think that drinking is a problem is our society. It is a problem because sometimes you here about kids going out and getting drunk and then driving around and getting into a car accident. This happened to a friend of mine but luckily he was OK. I don't think it is a problem because I do along with a lot of my friends. I know I shouldn't do it but it is a lot of fun. If we changed the drinking age then the economy would see a lot more money come in and alcohol sales would be on the rise. There would be a lot more business coming to towns and a lot more revenue would be generated. Some disadvantages of lowering the drinking age would be seeing more people getting into accidents and a lot more deaths due to alcohol. In the event I was in charge of changing the drinking age, I would probably keep it the way it is. It's not as much fun to drink after you are 21 because there isn't that excitement of breaking the law.
Kirby Reifsteck (9:00)
I think that there is alot of underage drinking, because kids like the feeling of being rebellious. I know alot of people that underage drink because they think it makes them cool. I laugh at those people. I think if people want to be cool, so they drink, then they are just making a fool out of themselves. Some kids drink because it makes them more social and they can relax and just have fun. I know that if we do lower the drinking age, there will still be underage drinking. I know kids that are in jr. high that drink. That is when you know it has gone too far. Alot of parents don't mind if their kids drink as long as they are at home and aren't driving, but the drinking age is 21because your body has to be able to handle the alcohol and if you are young, it's not going to be able to. I'm pretty sure I would just keep the drinking age at 21 becuase no matter what, there is going to be underage drinking.
Morgan MacFarlane (9:00)
I think the reason that so many teens drink is because they aren't suppose too. Its a risk or a high the fact that you might get caught. Then getting away with it feels so much better. Some wanna look cool and act like an adult. Well I dont know to many adults that think its cool to do a keg stand or do several beer bongs in a row. In other countries the drinking age in lower and they dont seem to have the problems we do with underage drinking. I do feel that if an individual can decide the leader of the country and fight for our countries freedoms and liberties then they should be able to have a drink if they want.
Kristin Knowles (9:00)
People think doing irresponsible things will make them cooler in everyone's eyes. It really doesn't matter what age you put on drinking or anything else in the world, people are going to find some way to do it at a younger age anyway.
Underage drinking is a big problem, in my eyes. A lot of it ends up getting the people into bad situations. Parties that start out fine end up getting violent. A nice date with your boyfriend ends up in the back of his truck with you pregnant. A drive with some friends ends up in a ditch, one of you dead and the other in the emergancy room. It'd save a lot of problems if people would just get smarter and not drink irresponsibly.
I don't think there's anything wrong with having a drink every now and then (I don't drink though), but be responsible with it and don't go get wasted. Even if you have a designated driver, you're still being irresponsible by getting wasted. I don't know for sure, but it can't be good for your body either.
Megan Mercier (9:00)
Growing up in a small town, a dry town, I do believe that there is a problem with drinking in underage teens. Even in a small-dry town, there are still parties held weekly with students drinking, and of course, at least one accident a year from a drunk,student-driver. I would not change the legal drinking age, but I do wish we could change what is cool to teens in our society. The only suggestion I would have is to hope the media would change its influences on our teens and younger age. It is interesting to see the differences from a child raised on t.v., and a child not raised on t.v.
Bobbi (9:00)
Underage drinking is a problem that we're going to have to learn to deal with. It has gotten so out-of-control, and there are so many teens doing it it'd be hard to stop all the chaos. Underage drinkers always find a way to get alcohol. Whether it's an older brother or sister, parents, friends, or fake ID's. The possibilites are endless. I don't think lowering the drinking age would do a bit of good. The underage drinking would still happen, and lowering the drinking age may even target younger teens into drinking. I've talked to people who are 21 or older and they said it's not fun anymore when you are of age. They said they fun part was being underage. So, I don't know. I agree with everyone who said teens' bodies can't handle alcohol until they're 21. I think that is why we have so many underage drinkers die because they drink more then their bodies can handle. I think the drinking age should stay at 21, and should definitely not be lowered.
Chelse Lindenbaum (9:00)
The reason why I think there is a lot of underage drinking is because these kids nowadays think they are grown and can do whatever they want to do. Peer pressure also plays a part in underage drinking. Your friends would try to force you to do something that you don't want to do and then it just gets to the point that you get tired of all the pressure and you will just give so easily. Look, if someone, especially your friends, try to get you to drink and you tell them no and they still try to get you to drink, just leave them and don't hang around them anymore. Friends for one, are suppose to respect you for who you really are and if your friends don't have respect for you then just forget about them and move on and find some other friends to hang out with. My friends still ask me if I want to drink with them when they go out, but I tell them no and they stop bothering me because they know what type of person I am and they know I don't drink.
Jaime Carpenter
I think there is so much under age drinking because kids in our society have been told no all the time and are some what ignorint about it and feel that well they say we cant do it so lets do it. People might get their kicks from going behind the laws and behind their parents back and drinking under age. I do not think that underage drinking is a problem in our society. You can go to war and kill or be killed at 18 yrs of age but cant crack open a beer come on lets think about that one. Well changing the legal drinking age would give 18 yrs old more opportunities to be able to act like an adult and they will not be breajking the law. Disadvantages would be drunken driving which will always be around. If i was in charge i would make the legal drinking age 18 because kids at that age are over in iraq defending our country and when they come home they cant even crack open a beer legally. So thats why i would make it 18 and not twenty one.
Shawn harshbarger
The reason there is so much underage drinking is because younger kids see it as being cool or grown-up. This is a definite problem in our society that we are constantly trying to take care of. The advantage would be that it would seem more common to the younger generation and maybe they wouldn't be in such a rush to illegally drink. In Europe, where the drinking age is lower, they show a much loweer percentage of alcoholics becuase it is seen as the norm for kids to have a drink. They are taught to be responsible with alcohol.The disadvantage would be then you would have teens driving around drunk becuase they now can drink on the same year they got their drivers license. I also think it would hurt their bnodies now becuase they haven't fully grown yet. If I were in charge, I would probably keep the drinking at the same age as it is now.
Ryan Lowry(7:00)
I think underage drinking is a big problem in our society.I think kids drink now because they think it's cool and they don't want to "not fit in", especially in the college scene. I don't think that changing the drinking age would make any difference because kids will drink if they want. A big problem is that the police don't enforce the law. They may bust a party, but they never seem to do anything about it because the same thing happens the next night. A lot of kids that are partying don't handle themselves well. They get drunk and go crazy because they don't really know what they are doing. The legal drinking age is 21 for a reason. By the time you are that old, you are more mature and can most likely handle yourself better. I think kids should wait until they are 21, but I don't think that will ever happen.
Hannah Dodd (9:00)
Underage drinking is a big problem in our society. It's easy for kids to get and so many adults are willing to provide it. Especially if their parents drink too. I don't really know if there would be that much of an advantage of changing the legal age cause either way people are still going to drink.
Elizabeth Kerns
There is so much underage drinking because everyone has to look cool and fit in with the in crowd. No one wants to stay and hang out with their own age group, we all want to be with the older people when we are that age.
Underage drinking is a problem because of what I stated above. It also does not help that there are parents who will buy the alcohol for the kids even if they don't drink it in their own home.
I don't think that the drinking age needs to be changed because there are 21 year olds and 43 year olds that don't act responable when they drink. People need to understand what can happen when they drink and stop this bull crap, "IT WON'T HAPPEN TO ME."
Michelle
underage drinking is abolutly retarded...once you turn 21 you have your whole life to drink. i know too many people who decided to underage drink and got DUI's and to this day 11 years later..they still can not get their drivers license back, they cant get a good job because they cant drive to get to that job. its a waste of time and a waste of your life if you drink while underage.
april 9am class
I think that legally underage drinking it a problem but in reality its not as bad as made out to be. I think the legal alcohol drinking age should accually be lowered to 18. I know i started drinking when i was 16 and i think that at 16 and 17 i found myself drinking to get drunk and be stupid. As ive matured I really only drink to socialize. Im a fairly quiet person so when i drink i am much more open and talkative. I dont drink to get wasted like i used to. I think that many people feel that kids drink to look cool or drink away their problems but i find that to be stupid. I know people that have done that but once they mature they will learn that being wasted and making an ass of yourself isnt really that cool. Drinking socially is fine. So if they drinking age was 18 then i think that would be fine but kids younger than that dont know how to drink as responsible as they should and sometimes it could be a problem for them.
Jimmy Gourdier (12:00 Class)
Underage drinking is a problem in the United States. People are developing a taste for alcohol at earlier ages. There is so much underage drinking because the youth of today think that they need it to have fun. I mean hell it does make for a good time, but it is still illegal. The drinking age should be lowered, but it doesn't really matter because if somebody underage wants it bad enough, they will find a way to get it. If it were to be lowered, it should be lowered to 18 because if you are old enough to vote then you should be old enough to buy beer.
Zach Burnett
I do think that there is an underage drinking promblem in America. A lot of it I think is that it is easily obtained, for some people. I think that the only advantage is that there would be a lot less people getting tickets for doing it. I would make the legal age 18.
Dani
Being a teenager, I know of two very big reasons why teens drink alcohol more than ever. The first is because it is easily accessible to minors now-a-days. Many older siblings, and even parents are approving of alcoholic beverages, and providing them to minors if they plan to stay in the house with it. Which is horrible-parenting. The second reason is because "everyone's doing it!" The feeling is cool, you can be with a bunch of other people doing it, it's the cool thing to do. So many teens now-a-days are influenced by eachother, it doesn't really help anyone. Once you hit the actual legal age, then you can drink if you choose.
Brittney (7:00)
I think that there is a definate drinking problem these days. Some teenagers drink every single weekend, and some also drink on the weekdays. I think that people need to start taking a more active role in their lives, that's why people are having to drop out of school and college to soon. People need to get a grip on reality. I mean you can still have a good time, but don't let it take over your life.
--Jill Reinhart (noon)
As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes. Developmental transitions, such as puberty and increasing independence, have been associated with alcohol use. So in a sense, just being an adolescent may be a key risk factor not only for starting to drink but also for drinking dangerously. I've heard of parents teaching their teens to drink and honestly I think it's a wonderful idea. As long as the parent is responsible in how they teach their teens, I don't see the harm. Not many adolescents really know the definition of drunk or how to handle it. In a home where drinking is forbidden looked down upon there is a bigger chance that a child in the home will drink at an early age. Drinking is seen as a way to rebel against the family's wishes and tastes. But an an early age disrupting the balance could just be a way of expression.
Do I think the age should be increased? No. Honestly there would be no real point in that at all. Look whats happening now. Kids are already breaking the law and the drinking age is only 21. I'm sure that if the government raised it then it would give the young adults all the more reason to do it. To rebel against the government's decision.
Miranda Wilson (9:00)
Most kids start drinking because of peer pressure. They don’t want their friends to think their lame so they follow the crowd. Other kids start drinking because they are raised by parents who drink. Underage drinking is a problem in our society because it only contributes to kids thinking their ready to make adult decisions. When you have kids who add drinking to the mix, it only clouds their adolescent judgment further. Kids aren’t responsible enough to know that if you’re going to drink do it in moderation. They just drink to see who can handle the most alcohol. That’s why there is such a problem with binge drinking. Kids are killing themselves with alcohol poisoning and killing others when they decide to get behind the wheel of a car and drive under the influence. I think that the legal drinking age is reasonable.
Jennifer Wilson
I think there is so much underage drinking due to the peer pressure from teens to drink alcohol to be cool. Teens see role models on television drinking alcohol andthey see there friends drinking and it makse them feel left out. They feel like they don't have the same connection with there friends if they are not drinking with them.Im not really sure if its problem because i don't really here to much about it, but we should really keep an eye out for this issue because if don't thingscan get out of hand. The drinking age should stay at 21. At that age you fully responsible on what you are doing and you have the mental capacity to know when to much alcohol is enough. Personally, i would make the legal drinking age at around 24 yeasrof age. I feel like once your out of school yoiu are a true adult and you can make responsible choices involving alcohol.
demaris winston(7:00)
I think if I'm old enough to go die for some piece of shit president, than I should be old enough to have a beer, or two, or three, or twenty for that matter. The reason there is so much underage drinking is because the drinking age is so high. There's no denying it, drinking is a pretty big part of our culture. Teens, not all of course, are going to drink one way or another. It's just that simple. Therefore, the drinking age should be lowered to nineteen, maybe even eighteen. A sixteen-year old can go to a tavern and get a drink in Germany, and they don't seem to have nearly as many problems with alcohol as we do. America is about over-consumption in everything: alcohol, food, drugs, everything. Maybe if there was more education working against this principle of unhealthy drinking habits, than it would be less of an issue. Furthermore, I think the reasoning behind such a high drinking age is more about money than the well-being of the public. There is so much money to be made when the punishment for consumption is a $300 ticket.
Tristan Cogswell
Drinking has always been viewed as something cool to do and something that will help you forget the bad in life and just have some fun. Underage drinking is continuing to get worse and worse. The age for underage drinking is dropping too. If you changed the drinking age to 18 or 19 then maybe less kids would do it because it wouldnt be viewed as something rebellious and a way to escape from all of your troubles. I would honestly make the drinking age be 18. It is 18 in foreign countries such as Italy and there are less drinking problems there.
Haley Stewart (7:00)
Either way people are going to do what they want....so if they want to drink they will. Nothing can really stop them. I think the legal drinking age should stay at 21.
Brianna Bugbee
I beleive keeping the drinking age at 21 is for the best. Although many people do start drinking in high school when it is illegal i dont think that should mean the age should be lowered.The truth of the matter is, is that a lot of people do not know how to drink responsibly, especially high schoolers. I admit some of the most fun i have ever had was getting wasted in my high school days, but on the other hand i am lucky that i did not kill someone or myself for that matter during those crazy years. 21 is a good age to be able to drink.
Blake Eakes Noon
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