The Legal Drinking Age in America
Today in #Wordpress there was a heated discussion regarding the matter of the legal drinking age of 21 in America. Many things were brought up and I thought it would be a good idea to post about it and give my opinions on it.
One of the items brought up is that an American citizen, over the age of 18, is allowed to sign their life away to the US Army and die for our country, but they still wouldn’t be allowed to drink alcohol. I realize that life isn’t about drinking, believe me, I don’t think that at all, but I see that it’s a bit unfair to the troops.
That is just one argument and I can see many pros and cons to this discussion.
A few of the cons of having a lower drinking age limit are more drunk driver accidents, possibly more shooting crimes related to alcohol, and there are many more to list. There are a bunch of things that could go wrong if the drinking age was lowered simply because it would be easier to get a hold of for people younger than 21. I think that the government has the age set to 21 right now simply because they want people to learn how to be at least a little bit responsible first before being allowed to drink.
On the other hand in Holland and other nations the drinking age limit is set much lower and the driving age is set much higher. I can see how this works for them because they are usually smaller nations (land wise not population) and they can ride their bikes or walk places. But in the US most people drive, so it is understandable how the legal age to drink is set above the legal age of driving.
I see much discussion here and I think it’s quite interesting how many times this actually comes up. Penny for your thoughts?
June 27th, 2005 at 12:55pm
In the UK the age limit is 18 and they have strong anti-drink-driving laws, and good roads and related laws (but used to have high accident rates). France is the same but weak laws and is experiencing very high accident rates. I think the law in the US, set at 21 for drinking, is a good age and the laws related to driving are about right but a little weak on drink driving. I don’t think prison is the solution though - I think more community work, stronger fines, confiscating car, removal of license for years, would be a better way.
June 27th, 2005 at 12:58pm
Some good insight. Yeah, I have been over to the UK before, but I didn’t know everything about the laws since I’m from the US. I agree, even for the US, they need strictire regulations and laws about drinking&driving because it happens all so often and some of the time, they get away with it. It becomes very annoying to see it day after day in the newspaper that someone died because of a drunk driver.
March 20th, 2006 at 4:37pm
I actually googled drinking age pro and con and your journal came up. I think that the drinking age should be 18 because how can we learn responsiblity if we are not given it. For example to drive in Florida, you have to get your permit. You have it for a year before you can get your license. Then you have a graduated license which has restricted driving times and limits the amount of people you can have in your car. By the time you reach 18, all restrictions are off. You are give responsiblity in increments. I think the drinking laws should follow the same logic. Thanks for letting me post this comment.
Sunny
March 20th, 2006 at 4:40pm
I’ve seen it work both ways where they should legalize it to age 18 and at the same time, keep it at 21. Society is different here in America than it is in other countries where they have different laws completely. By age 18, nearly all restrictions are off, there are still a few that only get lifted at age 23 or 25 — like renting a car. Past age 25, there are no restrictions (unless you start getting into the AARP lol). Rules are rules and they have been there for ages, but it would be interesting to see them change fater so long — if that’s even an option for congress/America.
April 4th, 2006 at 7:35am
As a teen, i see how my friends and the people around me do things. I find that most of underage drinking is due to the simple fact that it’s not allowed. it is human nature to rebel against what you are told. it has happened with all of us. if your told repeatedly not to do something, your more than likely going to be anxoius to do it. if the age was lowered to 18, yes their would be an increase in the abuse of it at first, but after the initial thrill of it was gone, it would be used more respectfully. kids in italy are allowed to drink, and that’s why their isn’t a drinking problem. the kids respect it and are not restrained from it. thats what i believe is a good choice for the drinking problem.
May 4th, 2006 at 9:54am
hey :0)
found your journal…. want to say something :0)
here in germany you can drink with 16 and drive with 18. when youre able to drink for about 2 years youre not intrested in it anymore. we have buses and trams and so on so why take your car? gas is expensive anyways.
as long as things are “forbidde” u want to do it… [its like the pot law in holland.. nobody really does it because u can do it…]
forbidden things are more interesting :0)
May 4th, 2006 at 11:43am
Yeah, exactly. That is kind of the point of this article, because it’s weird how people want to ‘taste the forbidden’ fruit, but once they’re allowed to, it doesn’t look so attractive.
May 9th, 2006 at 1:31pm
hey, i’m doing a term paper on this topic. do you mind if i use your page as a source on my bibliography?
May 9th, 2006 at 2:09pm
Yes, that would be fine :)
May 10th, 2006 at 1:37pm
Hi! I was searching for US drinking laws (which don’t actually seem to be stated anywhere!) and I came across your page. I live in England and I turned 18 last year. My friends and I all assumed that once we turned 18 we’d be out every weekend, but in fact I go out less now than I did when I was 17. The “naughtiness” of it, and adrenaline rush has gone, it’s not so much fun any more and now I hardly drink at all (I’m also too poor!). However this summer I’m going to DC for a week, and my childish side is going to feel very put out that I won’t be allowed to drink, and I’m going to want to! There is no difference in maturity between 17 and 18, and some 30 year olds can be incredibly immature. It’s hard to place a blanket age on a “good” time to be legal as people are so different.
I like the ages we have in England. I think that driving at fifteen is FAR too young (whoever came up with that one needs a clout round the head - my sister is 15, I would imagine there would be far more crashes if her friends were on the road) and 21 for drinking is too old. Loving your site!!
June 2nd, 2006 at 4:42am
hi,
I agree I am 18 and from England so I am allowed to drink, I think that this age limit is at the right age over here, and its ridiculus thats its 21 in the US. If some is old and mature enough to decide to go in to the US Army and die for their country, surley they should be responsable enough to have alcohol.
ALso i think the driving limit is too young!!
I going to the FLorida in the summer to visit the family, as i am 18 now over here i can pretty much do everything, i think i going to feel like a child again!!!
this post was an interesting read!!!
June 13th, 2006 at 10:39am
i think that since we arent allowed to drink [as a teen myself] i know that wanting to do something forbiden sounds fun, you know just because were simply not allowed to. and if age limits were lowered and just made laws that children were only allowed to drink at the dinner table with familys or something like that then teens would have grown up with alcohol and think of it as just another drink, not somthing to abuse. now im not saying they wont abuse it, but chances are lower
June 13th, 2006 at 10:43am
I wrote this article before I turned 21. As I’m now 21 as of last month, drinking has turned into something else. It’s nothing that ‘forbidden’ now for me, so it’s just something I can do if I want to and it’s perfectly legal. Something about the … “it’s ok, you’re allowed to”, that doesn’t make it as enticing anymore. It would be interesting to see what kind of changes would happen if the legal drinking age was lowered. There would be a lot of different effects…I don’t know if it would be better or worse though.