Would a lower drinking age curb binge drinking on campuses?
The Associated Press story starts with this:
College presidents from about 100 of the nation’s best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
The college presidents say that the drinking age of 21 is “routinely evaded” — and everyone agrees that alcohol abuse on college campuses is a huge problem.
So, there’s the argument that if alcohol is a “forbidden fruit” on the campus, it becomes that much more attractive. On the other hand, advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the story says, say “lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. It accuses the presidents of misrepresenting science and looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem.”
Here’s the story. Take a look and let us know what you think. Should the drinking age stay where it is? If so, why? If not, why not?
UPDATE: If you’re interested in more debate on this hot topic, check out the comments over on the bottom of the story page over here.
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
There should be plenty of data out there to make this decision. The drinking age was 18 not that long ago if my memory serves me correctly. I’d say leave it where it is. I’m mean there are still some 18 year olds in high school and it would make it just that easier for someone to supply an entire party of underage drinkers w/ booze. At least if someone is 21 there is a gap between high school age kids and someone who could almost be out of college. Whatever the age, just stop driving after drinking and in the case of this 16 year old, texting while driving drunk.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405161,00.html
“So, there’s the argument that if alcohol is a “forbidden fruit” on the campus, it becomes that much more attractive.”
I think that fruit tree has been picked pretty clean these days.
That’s a ridiculous idea to reduce the age instead of rehabbing the addicts. That’s the excuse the worst parents give for buying their kids booze and letting them have a party. Becuae if WE don’t they will go somewhere else. Why they still have custody of kids with that attitude, I’ll never know. Lets’ just lower it to 7. It will be so much fun watching the smaller ones stagger. They are easier to pick up and sling into bed to sleep it off too.
Lowering the age?? Are you drunk? It needs to be made higher.
Let’s be very clear here.
First off, it is not beer and wine we are talking about, it is “chugging” vodka and other hard liquors that has led to deaths due to alcohol poisoning. It is one thing for a new Freshman to go to their first party at college and drink beer, it is quite something else for someone to drink rum, vodka, Jim Beam or whatever are the current favorite hard liquors to the point of passing out.
Secondly, if it were just a beer party, our rule in college (way back when dinosaurs roamed the quad and dirt was a recent discovery) was if you could not get up a get your own beer, you were done.
Thirdly, many colleges still have a “no alcohol on campus” policy, which is why a lot of this type of “binge drinking” has been associated with Fraternities and Sororities that have off campus “houses”. In other words, there is no responsible adult supervison.
It would seem, however, that another problem a college or university might have to face is explaining to the parents of the darling little drunk that their “precious” is being expelled from school for violating campus policies regarding drinking and serving alcohol to minors.
I don’t see how making it legal to drink at 18 will reduce the number of binge drinking incidents. If this really is the idea of University Presidents, is our higher education system in sound hands? If a change is made, certainly the students will no longer be evading the law, but those who are inclined will still be binge drinking.
Dumb idea.
Binge drinking has less to do with age limits than with the culture of over-consumption with a Puritanical mean-streak. It’s primarily an American and British phenomenon. In much of Europe kids get stupid drunk at 14 and get over it. The US should lower the drinking age and increase the driving age.
Pragmatically we can sit here and discuss studies and statistics to support our various positions on whether a lower drinking age results in more fatalities or a higher drinking age encourages binging. But my question is whether the government should play a role at all. What is the point of a legal drinking age? Whose rights are being protected by enforcing one? Should the government be in the business of telling us what we cannot do in order to protect us from ourselves?
If someone at 18 can:
-fight and die for their country
-sign a legal contract
-marry
-own a gun
Why can’t they have a drink?
Mark,
They can father a child at that age too but it doesn’t make them a “father” It more about responsibility and sadly that is lacking in some at any age. Some at 18 can be responsible with all these but a few ruin it for the masses. That’s when some people think the govt must step in. Does it work? Sometimes.
I think the drinking age should be lowered to 18. And yes, I think it would help lower the incidence binge drinking.