Quote:
Originally posted by mgdzkm433:
I agree, when do people become responsible for their own actions? When does it become wrong to point the finger at someone?
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A couple years ago, a student at Pitt (I can't remember if he was in a fraternity or not) went out on his 21st birthday, had 16 shots of whiskey and died. His parents sued the owner of the bar.
Now, I truly sympathize with the parents as they've lost their son forever, and I understand their anger. But let's think about this.
From all accounts I heard, the student never had had a drink before going out on his birthday. This guy had gotten through 3 years of Pitt, which is a fairly difficult school, and was a PRE-MED major. And he's not smart enough to know that someone with no built-up tolerance to alcohol might have a problem handling that amount of hard liquor? Come ON!!!
I was elated to hear President Bush mention "personal responsibility" in his inaugural speech. Some people thought he was referencing Clinton, but I don't - I think he meant it's time to stop blaming society, your fraternity, McDonald's or whoever for your own lack of common sense.
I had a very good time in college, and I definitely tied one on on my 21st. But I would have NEVER thought of drinking 21 shots. I think with the age being 21 everywhere and alcohol being much harder to get than it used to be, people just go wild when it's allowed.
MADD's main reasoning for making the drinking age 21 everywhere was to cut down on drunk driving. I'd like to put the numbers of drunk driving accidents next to the numbers of excessive drinking incidents, and see if the decrease in one has done anything to increase the other.
BTW, the definition of "binge drinking" that is used kills me. For me, it's 4 drinks in a "sitting." How long, exactly, is a sitting? If I go out at 6 and come home at 2, is that a sitting? 1 drink every 2 hours, binging? I don't think so.
[This message has been edited by 33girl (edited January 22, 2001).]
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