Quote:
Originally Posted by AlphaXi_Husky
I heard an interesting argument against this on the news today, saying that while it may fix the problem on college campuses it would then push the problem to high schools, where 16 and 17 year olds are trying to get fake IDs to say they're 18. I don't know which stance I agree with, but I thought that was an interesting point.
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I see the argument, but then again I started drinking when I was 15. Being tall had its advantages- I rarely got carded. And I was not alone. Anyone who thinks that drinking does not happen all the time in high schools is living in fantasy land (not aiming that at you AlphaXi_Husky, but at the news report you reference.)
Alcohol is so easy to get, that I think the drinking age is meaningless in terms of deterring the use/abuse of alcohol by minors.
What is more important, in my mind, is to set an age where individuals can be considered adults and responsible for their own behavior.
With the age set at 21, colleges and Greek organizations suffer an unfair burden to control or eliminate alcohol use that is so much a part of young life (and always has been), that it is futile to even attempt to fully control it.
The advantage of a drinking age of 18 is that a great deal of liability is removed from institutions and placed on individuals where it belongs.
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