Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Drinking Age Controversy

It's been quite a while since my last post here; I've been using Facebook more and more for casual updates, and so haven't had the motivation for a big update here. And this is no different, this won't be a big update.

Just wanted to share an article link on the topic of the drinking age in the United States. The basic idea in the article is that raising the drinking age to 21 hasn't stopped kids from drinking, it's just pushed it behind closed doors and encouraged reckless drinking behavior. There are some interesting ideas in the article on what could be done differently to encourage responsible drinking behavior.

It's well worth a read. Here's the article link.

6 comments:

Dear Girl said...

You know, your site (onlineopportunity.org) needs some lovin. where have you been? People are starting to wonder what is going on since no one has heard from you in a while on your website.

Jay said...

Hi Rosa! It has been some time since I've done anything with Online Opportunity. It's been interesting, seeing how Google traffic to the site hasn't really been affected by posting frequency...apparently sites that are established don't have the same penalty for lack of posting as new sites.

Anyway, I've had lots of projects going on in my day job that have kept me from it. I do have an ebook I wrote that I haven't had time to sell, so I'll probably post that for free soon.

Court10 said...

I read the article over the drinking age controversy. I am at the age where a lot of drinking, especially binge drinking is taking place. While I do not drink and I am almost of age, I knew people back in high school who were always getting drunk. Changing the drinking age does not stop underage people from drinking. I know some people think that if they would lower the drinking age to 16, more people may not do it because it is not seen as being rebellious. Others think that more people would participate in drinking since they would be of age. I can see both ways, but I'm currently leaning towards the second opinion. No matter what, people will still drink. These laws haven't stopped them and they won't. Many times if I go out to a party, I seem to be the only one who isn't drinking and I amaze people when I say I can have fun without drinking. "pregaming" before they go to parties, so there is a lot of binge drinking going on. I think some people need a big reality check on what drinking can actually do to your body in the long run and the other negative consequences it has. On a happier note, it is good to know that they number of deaths/accidents have decreased over the years as stated in the article.

Cwork said...

Prof Shaffstall this is my first blogging comment. I feel the drinking age should stay where it is. People are going to drink no matter what the age is. Raising the age even higher is only going to encourage people to do it more and lowering it would only do the same. It's a lose lose situation. I think that maybe they should make the penalties for underage drinking and penalties for DUI more strict. That could possibly have a little more effect on the people are doing these things. part of being able to drink is being able to do it responsibly. Some people can just handle it better than others.

krunkmuskie18 said...

The primary comparison to be made when it comes to drinking age is looking at other countries such as England. They don't really even have an enforced drinking age, and alcoholism isn't seen as big of a taboo as it is in America. With that said, there are also less drunk related deaths in England. The issue is not drinking and whether or not it should be legal for younger people to drink, this issue is how Americans view alcohol. If it were viewed more responsibly similarly to how it is viewed in England, there would be less problems. People enjoy drinking everywhere, but it comes down to having control over your drinking habits and responsibility when it comes to drinking. In countries such as England, one of the main reasons there are less drinking problems is because they are taught proper drinking etiquette and how to be responsible with drinking from a young age. In America it is one of those things where teens strive to get hammered because we all know if we tell teens not to do something, they will do it even more than they would have otherwise. I would like to compare this to the safe sex v. abstinence argument. If teens were taught safe sex instead of abstinence there might be a lower teen pregnancy rate. Telling someone they can't do something and not really giving them much information on that topic, or flat out lying to them (like many abstinence campaigns are known to do), does nothing to help correct irresponsible behavior.

krunkmuskie18 said...

I agree with court10 that there is alot of binge drinking problems as opposed to just drinking in general. It most cases it doesn't matter the age, 21 years old binge drink just as much as other groups.