ANSWERS: 41
  • I've heard of some people that think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 because there are a lot of 18-20 year olds drinking themselves to death in secret because they are not 21 and think they should be able to drink because they can vote, kill themselves slowly with cigarettes and join the military. Some of those 18-20 year olds, if the drinking age was lowered, would be in a bar where a (hopefully) responsible bartender would tell him/her that she's had enough. It's not just the 18-20 year olds in question that are thinking about lowering the drinking age, college professors are also thinking about it too.
  • Perhaps they all should be elevated to age 25. Yes, I am serious. I base this solely on the fact that 18 year olds are unfit voters. They really need to spend a few years in the "real world" before making important decisions for other people.
  • They should lower the drinking age.
  • In England the legal drinking age is 18. Nikka, you say that the age should be lowered in your country to encourage responsible drinking, but here it's the 14-17 year olds that are doing the same as your 18-20 year olds. I don't think that the age restriction is the issue, it's how close the kids are to actually being allowed to legally drink, and the culture that they live in. In France they have it right, their kids have watered down wine with meals from a very early age. This shows them how to drink responsibly and takes away the 'forbidden' factor. Basically, kids want to do what they're not allowed to do. As for the military and voting, they are with sound mind and can make that decision to join or vote. If they're drunk they could make bad decisions :-p
  • Firstly, where I live the legal drinking age is 18. Remember this is NOT an American site (-5). Secondly, it does not matter what age changes as long as they are consistent, drop the drinking age or raise the others two.
  • The frontal lobe is not fully developed until mid to late 20's. The frontal lobe controls the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events. In short, it controls impulsive actions. I agree with Scott about the drinking age needing to be raised. i do however disagree about the voting and joining the military. After signing up for the Air Force at 17 years old and entering at age 18 i served for 5 years. Not only did this give me a great deal of satisfaction (being able to serve my country) but it also gave me many many life lessons that probably would've taken decades had i not been in the military. I don't necessarily think the voting age should change either, because the 18 year olds that don't pay attention to politics and could really care less are the ones that don't vote. i haven't met one person between the ages of 18 and 24 that couldn't tell me exactly how they felt on key issues. As long as they know where they stand on these issues then there should be no question as to whether they should be able to vote or not.
  • They should all be set at 21, at a minimum yo...
  • I think Ec-nal SLOB of SLAB is right. An additional three years would be the difference between being able to make wise choices and not fully knowing the consequences. I also think raising the minimum age for marriage to 21 would be good, for the same reasons.
  • They should all be 20. .
  • see this is why i love living in canada cause its all 18 =)
  • Nearly all of the BIG 10 colleges in the US, among others including Ohio State and Duke all agree that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Look it up, its very interesting
  • It's the blatant hypocrisy of the system - it's okay to be killed at 18 while invading some country in order to pillage their natural resources but it's not okay to drink till they're 21 to forget about it
  • I think it's ridiculous. When you are brave and good enough to join the military, you may need to drink. What is the drinking age in Afghanistan?
  • The drinking age should be lowered to 18 as well.
  • I believe that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Because if you can go and fight and die for America at 18 years old I think that you should be able to drink alchaol.
  • During my time in the military, no one refused an 18 yr old a beer/drink if they wanted one. Even the off-post, off-base bars would serve an 18yo in the military (if the military were allowed, some places were off limits). It's kinda like an unwritten US rule/law.
  • They should all be lowered to 16. However, there should be additional requirements to vote which would rule out most 16 year olds from voting in practice.
  • They should all be lowered to 12, except for military; the military age should be changed to 40. Think population control :) LOL
  • I know it's really silly that you can join the army yet not have a drink for another 3 years if you are old anough to kill for your country I think you should be old enough to handle drink. So they should lower the legal drinking age. Here in england it's even worse you can have baby at 16 but you can't drive till your 17. How silly is that?
  • The drinking age. The US has trouble coming to terms with what "adulthood" means. It's asinine a person can vote, sign contracts, marry, and do a host of other adult things but a soldier in a foxhole can't have a beer. Europe has a much healthier attitude toward alcohol, and their youth are taught how to drink responsibly.
  • Nations have always needed young men for canon-fodder. This was my issue 35 years ago too. Funny how "the more things change..." because I feel today the way I did then = If one's old enough to be ordered to die or even worse for something beyound themselves, they fucking deserve a beer! This is one issue in which it's really hard for me to see the merit and/or efficacy of any counterargument.
  • voting, i think that some teenagers, not all do not vote based on their own beliefs or opinions, they do what the parents tell them to do because they don't know any better...at leat i know i did
  • In the UK, the drinking age is 18 as is voting, military service 18 and the age of sexual consent is 16. I think move them all up to 21 except the military service, young fit men/women are needed for that and it will take their minds off sex, drinking and voting. :o)
  • I think the voting age should be raised to 21 to add a little maturity and consideration of whats best for the country instead of whats best for ME. Drinking age here used to be 18, it was raised due to lack of responsibilty from the younger folks.
  • Isn't that screwed up? I think so, but I live in Canada and are drinking age is 18. You can enroll in the military and also vote. But you cannot rent a truck until the age of 25, but you can buy and drive trucks when you get your license. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the gov't is selfish and only take into consideration about what they "could lose". Self centered
  • I wouldnt change any of the rules. The drinking age is 18 in the UK and 21 seems a bit high. But on the other hand if the age is 18 it means that some 16 year olds will drink illegally. Push the age restiction down and more even younger people will drink illegally. In the UK youngers can legally drink at 18 but that makes them want to party all the time and they should learn responsibility first, so 21 seems adequate to me.
  • The legal age to marry. It needs to be raised to a bare minimum of 18. Not what you asked, I know, but that's the one that bothers me. I think the others are okay.
  • I think that the drinking age should be lowered and the military service age be raised. Why? Because, at least from my own experience, kids will drink whether they are of age or not, and a lot of the time will go overboard with it when they finally do get their hands on the stuff. If we taught responsible drinking instead of abstinence until 21 I doubt we'd have such a problem as we do (think moderation). I also think that the age to join the military should be raised to 21. A 21-year-old is no less fit than an 18-year-old, but they are usually more mature and aren't still in the "teenage" phase where they can be a bit emotionally unstable. That and they've had 3 more years life experience, so I feel that they would make a more grounded decision as to whether or not it is worth it to join the military, and if they die, they at least had those 3 more years. Also, I've known a lot of my own friends to join up right out of high school and they have all really regretted it, and wished that they had never joined at all. On TOP of that, it would probably mean that a lot of those men and women who joined the military later on either went to college or got some other experience working somewhere else, so that a) our armed-forces are better educated and b) once they get out of the service they have the knowledge and experience for something else (hopefully). Just my thoughts, I could very well be wrong.
  • I think the voting age should be increased.. on campus there were people who kept badgering students to sign up and vote ever street corner.. I want students to actually think before they vote for what's best for the country. I know a lot of people who voted just because it was exciting and they could finally vote.. but they didn't understand the policies of either candidates.. I would keep the legal drinking age. Although other countries have a lower drinking age, their children were able to grow up knowing how to keep things in moderation and with a level of responsibility. This kind of culture in Europe has been integrated for decades and thus, they're experienced with the proper methods to teach their children. However, lowering the drinking age in the US...it would cause a different reaction because the concept of a lower drinking age would still be new. i don't think it will teach the same responsibility, initially anyway, because the moment it turns 18 or 16 i guarantee every teenager will go out there a get their beer and offer some to their underage friends too. if anything middle schoolers and elementary students will begin to attain alcohol from their higher level peers.. especially since elementary children feel as if they're already adults and want to do adult things. Ten year old children are already having sex and watching mtv.. the next is drinking alcohol, if they aren't already. i truly believe that there will be terrible consequences. I would keep the age for serving the military the same. If you would raise it, those that want to graduate high school and sign up for the military to help pay their continuing education wouldn't be able to right away..
  • I would raise it all to 21. Additionally, I would raise the legal driving age to 18. Just one woman's opinion.
  • Either they should lower the drinking age to 18 or raise the other ages to 21. Like you've probably heard before, if you're adult enough to vote and if you're old enough to die for your country, why aren't you old enough to drink in your country?
  • I would raise the military age and lower the drinking age. But I'm 18, so of course I'd rather drink then go fight a war :]. Just being honest.
  • When I was 18, I got married and was sent to Vietnam. When I came back I was a senior petty officer in the Navy with the responsibility for millions of dollars of electronics equipment but I wasn't allowed to drink or vote. I could also sign a binding contract when I bought a house (I didn't waste my re-enlistment bonus). If the legal age is 21 then I shouldn't have been held responsible for anything I did. Since I was responsible I should have been able to drink and vote. It's funny, in the U.S. you can spend money and make contracts but not be allowed another adult privileges. It seems pretty hypocritical to me.
  • I think it should all be 21
  • If you are old enough to serve and die for your Country you are old enough to drink!
  • I think you should have to be 50 to join the army, that way all the old farts who start these wars can go finish them too
  • It's similar over here.. Apart from you can be Married and join the Military at 16 this is actually VERY similar to one of my questions.. only nobody agreed with me!!
  • Technically you can join the military at 17. I think the drinking age should be 16, voting 18, and driving should be 18/21.
  • If the drinking age was lowered again to 18 there would be an increase of drunk drivers. Traffic deaths of drunk teenagers dropped in the late 80's when the legal age of drinking went back up to 21.
  • That's just in the US. In Canada, the drinking age is 18, voting age is 18, driving age is 16 (depends on the province) I think 21 is WAY too long to wait for anything, however, I do think 16 is too young to drive. I think they should all be 18. Thats when you are done HS, and starting college.. I always found it funny that Americans were allowed to be married, or in college, or doing anything else at 18, but still not allowed to drink. lol.
  • and please note that you are classed as an "adult" when you are over 12 and pay "adult" prices on an airline, although you are not an "adult" when the trolly dolly comes along with alcohol!!

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