Drinking Age?

[edgray]

Edit: Further investigation has led me to the average figure being 36-38 hours a week in Spain.

I guarentee you that changing the attitude to alcohol in this country wouldn't alter anything, people want to go out and get fucked because they've watched their parents and grandparents working like dogs, and now they're working like dogs.

You've said yourself how your area closes down at lunchtime for a Siesta... Yeah, sounds really horrible!

Well that's true that everything closes for 3 hours. It's a nice break. Doesn't mean people work less though.

I'm highly skeptical of that average. It's certainly not my experience.

 

[Zorak]

Fair enough, I'm a little skeptical of it too.

I'd like to see what this country would be like, not just from an alcohol consumption viewpoint, if we took on a 3 day working week.

 

[hart]

That's how I feel about it too, at 18 you can smoke, and join the Military, if you can poison your lungs and kill/die for your government I see no reason why you can't drink.

:homo:

 

[edgray]

Fair enough, I'm a little skeptical of it too.

I'd like to see what this country would be like, not just from an alcohol consumption viewpoint, if we took on a 3 day working week.

Aaaah the 70s. What a decade. My father still raves about the 3 day week. Best thing that ever happened to the working man of Britain, he says.

My mother hated it. Cooking on a camping gas stove of an evening. How demeaning.

Of course that was an enforced condition, could be handled much nicer if it was done properly. I think most people would be very bored, though.

 

[darkangel]

Here's a very interesting link. Where the link is set at explains it and if you scroll up it tells you the States...

41 states have set their own exceptions to allow underage consumption of alcohol under certain circumstances. Nine states (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia have no exceptions in their underage alcohol possession or consumption laws.

And the list of States with an explanation of what is allowed as far as underage drinking in the presence of parents on private property is explained...

http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002591#A

 

[dkwrtw]

Good Link DA, my old science teacher told me all about that shit too, said he'd been letting his children drink for years and it was totally legal.

 

[darkangel]

It amazes me what I read on that link. I never would have thought it!

 

[KimmyCharmeleon]

Twenty-one. People here usually get their Provisional license by the time they are eighteen. And with stupid young boys who like to do stupid stuff with cars (trust me, I've witnessed this first hand), alcohol would not go down well with it. Males in this age bracket are the ones who are involved in most P-plate accidents, you know what they're like, with their "fully sick cars and subwoofers in the back bro". Too many around here, bloody bogans especially :willy_nilly:

 

[GoldDust Woman]

If the government expects you to risk your life for it at 18, then they should allow people to drink at 18, simple as that in my opinion.

Risking your life at 18 in the armed forces is entirely different than an 18 year old, drunken, 10 foot tall and bullet proof mentality behind the wheel of a car...

I say 21.

 

[edgray]

Risking your life at 18 in the armed forces is entirely different than an 18 year old, drunken, 10 foot tall and bullet proof mentality behind the wheel of a car...

I say 21.

Kids are going to get hold of alcohol anyway. And making it illegal for them to do so STILL results in drunken kids behind the wheel of a car. In fact, I would go so far as to say that CAUSES kids to behave badly.

Think about it, the kid gets some booze, he's drinking with in the woods somewhere because it's illegal and they can't do it anywhere near adults. They've already broken the law, why would they think twice about getting behind the wheel of a car when drunk? What's stopping them?

Let kids drink in pubs where adults are. Adults have a calming effect on young people. The problems happen when kids are left to their own devices.

Oh and if a kid can risk his life in the military defending your freedoms, he can damn well drink a beer for his troubles, if you ask me.

 

[dkwrtw]

Kids are going to get hold of alcohol anyway. And making it illegal for them to do so STILL results in drunken kids behind the wheel of a car. In fact, I would go so far as to say that CAUSES kids to behave badly.

Think about it, the kid gets some booze, he's drinking with in the woods somewhere because it's illegal and they can't do it anywhere near adults. They've already broken the law, why would they think twice about getting behind the wheel of a car when drunk? What's stopping them?

Dude I have been in this EXACT situation multiple times during my underage drinking adventures, the fact that it's "wrong" only drives most of them to behave stupider than normal, and they can't just drink whenever they want so they are getting fucking TANKED when they do drink.

 

[edgray]

Dude I have been in this EXACT situation multiple times during my underage drinking adventures, the fact that it's "wrong" only drives most of them to behave stupider than normal, and they can't just drink whenever they want so they are getting fucking TANKED when they do drink.

Exactly. I've seen it myself, been there too. We'd be drinking in park, breaking the law anyway, so why not vandalise a park bench or a phone booth?

Marginalising people from society always drives them to ever increasing criminal activity.

Let the kids drink, I say, in a place where adults drink too.

 

[dkwrtw]

I agree, I'd go so far as to say that 15 could be acceptable, though I'd be hesitant to go lower than that.

 

[edgray]

I agree, I'd go so far as to say that 15 could be acceptable, though I'd be hesitant to go lower than that.

As long as there are adults present :thumbup

 

[dkwrtw]

Of course.

 

[GoldDust Woman]

Kids are going to get hold of alcohol anyway. And making it illegal for them to do so STILL results in drunken kids behind the wheel of a car. In fact, I would go so far as to say that CAUSES kids to behave badly.

Think about it, the kid gets some booze, he's drinking with in the woods somewhere because it's illegal and they can't do it anywhere near adults. They've already broken the law, why would they think twice about getting behind the wheel of a car when drunk? What's stopping them?

Let kids drink in pubs where adults are. Adults have a calming effect on young people. The problems happen when kids are left to their own devices.

Oh and if a kid can risk his life in the military defending your freedoms, he can damn well drink a beer for his troubles, if you ask me.

Yes, but... keeping the age at 21, lowers the odds of YOUNG, inexperienced drunken kids on the roads.

 

[FreightTrain]

There's no need to change the drinking age. Teenagers are going to act like idiots whether they're allowed to drink or not. As long as they know there are consequences to their actions. Many states suspend driving privileges for minors caught drinking, whether they were driving or not. I think that's a good idea.

 

[edgray]

Yes, but... keeping the age at 21, lowers the odds of YOUNG, inexperienced drunken kids on the roads.

I sincerely doubt that.

Allowing young people to drink amongst adults sensibly would not only take a lot of the mystique out of it, it would mean they are much more likely to drink responsibly and not drive afterwards.

By having the age as ridiculously high as 21 will not only make kids want to drink more, it will make them have to do so out of the view of adults, and that's where the problem lies. And they will get hold of it. Someone somewhere will boot for them. You're also sending out a truly bizarre signal to the kids too. It tells them that all laws are stupid and authority is not to be listened to.

Why 21? What possible reason? If a kid can drive a car at 17, kill in the army at 18, buy a house, get credit at 18, marry etc etc, why not drink? does the US have lower instances of youth and alcohol related incidents than countries with a lower drinking age? I very much doubt it. And what about narcotics? If they can't get hold of alcohol to experiment with, they'll get hold of something, that's for sure.

Here's a little story. I was arrested at age 17 for marijuana possession. After a night in the cells and a heavy interrogation, the police gave me a caution thankfully, and a bunch of govt produced pamphlets telling me marijuana gives you leukemia. Leukemia!! Now, everyone on the planet knows that's a crock of shit. What effect do you think that lie had on me? I'll tell you, it made me not believe a single word anyone in authority told me about narcotics. Within a year I'd tried every single drug under the sun. Why would I not? The official stories about the drugs weren't to be trusted. I had to go find out for myself.

And that's the problem. Young people need guidance. If you don't guide them, they'll go and find out anyway. And in the case of alcohol, that leads to much more danger for the kids and society as a whole.