Underage drinking?

I drink to get drunk maybe once a month. But even drunk, I know my limits, if I feel woosy from shots, I'll take a breather and let my liver get some of it out. Living in Germany has opened my eyes to how liberal you can be with drinking and still be responsible. The scenarios you present with high school students and college ones for that matter is a matter of freedom while not knowing your limit.

I'm not against underage drinking, so long as it's responsible. I was allowed to drink in high school as long as I stayed in my house. When we have friends over, if they drink they cannot drive, they must crash or we wont serve them.

To answer your ultimate question: How are teens supposed to change the way they drink alcohol (or stop drinking for that matter) if the way they consume it is the way it is portrayed on TV?

It's all a matter of freedom and knowing yourself. I will present my children at their appropriate ages the same rules I had, as long as they stay at home they are able to drink, but of course, I will limit what they do drink, just so they don't get violently ill. I feel if they know they can drink, then they wont feel the need to "rebel" by getting wasted every other night.

I enjoyed your piece, the only criticsm I have is merely formatting.

The problem with this situation is that there is a drinking age. In counties such as France where there is no drinking age you don't hear about people having drinking problems. Why is this? They are brought up with wine and it is a part of their day so they almost never have more than a few drinks, not like us Americans who go get drunk at a bar after a difficult week. The only reason the drinking age is 21 is because of MADD, the worse organization in the United States. I think we should take one from France's book (I never thought I would say that) and get rid of the drinking age so it isn't so cool to be an underage drinker. Miost just do it since it is illegal it rebel against society. When there is no law there is no reason to rebel hence less abuse of alcohol.

I think that if people were exposed to drinking at a younger age there would be less of a demand for it when you got older. Of course, I don't mean that five year olds should be having a beer with dinner or anything, but if you are used to alcohol not being a big deal less people would want to drink at the levels they do now. Also I think if the drinking age was lowered to 18, drinking when seem less controversial, and fewer people would feel that is was the cool to do because they were breaking the laws. I also think there needs to be more education on drinking, but with more teachings based on how to drink safely and not just don't do it at all.

I'm not going to lie, I tend to go out and party and drink. I am an underage drinker, and I really just don't see anything wrong with it. You started out by talking about how other countries don't have the certain restrictions we have here in America, and I think that maybe we should look at that as a way to maybe improve underage drinking. Truthfully, underage drinking occurs because teenagers feel compelled to rebel. So with that being said I totally agree with jfedelma. There should be no limitations or restrictions on drinking. If they're weren't then maybe our society wouldn't have to run to a bottle after a stressful week or maybe teenagers wouldn't feel the need to binge drink to act "cool". Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect you for being one of many individuals in college that doesn't drink. Good for you and not allowing peer pressure as well as popularity status to stand in the way of your decisions Personally, I don't drink to feel popular or to act "cool". I feel that drinking with my friends releases stress and allows to have fun without thinking about other situations in life. It brings us together in a sense that I don't think anything else would. Its unfortunate that alcohol is related to such kinship but that's what our nation has brought it down to.

I agree with you! Underage drinking seems almost out of control in this country and the only explanation I can find is the way American society has made alcohol such a big deal. I have a big family in Colombia and all the time they have gatherings for any type occasion. When they get together usually everyone that is old enough to drink (usually 16 and up) have permission to drink and in my entire life I have never seen any of my cousins intoxicated, they all drink responsibly and with family. This is why I think that if families educate and give more freedom to their children they would not seek the need to abuse of alcohol. But I also agree with jfedelma that the drinking age has also a lot to do with this issue.
However, I do think that we are still in time to change the law and the way people see alcohol. It will be difficult but I don't think is impossible.

Ya, the first thing that edelma said was extremely true. The problem is a drinking age in my eyes as well. If alcohol is just one of those normal things at a dinner table, then kids wont look at it as this big deal. Kids like to rebel and to have a feeling of breaking the law. It's like a rush. So, if this thing called alcohol is forbidden then of course kids are going to do it to feel that rush. I'm not going to lie, I am an underage drinker, but I know my limits and I don't go out to get plastered and barf my face off. I dont look at it like that. I dont use it as a drug. I was around it becasue my parents drank and the rest of my family drank. I was around it when I was a kid and now I dont abuse it. I really dont think it is such a big deal. I mean the drinking age used to be 18 and in other countries it is either 18 or ther isnt one. I think if the drinking age was revoked then kids would not abuse it. I cant stand people that make such a big deal about it, yes some people do abuse it and some people are out of control, but thats not everyone. Maybe there would be less of these idiots if there was less idiots trying to make ridiculous rules.

I agree. I'll admit, I have gotten wasted, but it's not something I do regularly. I'm also someone that drinks when I know I am not going to drive at all. I spent a New Year's eve without even having a sip of champagne because I knew I was the designated driver. I think that in America underage drinkers have a tendency to abuse alcohol. At the same time, I think it is something that is almost put into teens minds by the media. In television shows the teens that are drinking always seem to get trashed, not just tipsy where they can laugh and act silly. Another thing, is that society makes such a big deal about underage drinking that teens figure when they have the chance to have any alcohol at all they need to get as much as possible, which then causes a whole other issue, alcohol poisoning.

I agree with you that as a society, we tend to put alcohol on some kind of pedastool. Since it's labeled as such a bad thing to do, it becomes popular in high school because, well, rebelling is what most high school kids want to do. This obviously carries over college too, since the "cool" thing to do in high school is to drink. However, I doubt that legalizing it completely would make the situation much different... or at least, it would take forever to do so. Personally, I think that drinking and having fun at a young age is totally fine, but if you like to have fun in other ways, then more power to you. People definitely need to exercise more responsibility with alcohol though...

I've heard some interesting proposals about changing the age to 18, and then having bars on campus. That way, professors and students sit around drinking together, and the professors implicitly model responsibility.

I've also heard the "It's no big deal in Europe!" argument a lot, and I've never been fully convinced by the parallel--but it's hard for me to articulate why. I wonder if American culture is more obsessed with approving or disapproving of behaviors IN GENERAL, which makes me think that abolishing the law wouldn't necessarily change the attitudes of "drinking is bad!" and subsequently, "Hey, let's go drink because it's not allowed!" In a number of people's eyes, it would STILL be morally "not allowed."

More, I'd like to change the atmosphere of drinking on college campuses, and I do agree that lowering the age to 18 could help that.

when the new marshall center is open there will be a beef o bradys that will serve beer. this will help atleast so people wont be driving that live on campus but who really lives on campus when you are 21. so i have no idea how that will help wow now people can get drunk in between classes.

I absolutely agree with drinking being glamourized on television, whihch makes it look interesting to try. I have also heard the argument about other countries have wine at dinner, children included so it makes it okay for the states to drink. But it is not okay. Drinking age limits is set at twenty one for purpose. Teenagers who drink are out of control and do not know how to handle drinking. They often indulge in binge drinking which is ridiculous. Why would somebody want to indulge in consuming large amounts of liquor in one night and not remember nothing that happened the next day? This is the reason rape rates are at its high. Guys tend to prey on the drunk and vulnerable and seduce or take their body. Therefore even if drinking age limits were reduce to eighteen, it would not help solve this problem.

Something has to give though. It is alot of underage drinking which results in alot of car accidents. Not being responsible, most teenagers and young adults think that they can handle driving when they are under the influence. Being hard headed, that is the leading reason of car accidents, with the age eighteen being the most car wreckers. All in all, drinking should not be rushed. You have plenty of time to drink. I know I do not drink myself. I dont find a need or reason to. I am cool being me at all times.

I totally agree. It is a shame what our society highlights and makes visible. The norm to us is the exact opposite of what other countries may see as the norm. Society sets us up to fail by giving us standards to live up to. It is a shame what our childrem and their children will have tolook forward to in life. I don't belive its too late to change though because we as Americans always set new standards. With the media so vastly growing you can put any role model or latest trendsetter in the media and they will probably be persuaded not to drink if they say so. That is just how much the media influences society.

Alcohol is a big deal because people abuse it. People drive drunk and kill people. I think the drinking age should be later but after reading your blog I am convinced by your words. Other countries do allow their kids to drink and I like the idea that it is a right of passage when we can drink. I do not think it should seem like that. Maybe if we were brought up differently we would not abuse our powers because we would understand alcohol more. Kids would be under their parents supervision too so they could teach their children about alcohol rather then getting a two o'clock phone call that their daughter or son is in jail. Alcohol should be drunk in a respectable manner.