Nightline's Daily Line

I have been to the Dixie Chicken and seen the amount of alcohol consumed there. I have seen guys put down a pitcher in 7 seconds. To me age might be irrelevant. Considering that 1 in 5 people between 12 and 20 is a so-called binge drinker, I don't think age is an issue.

Will we constantly give in to people who make poor choices, and then wonder what has gone wrong with our country? We need higher standards to come from our educational leaders. Lowering the drinking age so they don't have to be responsible for underage kids on campus is a cop-out!

Most high school seniors are 18. What is to stop them from buying alcohol for their parties and supplying it to minors? If they want to lower the drinking age it should be no lower than 19.

"LEGAL ADULTS" Lawmakers then should then choose: lower the drinking age or raise the voting & draft age to eliminate this double standard. No other countries have problems; the U.S. is the only country with such a high age for drinking.

Why do the college pres. even act like they care. You mean to tell me that all of those drunken orgies filmed online are happening because it's illegal, therfor it must be made legal. What the hell kind of reasoning is that to expect from a college president? A drunk, horny frat boy sure, but a college pres. What are we paying them for? To live a life of luxury while our kids are allowed to take life threatening risks with alchohol, drugs and unprotected sex while the people responsible charge their parents for the privledge. Fine. Get drunk, get HPV or worse, or pregnant, get stoned and be sure to get that check from the government when you can't finish school. And are working off your debt in a dead end job. While these morons live in mansions with millions in there pockets. There is stupidity and then there are it's enablers, BOTH are guilty. No cop outs are necessary.

i feel as though age does not matter when it comes to binge drinking. i do however think if the drinking age is lowered to 18 that all states must make it 18 to buy tobacco products too. i know in such states as New Jersey, the age is currently 19, and it would make no sense for the drinking age to be lower than the age it is to buy tobacco products.

Lets see...You can vote at 18 and put a gun in your hand to kill or be killed in OUR armed forces. The age limit is not the problem!

Heck No don't lower the drinking age..they need to raise the driving age to 21 and get those drunk teens off the road altogether...how many fatal drunk driving accidents are cause by drunk 16 to 20 year olds?...too many! Our insurance rates will go down and the roads will be much safter...obviously teens are not emotionally mature enough to drive.

I think that age is not neccesarily relevant in this situation. Regardless, an eighteen year old person, LEGALLY CONSIDERED AN ADULT, who is old enough to have their own job, house, car, and be made responsible for his or her own actions, should be able to consume alcohol. If it would so happen to get out of control, they are old enough to also face the consequences. I think that since drinking is made illegal, it causes more younger, illegal, and out of control drinking because once their hands get on alcohol, is like a kid with candy.

there are kids that are 18 right now and drinking so i dont think it is a big deal we arn't really stoping them right now they cant just buy it but we all know that they are so i dont think it's a big deal because they are already doing it right now but they cant buy it

At 18 years of age you are tried as an adult in criminal court, Join the military and die for your country. Enter into legal contracts But you can't have a beer. God this is so stupid. I spent 20 years in theservice of this country and when entered the Naval service I could drink at the age of 18. I think it was right then and it is right now. Yes we should change the law back to what it was.

I feel if you can make them go to war then they have a right to be able to drink at 18! 18 you are a adult! It seems alot of people forgot they did alot of dangerous binge drinking before of the age of 21. I feel if it legal at 18 to drink then young people will respect it more! I feel we should have a trail for a few years using 18 as the legal drinking age. If it does not work then move it up. We need to do something, because this system is not working. Young people need to learn to fight for their own rights!If you want the age changed to 18, then come out and fight for it. I just can not see calling 18 an adult but they can not drink. They fight your wars, but can not have a drink! Whats wrong with this picture!

Prohibition of the 20's proved it is not effective to prohibit alcohol for adults. Today, the same problems result from prohibiting people under 21. Prohibition at any age is problematic. Shall we try to learn from history? Remove the age limit. Period.

just leave it the hell alone. there are more important things in this country to fix. it's not good for your health anyhow. you can wait 3 years.

We put weapons in the hands of our military personnel who are at least 18, we allow citizens to vote at 18, marriage is acceptable to marry at 18, and even younger. We teach our children to take responsiblity like an adult already in High School. I think that we do need to change the law for drinking age...and tighten the laws of driving drunk....More kids are drinking at 16-20 because they can't legally. Monitor it closely and change the law.

You can be 18 and go fight for your country going to war and there not old enough to drink so i think they should lower it

Drinking age should be equal to voting ang smoking age limits. Why can we carry a gun and fight a war at age 18 but not drink? Also, maybe young adults wouldn't be sneaking around so much when they're drunk if they could just drink and stay wherever they are- without worrying they'll get in trouble.
Lower the limit to age 18!

YES! The drinking age should be changed. My son was in the Army at the age of 17 but could not drink legal.He fought in Iraq for two tours (over a year), got home and 72 hours after he got back to the U.S. he died in a ATV accident. He was 6 weeks from being twenty one. What is wrong with this picture? If college students could drink maybe the over drinking could get better.

I think that drinking is well overrated. When I was underage I was threatened by my father not to do drugs and drink. Well when I finally got out of the house I was very hesitant to drink. Then I started and drank like a fish and was foolish as most are at a young age. Then I started to notice that it wasn’t such a big deal and it just gave people a reason to be foolish and ignorant. When I turned 21 I basically stopped drinking. So I think that young adults should be just that young adults and be allowed to drink. Though I do feel lowering the age will just start to cause problems in our youths. But I feel that we have to start some where. And in another 50-70 they might just get rid of it all together like other countries.

Absolutely. The 21 age for alcohol is a ridiculous double-standard. An 18 year old can vote, be drafted, join the army, or go to prison for life, but they can't drink a beer?

They can buy pornography.
They can get married.
They can buy cigarettes.

They can't buy a beer?

Are you people insane?

Do you really think you're doing anything other than "glamorizing" beer?

No, the drinking age should not be lowered. Drinking is already a major problem in the nation's high schools. Lowering the drinking age would only give high school students easier access to alcohol because many high school juniors and seniors are 18. The drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 for a reason. The fact that college presidents don't want their schools to look bad by having a lot of underage drinking there is ridiculous. Some of the schools mentioned are also known as "party schools" (though drinking and partying occurs at pretty much every college in the nation). This is just for the presidents of those schools to "save face" so their schools look better by not having underage drinking problems.

the age waz increased by intimidation in the 80s wen the conservative extrimist goverment threatened highway fundz if states didnt increase there drinking ages.it should be lowred.many more libreal countries including new zeland and england the drinking age iz lower than 18 and i think it should be even lower here.10 year olds drunk beer on the mayflower.this countrys extrimism and control by conservative religious forces haz gotten out of hand long ago.maybe every1 can control the amount they drink reasonably instead of doing thingz with ageism.

I think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. All the other country's don't have this problem, we are the only country that has a problem with this.

We spend a small fortune trying to cure parents of trying to be "buddies" to their kids, and to really parent them instead, and now some educators are trying to be "buddies" to the impressionable late teens whose care they have been entrusted with. AND WE PAY THESE EDUCATORS TO CARE FOR THOSE KIDS? ? ?

Maybe if parents taught their kids the ins and outs of alcohol and the results of its use and abuse. Sound too far fetched? At one time, parents used to care enough about the creatures they brought to life that they would teach them, don't do as I do, and then they would explain why.

I have two sons who fit into the "in between" category. One is eighteen, the other 20. I feel as though if in ever other aspect of their life they are expected to have adult rights and laws, this too should be a right. I have seen first hand that the young people in this town manage to get alcohol in some illegal manner and it is definitely a problem. I agree with an earlier point that because it is "illegal" it is more out of control than it should be. I was 18 when it was legal to drink, and I feel as though it should be again and hopefully young people would be less likely to over indulge and get into legal trouble because of it.

i am 19 and i dnt think the age should be lower than 19 most high school seniors are 18 n can get drunk the night before they go to school which isnt good

Why not make it legal if they are 18 they can drive they can go off to war they can get married. The kids pretty much do what any other adult can do and have fake ID’s to buy the or a older friend busy it for the kids alcohol which can be purchased they easily for them self’s and for parties and they do buy it all the time they are just hiding it. Most high school seniors are 18. What is to stop them from buying alcohol for their parties and supplying it to minors? My daughter goes to parties all the time and they have alcohol in fact they drink so much she has had to bring them home to keep them from driving home and then the parents find out. Some of these kids are only 16 years old because she was not legal age she did not take her to the hospital. She brought them home with her and stayed up with them taking care of them.

I have been a bartender for twenty years and it has been my experience that most 21 year old adults are to immature to be drinking let alone a 18 year old. It's in my opinion we should raise the age to 25 instead. Changing the age to 18 is not going to make them more responsible teens. We have enough alcohol related deaths involving drunk driving and is one of the leading causes of death amongst teenagers. So I say absolutely not to changing the drinking age to 18.

I think the biggest excuse for 18 year old drinking has been the military. Personally I think there is way too much drinking going on with military people, just because they can do it legally. I don't think that if an 18 year old dies in battle, his/her biggest problem, when they meet God, is going to be said, "But, I didn't get to drink alcohol" (legally). They have as big of a drinking problem as the college students.
Therefore, I believe the drinking age should be at least 21, or older, in the U.S. They have plenty of years, after turning 21, that they can drink, if they so choose. Maybe, if they are older, they will be a little more responsible. We really do not need to legalize any more drugs, or alcohol, which have caused such a serious addiction problem in our country. Maybe the people in the other nations are more responsible, or they are not as prone to addiction, or they do have as big of a problem with addiction as we do; we just don't know about it.

Obviously, prohibition and vilifying consumption of alcohol are not preventing alcohol related crimes such as DWI, date rape, and reckless behavior among young “adults”. If 18 year old “adults” can vote, get married, be prosecuted under our judicial system, enlist or be drafted by the military to fight and possibly die in a war, then they should have the legal right and choice to consume alcohol. If this concept is too much for the moral majority of the American public to accept, then the legal age of adulthood should be raised to 21.

the idea that intelligence increases with age iz not true and just propaganda.the drinking age should be lowered and really ended and usher in peace and love,PEACE AND LOVE man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!instead of rules and judgement!!!!!

I just turned 30, and my youngest brother is 18. In no way is he responsible enough to be legal to drink. Yes, there is going to be underage drinking regardless, but why would we want to encourage it. Maybe if our judicial system was more strict with those who break the law, then we wouldn't have the problems that we do today. No one really has a fear of anything any more, because they know they can pay a fee and go home. I have lived in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic and feel if anything, we should encourage education and more awareness of what alcohol can do to your life if misused. Even though 18 is considered an adult, what percentage of 18 year olds live with the responsibilities of one. I too agree with the statement about the double standard of 18 being okay for you to fight for your country, except I believe this age should be raised instead of the drinking age lowered. We as a country need to stand together and quit turning our back to our "problems" and start making solutions. Lowering the drinking age is not a rational solution either in my opinion.

It makes sense to change the age to 18, and then teach responsible habits.

If an 18 to 20 year old is going to drink and risk punishment, they will be more likely to over indulge. Why risk punishment for just one drink? So they will over consume since they are risking a punishment for having any alcohol at all.

I grew up in a time when at 18 you could purchase wine or beer but not hard liquor.

We did NOT have the problems of binge drinking that seems to be so prevalent these days.

If we can allow 18 year olds to vote and enlist in the military or to be drafted, ........

Let them legally purchase beer or wine, and save the hard liquor for 21.
And have parents teach responsible social habits concerning alcohol use.

The reason for making the drinking age higher was to keep teenagers who drink and drive off our highways.

When I was eighteen the leagal age was eighteen and so many of my friends just were so irrisponsible with drinking and getting behind the wheel. There was a crash that took my friends ability to walk he was no longer able to .
A lot of freinds hated to see him in a wheel chair because he was an active guy he said he had only himself to blame drinking and drag raceing. I wasn't there to stop him felt so bad about it. He had asked me out I had turned him down.
If it had been 21 maybe he would not have been in that situation.
I always voleentered to be the desinated driver when out with my friends and I didn't drink and drive.
So as a parent of a sixten year old and a preteen I hope they don't lower it.
Although , I do recall drinking at a much younger age cause I looked eighteen at fourteen never got proffed.Got in clubs and could get achool at the store no problem. A lower age just makes it easier for younger children to get it. Now you wouldn't have to look 21 you just would have to look eighteen . My sixteen looks and has passed for eighteen.
We don't need more young teens drinking and driving and yes the colleges would push this on the principals of high school there will always be binge drinking and teen parties with achool. Educating our children that achool has to be done in moderation not in excess.
Kids because of an eighteen year old drinking age will experiment at fourteen years old and possibly younger. Just have really young kids drinking so no don't make it lower .

To start with 18 is just a number I feel that my 19 year old is not an adult she is far from that, and to lower the drinking age is just a coop out we need to be parents that teach our sons and daughters that drinking is not ok just to fit in and go with the crowd, we as parents need to get into the teens circle of friends and teach by example. not to just think at a certain
age they do not need us any more thats when we as parents are needed most and we want to blame everyone else for our childrens problems when you as parents have the biggest factor in changing and molding your childs life so to say change the drinking age I say NO we have enough problems from under age drinkers,we do not need to add fuel to the fire just do your jobs as parents

Personally....
I believe that the only right thing to be done is to consider 18 the legal drinking age.
As a veteran who has long since lived the double standard (1st Gulf War)...I can only reiterate how ridiculous the 21 year old drinking age really is.
Responsibility for one's actions does not really know an age...it is either taught and learned or it is not....no gray area, no number makes a difference.
I knew it well at 18.... others either do or they do not...legislation makes no difference...so I say, it seems just plain wrong to make criminals of all those who do choose to drink at 18.
Those who would read their history and have an actual understanding of our Founders would likely agree with me.

--Chance

like many above have said..we can vote at 18, we can drive at 18 and we can be sent to fight overseas at 18. For some people who feel that binge drinking will happen regardless that makes no sense - binge drinking happens because a teenager will consume alcohol like crazy when they get their hands on it. In addition, an earlier post says that the driving age should be raised to 21 as well because of responsibility issues. Let me ask you, have you heard of the recent increases in hit and run accidents...who are the cause of most of these? The elderly, people with disabilities who should not be driving, or middle aged drunk Americans who should not be behind the wheel. I'm not saying that teenagers are completely innocent - but please don't blame us for the accidents that the "older more mature crowd" has been equally if not more responsible for.

ok some of yall dont know wat u r talkin bout u can be 17 and in the army the age is not 18 u can be 17 but u have to have a parent sign off

some of yall think the age should go away thats stupid and some of u think that the 16-20 yr olds make up most of the car accidents thats some wat true but alot of adults over 20 cause alot of car accidents n even deaths in car accidents so i think yall should jus get off the young ppl

im in the military n im 19 i know alot of ppl who are under age n drink in the military so just do wat u want jus dnt make a mistake that yall will regret

I don't think age is an issue. No matter what the legal drinking age is, minors will still drink.

I've also seen some posts on here saying "No, if you lower it to 18, then more teens can be reckless and supply minor parties." People at any age are reckless with alcohol. I've seen people in their late 20's drive recklessly drunk.
People over 21 already supply alcohol to minor at parties, changing the age won't stop that.

I also think that underage drinking maybe a psychological thing. "I'm not allowed to do it, but I'll do it secretly" I am currently a teenager and have done something like that. On that note with Germany's legal age below ours, I wonder if they have any drinking problems...

Knowing that college is party heaven, and having our first child going away to college this year, I can't believe I find myself saying lower the drinking age, however, that is exactly what I feel would be best (other than having completely alcohol free campuses- not happening).
As most parents, we worry greatly about our children getting out of control. If parents are strict in high school and law abiding citizens who would never allow underage drinking- when a student chooses to drink in the freedom of college, many issues go with that activity - perhaps fatal mistakes, binge drinking, clueless about limits, drinking excessive amounts, all due to being unguided and inexperienced. Drinking is so glorified and allowing it prior to college, would take some of the "mystique" and "coolness" out of it, I believe. We would have appreciated the opportunity to experience SOCIAL DRINKING with him, opening the door to further conversations and experiences with MODERATION.
In our household, underage drinking was not an option, as my husband is with the local law enforcement department and being a role model is priority. Therefore, we never had the occasion to actually LEGALLY teach our son (other than lectures which do very little) about responsible drinking. It is too bad that dad and son could not have a beer, EXPERIENCE moderation with one another, while discussing the many down sides drinking.

I have a daughter who is beginning her sophomore year at a small liberal arts college. My older son received a BS degree a few years ago from a large university. I am a school social worker in a suburban school district in Central NY. Although I have mixed feelings about changing the drinking age, I tend to lean toward lowering it. I have no studies to back my opinions, only observations. When I think back to my own college years at a big private university (when the age was 18) although we drank, it simply did not seem as though we drank to the extent that students do today. We walked to bars mostly to drink, and perhaps having to go somewhere to drink in and of itself meant that we drank less. Today, the dorms are filled with hard liquor and some students drink daily. Students are thrilled to be free of the restrictions of home to party, and too many kids simply go crazy with this new found freedom. It seems as though the taboo makes alcohol even more appealing. Perhaps I am totally off base however; this is a country where everything is done in excess. We also eat way more than we did 30 years ago, so perhaps kids today are simply trying to fill some empty part of their lives. Finally, I might add that some kids drink very little or don't drink at all and there are substance free dorms on many campuses. My daughter's campus does NOT tell there students not to drink but they do encourage students to drink in moderation. They specifically ask students to limit drinking to one drink an hour. Let's face it, they are going to drink. Raising the age to 21, making it illegal for an 18 year old to drink, has not decreased drinking on campuses, it may in fact have backfired. Just a thought.

No. Lawmakers raised the drinking age because - among other reasons - 19 and 20 year olds should not drink alcoholic beverages. Because 19 and 20 year olds have continuously defied lawmakers on this issue,the question arises that. perhaps, lawmaker should reverse themselves, and let the 19 and 20 year olds drink.
When a 2 year old has a tantrum, in an attempt to get something that he or she should not have, does the parent suddenly give in and let the baby have the bad thing? No. The same rules apply, here.

The drinking age should be lowered, other countries don't have a problem with drinking so why is it a big problem in the U.S. Because we are glamorizing beer. Going to war and fighting for our country but can't drink a beer?...Age doesn't matter and if it does then we should raise the draft age, ability to vote, and life in for prison age of adulthood should be raised to 21.

I think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 for several reasons. First prohibtion never worked in the 20's and it isn't working for our youth ages 18-20. Second if our youth ages 18-20 aren't mature enought to drink then why are they mature enough to buy guns, go to war for our country and make some of the most important decisions for this country by voting for our president? Why do we say that our youth ages 15(in some states)-20 are mature enough to drive a vehicle that sober can kill, but at 18 your not mature enough to drink?? In most states you are mature enough at age 18 to decide to smoke tobacco products.. With all these mixed messages being sent to our youth it's no wonder they can't decide whether they are suppose to be mature or not.. If our youth had consistency and not mixed messages we might just see a diffrence in their actions.

Oh,I just wanted to add that because we give kids the right to marry or go into the service at eighteen or to war doesn't mean we should let them drink.
I think you should let them have a beer or wine but the hard stuff keep until 21 and limits the amounts sold to the eighteen year olds. Yes I did my share of underage drinking with kids who were much older than me. I never got behind the wheel drunk or went home with anyone who was intoxicated I grabed a cab. I was always resposible for my own safty and well being.
Right now young men and women coming back from the war are drinking to excess and not dealing with the issues that being in combat the post war tramatic syndrome. Marriages are falling apart. They feel they can come home and be irrisponsible with drinking and endager other peoples lives.

I think that it should be changed back to 18 because we can vote and enlist in or be drafted in the military and risk are lives but can't even have a drink that shouldn't be a problem and for irresponsable teens or young adults it doesn't matter the age limit there will always be those inmature ones out there it should be the parents job to inforce good behavior in there kids

This is a really brain-dead statement from these colleges. There is nearly zero effort to discourage excessive drinking on campus and in fact it seems to tacitly be encouraged. I guess the beer companies have influence or the college administrations have zero familiarity with alcohol statistics.

No good thing would come out of lowering the drinking age to 18. The drinking age should remain at 21 as the brain is not even fully developed to handle alcohol until then. Lowering the drinking age would just be another step for the USA on the road to hell. Our nation is the greatest because of our love and reverence to the one true living God. Watch as we are turned into hell as we murder our babies and call it freedom of choice (abortion). This is an example of one of the many steps in the wrong direction. Lowering the drinking age would just be another one. No other nation can bring us down; but they don't have to because we are destroying ourselves from the inside. They argue that the current law encourages "a culture of dangerous, clandestine, binge drinking -- That's just stupid! How does lowering the drinking age which increases the number of people consuming alcohol decrease the amount of binge drinking? So y'all want to lower the drinking age which increases the number of people consuming alcohol so they can binge drink legally? So what happens in colleges is not enough? Now y'all want to involve it in high school as well? How will this country lowering the drinking age solve any problem? It will increase the amount of alcohol getting into even younger hands as high schoolers possess it legally. More alcohol related injuries. More alcohol related crimes. Etc. Wake up America!

I believe that if everyone would stop preaching to our children about drinking, maybe they would not be so apt to keep doing it. Come on use your head - the more you tell a kid NOT TO DO SOMETHING what happens - they do it anyways. We allowed our 3 daughters to have supervised parties. Yes we had kids get drunk, throw up and the whole bit. WE pulled all keys and never allowed them to leave until they had slept it off. You may call us bad parents, but our children have all turned out just fine. By allowing this our girls had their fun, didn't get hurt or in trouble and they didn't find it necessary to go to parties that we were not aware of. They also don't find drinking to be such a big deal. Why is that? They were allowed to experiment - we did not preach to them that drinking was off limits. I believe that lowering the drinking age to 18 is a wise move. They are an adult at this age for a lot of things. Stop treating adults like kids - if the child has been brought up with good parenting they are ready to be an adult and take on the responsibilities and consequences. Adults make our laws and guess what - I know some young men and ladies that are more adult than our government adults that also make very bad choices.

Leave It At 21 They Should Chang The Smokeing Age To 21

NO DONT LOWER THE DRINKING AGE.What we need to do is CHANGE. change what they see, change what they are exposed to.Change what it means to be cool . I managed a bar and can tell you 21 year olds are not even ready to drink.
If we keep lowering the age for things because some groups are doing it,whats next marrage at 16.they are being exposed to things way to young. long before they are mentaly equiped to process it.
these kids in all the wrong ways are growing up to fast.In all the good things they mature to slow.

I have been a supporter of this idea for years. The fact of the matter is that most high school kids are already so-called "binge drinkers." And if they aren't already, they usually spend their first year or two at college drinking themselves stupid because they are away from their parents for the first time. If a person is old enough to vote or serve in the military then they should be allowed to legally drink. I truly think it would eliminate a lot of the stigma surrounding the college drinking issues. You don't see that sort of behavior in any other country.

In 1972 or 73 they lowered the drinking age in Illinois to 18. There was an epidemic of bar fights, property damage and car accidents. The drinking age was put back to 21 in less then a year.

They MUST have a military I.D. to buy, or be served, liquor. High school, and college kids do not have the mental capacity to handle liquor.

They MUST have a military I.D. to buy, or be served, liquor. High school, and college kids do not have the mental capacity to handle liquor.

In coming up with an age we are attempting to define when a person is mature enough to handle the consumption of alcoholic beverages and not put in danger the lives of people who might be effected by misuse of the substance. There are mature 18 year olds and immature 21 year olds. Perhaps we shouldn't base it on age, but maturity the way we do when someone earns the license to drive a car. While this doesn't completely negate the possibility of an irresponsible drinker at least they would be required to become educated on the topics of addiction, drunk driving, effects on emotional and physical health, relationships, etc..

Seems to me, if an eighteen year old can be admitted into the armed forces, handed a gun with instructions to kill and is 'mature' enough to decide in which instance to pull the trigger, they ought to be 'mature' enough to drink. Both instances bring consequences.

Drinking should go back down to 18 yrs old.
If you are old enough to die for your country in the military, you should be able to get a drink.

hi,
well i have just skimmed the posts and i am sure that i have missed stuff. but my sibling about a year ago had an idea that makes sense. we had several kids in a row die in our state due to the "power hour". the bars close at 1 a.m. well if your birthday is may 18th you go to the bar the evening of may 17 and wait until the clock hits midnight and then everyone and thier dog buys you around because you are leagal...well of course that leads to problems such as alcohol poisening. too much alcohol in to short a time. with a person that may or may not have drank before. which leagally is an issue but even if the person has "learned thier limits" from drinking while under age, it does not stop the i'm leagal now "power hour" mentality. WHAT MY SIBLING SUGGESTED WAS THIS. YOU CAN NOT DRINK UNTIL NOON ON THE DAY YOU BECOME LEAGLE TO DRINK. THAT ELIMINATES THE WHOLE "POWER HOUR" MENTALITY. YOU HAVE ALL NIGHT TO DRINK THE FIRST NIGHT YOU ARE LEAGLE SO THE ODDS OF DRINKING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH, DRINKING TOO MUCH IN TOO SHORT A TIME ALL GO DOWN. NOT THAT IT CAN'T STILL HAPPEN VIA DRINKING GAMES AND WHAT HAVE YOU BUT IT REMOVES MUCH OF THE MYSTQUE. i think it is a good idea. one person i knew got given 21 shots at midnight and they were expected to down them before 1 a.m....i don't know if they made it or not i could not stand to watch. i thought my siblings idea was good enough that i should throw it out there.

The drinking age should definitely be lowered to 18 if only to recognize the maturity of our brave fighting servicemen who are old enough to sacrifice their lives, but are not allowed to drink. Where is the logic?

I find it hypercritical to say that 18 year olds are "just kids", yet some want them to go to war and die for "our freedoms", and ofcourse, then "they're our proud men and women". In the state of CA., the age of sexual consent is 18, but you can't drink an alcoholic beverage with out getting legally harassed. What's wrong with this picture. 18 year olds should be allowed to drink with out fear of being cited or locked up.

as to the question, no i do not think the drinking age should be lowered. and it has nothing to do with the whole you can vote and die for your country at 18 you should be able to drink red herring arguments. much of our lives are divided into different stages for different reasons. i don't believe that it should be lowered because of the fact that the body as a whole is still developing, much less the brain. men don't really fill out till they are in thier twenties, many hang on to that gangly teenager look until they are 25. and that is just the body...the brain is far more intricate and far more suseptible to injury. and injury that the person is unable to precieve for themselves. when a persons ability to reason is damaged, they can't decide they have had too much when it can still make a difference. the person that is drinking can not feel the damage to their brain as one would feel a broken limb. the injuries are silent, inaudible to the person that is injuring themselves.

ok done for the night.

I think it is time that the goverment issued a list of parental responsibilites and held parents accountable for bringing up their children to be responsible people and citizens. My parents raised me to drink responsibly. When I was of an appropriate age I was allowed to drink a glass of wine mixed with soda for special occasions such as Thankgiving and Christmas dinners. I never felt deprived or that I had to wait until a certain age to drink. I was never allowed to drink indiscriminately and was asked never to drink when my parents weren't around. When I went away to college I did not feel the urge to proove myself by drinking large quantities of alcohol. In fact I rarely drink alcohol at all. If I do it's usually one glass or two max.

This issue of parental responsibilities goes much further than this issue. Too many children are indulged instead of guided to make responsible choices and decisions. It takes time and many parents don't seem to take the time. Tell the parents their responsibilities, hold parenting classes to help them succeed and you'll find teenage drinking, pregnancy and other issues to subside and a more respectful society develop.

lowering the drinking age isn't the problem, though the younger you drink the more damage is done to your body. The best thing to do is educate, educate, educate, not just kids but the parents. Kids, alocohol, and cars equals disaster in a lot of cases and the best thing is a better education for kids who get licenses, another is probably having parents have to take a class on teen alcoholism before their child can take drivers ed or get a graduated license may make more of a difference. If parents have to be clared before a person younger than 18 can get their license; kids will be more likely to act responsibly due to their being more involvement bye their parents. I drank proir to my 21st birthday. I also almost got into and accident with my girl friend, who was driving, while intoxicated. I lost some great friends because of my stupid drinking. I don't drink much at all and I'm 38. Reducing the drinking age only makes younger and younger kids want to drink because they see older kids drink and young kids want to be big kids. 18 isn't a kid, just close enough. Here is a real argument. Colleges want to blame some one else for alcoholism, lowering the drinking age looks like a great scape got. Kid gets drunk, don't blame the college or university it's legal. Thats what that 100 or so wants to due and why not if it's a goerment mess up people just say that's it. the colleges hands look cleaner for it if the age gets younger

I am 60 years old and nothing has changed in any college anywhere. Lowering the drinking age to 18 is indeed a cop-out for those who think there are more important things to do than monitor young people who will someday hopefully be worthwhile people.
Besides that, I think most students have been binge drinking since 16. To change the age, binge drinking should start at 14. This idea is rediculous.

Carol in Ft Lauderdale.

The arguments for lowering the drinking age are the same as ever. Timing is the real issue. In one fell swoop, college presidents can both appease the demands of Gen-Y and push responsibility for policing drinking away from their institutions and onto local authorities.

decreae the drinking age only for those in the military. Old enough to Fight, old enough to Drink!

I think that is in unfair to the adults of tomorrow that we limit their rights. At the age of eighteen we become adults and are forced to fend for ourselves, make our own choices! We pay taxes! We pay your government salaries! Why not give us something in return? I have been paying taxes since the age sixteen, and tomorrow i proudly turn eighteen, and i can say this; No matter the outcome... since i live on the border of texas and mexico, i can get beer or hard liquor at any age in Mexico and it is perfectly legal there! (Now that's what i call binge drinking!). I have to admit i have been over there plenty of times and boy is it fun! The bad part is that you see people there as young as 13 there!

And it is stupid to say that teenagers are the root of all drunk driving because honestly i can play that game too! Get off the road GRANDMA! (Age has nothing to do with the drunk driving).

Honestly nothing has changed. Parent's beware. College students aren't the only ones binge drinking! The day your kids hit their teenage years, alcohol is inevitable. Lowering the age will not affect the age of vulnerability to alcohol.

And it is not fair. Because you older folk had the liberty to drink at eighteen. Why are we different?

I would like to receive a copy of the statement prepared by the college/university presidents and a list of the signees. Please advise.

What?!!! Nooo!!!!