• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Legal drinking age in the US vs. Europe

A

aimgrl

I think that the earlier someone is taught to drink the more they learn about alcohol so they are accustomed to drinking alcohol more moderately and responsibly without having alcoholic problems in the future.When children grow up drinking a glass of wine around the table it gives them a taste of alcohol along with a taste of being older so they understand how it feels, but american teens are restricted from this so their brain wonders about it until they grow older and by then, when their teens, alcohol is a long grasp away that they have to reach because its like a toy they were never able to experience that theyve always wanted to so the drinking age should be lowered in order to already give younger kids an experience with alcohol so they are not yearning for it in the future..
 
I totally agree, I started drinking when I was a freshman in highschool and I learned my limits the hard way now I would say that I'm way more responsible since I learned at a semi young age, but i look at all the people i know who didnt start drinking till college and they are crazy ! lol there doing stuff now that i never would do now and i believe if you learn at a younger age then your not having to learn at an older age were you are more exposed to alcohol and were you have more access to it, which can prove to be dangerous.
 
kids should learn to build up a tolerance for alcohol before they hit puberty. especially girls.
 
Badfish420 said:
kids should learn to build up a tolerance for alcohol before they hit puberty. especially girls.
Click to expand...
Hell, I still probably don't have a tolerance for alcohol, and I'm in my mid-20's...Probably since is was only a year or so ago that I had my first drink...:?
 
like my dad told me when i was 8 years old. "drink up kid, you don't live forever."
 
I believe that our drinking laws should parallel the UKs. 16 year olds can drink beer in pubs...with their parents.
 
Don't see why we have any laws prohibiting alcohol. Everyone who doesn't die from liver failure early in their lives will have high enough tolerance to it later in life (when they can drive), so they can hold their liquor better.

Not to mention, it would cause brain damage, therefore creating a larger inequality in terms of intelligence between people who drink regularly, and those who practice abstinence. Study
Study2
 
I believe we should lower the drinking age to 18 and allow minors to drink with parental consent.
 
digsbe said:
I believe we should lower the drinking age to 18 and allow minors to drink with parental consent.
Click to expand...
I disagree. Our culture does not handle alcohol the same way other countries do. In the US, drinking is about volume; drink as much as you can and get completely plastered.

In Europe, it's far more drinking for taste, drinking socially.

I honestly dont think we can handle a lower drinking age.
 
How about instead of changing the laws, parents own up to their responsibilities and teach and/or punish their kids into learning safe drinking habits. I grew up drinking wine at almost every family holiday event (maybe a shot glass worth in late middle school and a small glass worth in high school). And I had little desire to drink until I got to college. Even then, I got sick of drinking eventually. Today I hardly drink at all. I enjoy it, but I have little desire to get drunk.

I may be a special case, but I don't plan on putting up with my kids binge drinking in their high school years... not even in my presence. And I certainly will express my distaste for any binge drinking habits into their college years.

And besides, people can still have a good time without alcohol.

I am OK with teens 16 and up drinking with their parents, but I'm still hesitant to allow ALL 18 year olds to buy and consume alcohol.

Hoplite said:
I disagree. Our culture does not handle alcohol the same way other countries do. In the US, drinking is about volume; drink as much as you can and get completely plastered.

In Europe, it's far more drinking for taste, drinking socially.

I honestly dont think we can handle a lower drinking age.
Click to expand...

Though I don't personally know about Europe, I agree with your description about the U.S., which is why I'm hesitant to allow 18 year olds to drink. If so many 19-23 year olds can barely handle drinking responsibly, why should I trust 18 year olds to?
 
Last edited:
aimgrl said:
I think that the earlier someone is taught to drink the more they learn about alcohol so they are accustomed to drinking alcohol more moderately and responsibly without having alcoholic problems in the future.When children grow up drinking a glass of wine around the table it gives them a taste of alcohol along with a taste of being older so they understand how it feels, but american teens are restricted from this so their brain wonders about it until they grow older and by then, when their teens, alcohol is a long grasp away that they have to reach because its like a toy they were never able to experience that theyve always wanted to so the drinking age should be lowered in order to already give younger kids an experience with alcohol so they are not yearning for it in the future..
Click to expand...
Just curious about how far this should be carried.

Should children also be taught to use and build up tolerance for other drugs, such as nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, meth, etc?

.
 
The drinking age in most states was 18 when I turned 18. If I recall, it had to do with being old enough to fight and die for our country. Young people today have about 10 million more laws to live under than I did at that age.

Alcoholism knows no borders nor age groups.
 
aimgrl said:
I think that the earlier someone is taught to drink the more they learn about alcohol so they are accustomed to drinking alcohol more moderately and responsibly without having alcoholic problems in the future.When children grow up drinking a glass of wine around the table it gives them a taste of alcohol along with a taste of being older so they understand how it feels, but american teens are restricted from this so their brain wonders about it until they grow older and by then, when their teens, alcohol is a long grasp away that they have to reach because its like a toy they were never able to experience that theyve always wanted to so the drinking age should be lowered in order to already give younger kids an experience with alcohol so they are not yearning for it in the future..
Click to expand...

You can if you want.

But with my husband having come from a drug-infused family the 'early occasional exposure to liquor (and many other things)' merely hastened him to becomign an alcoholic.
We're now in a state of "no drinking - nothing" because he simply can't handle it. . . it's not so much an issue of "how much and how early" he drank - it's a matter of his psycholigical-makeup and his firm belief that "he needs something to unwind."

He's always doing something - if it's not drinking it's popping pills, if it's not popping pills then it's smoking dope, if it's not smoking dope then it's dipping snuff.

:shrug: Nothing good seems to have come from his family owning a vinyard and letting hte kids drink occasionally.
 
It's 18 over here, but they want to raise it to 21.

Not that it's relevant to me anymore.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
You can if you want.

But with my husband having come from a drug-infused family the 'early occasional exposure to liquor (and many other things)' merely hastened him to becomign an alcoholic.
We're now in a state of "no drinking - nothing" because he simply can't handle it. . . it's not so much an issue of "how much and how early" he drank - it's a matter of his psycholigical-makeup and his firm belief that "he needs something to unwind."

He's always doing something - if it's not drinking it's popping pills, if it's not popping pills then it's smoking dope, if it's not smoking dope then it's dipping snuff.

:shrug: Nothing good seems to have come from his family owning a vinyard and letting hte kids drink occasionally.
Click to expand...

First time I saw someone dipping snuff, I almost barfed on the spot. That stuff was oozing out of her nose and dripping on her chin...
 
I believe the Jews have wine with their evening meals and allow the children to have it as well. That is where they learn to drink socially and responsibly. I read that somewhere, eons ago...
 
Hoplite said:
I disagree. Our culture does not handle alcohol the same way other countries do. In the US, drinking is about volume; drink as much as you can and get completely plastered.
Click to expand...

The reason this is so is that drinking is seen as a rite of passage that is done secretively by teenagers and young adults. They binge, because they are breaking a social taboo. European countries see drinking as a social act that is done within the family structure without binging.

Our kids are bad drinkers because that's what we've trained them to be. If we trained them differently, it's much more likely they'd be responsible alcohol users.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
But with my husband having come from a drug-infused family the 'early occasional exposure to liquor (and many other things)' merely hastened him to becomign an alcoholic.
Click to expand...

So, you believe we should be setting social policy based upon your husband being raised by drug users? :roll:
 
Catz Part Deux said:
The reason this is so is that drinking is seen as a rite of passage that is done secretively by teenagers and young adults. They binge, because they are breaking a social taboo. European countries see drinking as a social act that is done within the family structure without binging.

Our kids are bad drinkers because that's what we've trained them to be. If we trained them differently, it's much more likely they'd be responsible alcohol users.
Click to expand...

Same deal with sex....a few years back we were at Lake Powell, and a german (I think) family was enjoying the water. Their teen age girl was topless in front of her brothers and the few others on the beach at the time. Of course, you had to be fairly close to see for sure that she was a female, her boobs were smallish. The bikini bottom was a clue. Our kids noted the situation, but said nothing about it, probably because nobody was making a big deal about it...
 
UtahBill said:
First time I saw someone dipping snuff, I almost barfed on the spot. That stuff was oozing out of her nose and dripping on her chin...
Click to expand...

LOL - I've seen people like that but my husband's not messy about it.
In fact - he's quite secrative about it. He did quite dipping two years ago with the use of Chantex (or was it Celebrix? - something) and he started up at some point months later without me even knowing about it.

Catz Part Deux said:
So, you believe we should be setting social policy based upon your husband being raised by drug users? :roll:
Click to expand...

I started off that post by saying "do what you want" - and in no way did I say anything against that in my following lines.

I merely gave our view of the same "if they're exposed to it when they're younger" issue - because alcoholism and so on doesn't come from *exposure* throughout life :shrug: Some people can drink frequently and never be an 'alcoholic' - and others can't handle not even one sip.

So you can apply that against the OP - or you can apply that in support of the OP.
 
Catz Part Deux said:
So, you believe we should be setting social policy based upon your husband being raised by drug users? :roll:
Click to expand...
I have heard of something they call "addictive personality" or something like that. You probably know the correct term for it. Genetically, some of us are just prone to addictions.
The worst reformed druggy I ever met was, at the time, addicted to his religion, and could not keep it to himself....
Not that those few people should be a reason for making new rules/laws, etc.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
LOL - I've seen people like that but my husband's not messy about it.
In fact - he's quite secrative about it. He did quite dipping two years ago with the use of Chantex (or was it Celebrix? - something) and he started up at some point months later without me even knowing about it.


.
Click to expand...
Had a coworker who would spit his chew drippings in a coke can, while drinking coke out of another can. It was so funny when he got the 2 mixed up....
He had a bad habit of spitting in the water fountains, and splattering it on the walls around the water fountains.
One day the cleaning lady for that part of the building came around and asked us if we knew who was doing that. I just pointed to the guilty party, and walked away, I knew what was coming. She did some chewing of her own, on his ass. But it cured him of being sloppy about it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom