PARRRRRRTTTTYYYYYY!!!100 University presidents have called for a lowering of the legal drinking age to 18 claiming that attempts to increase the drinking age have led to dangerous and clandestine drinking behaviors.
They call themselves the Amethyst Initiative as the word Amethyst is derived from the Ancient Greek words meaning “not” (a-) and “intoxicated” (methustos). According to mythology, Amethyst was a young girl who incurred the wrath of the g-d Dionysus after he became intoxicated with red wine. Amethyst cried to Goddess Diana for help. Diana immediately turned the girl into a white stone. Upon discovering what had happened Dionysus wept, and, as his tears fell into his goblet, the wine spilled over the white rock, turning it purple.
The purple gemstone amethyst was widely believed to be an antidote to the negative effects of intoxication. In Ancient Greece, drinking vessels and jewelry were often made of amethyst and used during feasts and celebrations to ward off drunkenness and to promote moderation.
The Amethyst Initiative supports informed and unimpeded debate on the 21 year-old drinking age, calling upon elected officials to weigh all the consequences of current alcohol policies and to invite new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.
Included in this progressive group??? BUT OF COURSE, tUOS' President E. Gordon Gee---who must be Alfred E. Neuman's dad.
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I work in Columbia SC home of the Gamecocks. I've seen someone passed out at a light next to campus. Read about a football player doing the same. Their star recruit qb has been arrested three times now in a year. Twice for underage drinking. He got an intervention from Spurrier. He isn't going to play anytime soon though. We have a large forte here. Kids training to go to war, but can't drink. I don't know what to think.
T9,
I am impressed! you actually paid attention to Greek mythology!
once again, YOU ROCK!
I have a similar view Tom, if 18 year olds can go and fight in a war.........however, I also am torn.....not ALL 18 year old go fight a war, and many are not capable of handling the responsibility of drinking. (will drunk driving accidents increase as the age to drink decreases???)
Very nice story T9, I love information and you never cease to provide it!
I've never cared for the 'you can willingly vounteer to join the military to fight and possibly die in a war but can't have a drink' argument. Its a cheap derivative of the 'you can be drafted to fight and die in a war but can't vote for/against the people sending you' argument. I feel it trivializes a Vietnam-era constitution change that, correctly, lowered the voting age and consequently ended the draft.
In my short time as a volunteer firefighter, I've peeled too many drunk 16-20 year olds out of car wrecks (as well as their victims). As a personal opinion, if they're going to lower the drinking age, I'd hope the consequences of poor decisions under the influence of alcohol are jacked up along with it.
I agree, I go back and forth on this one.
We all know that a 'forbidden' fruit is much more enticing than something that you can get all the time. (make your own examples)
There is an area of study in the Public Health realm re: risk reduction. One strategy you'd be very familiar with is clean needle exchanges for heroin addicts. So by calling for a drop in the drinking age, these college presidents may be pushing the 'risk reduction' debate.
To me this is about teaching kids responsibility for their choices and actions. At their stage of development they are all about exploring--their world, their bodies (and someone else's), their agency etc. If we just try and bury our heads in the sand about that then we don't serve them well from a development/maturity level.
On the other hand, we know that some can drink in moderation and others cannot--be for it genetic, sociocultural priming, or psychological reasons. How to discern those that would truly be harmed by experimenting with alcohol versus those for whom addiction would ensue?? followed of course by all of the horror stories we see regarding deaths from alcohol intoxication, car crashes, stupid stunts off of roofs, interpersonal violence etc etc
but, seriously, how many of your funniest life stories/college shenanigans involve drinking in some way shape or form? it's a wonder we didn't all die!
bottom line for me--it's about education. teaching kids about what you can and can't handle. recognizing that women CANNOT drink the same volume of alcohol as men (we have lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase in our stomachs ergo we don't metabolize it as fast) and teching kids about personal safety issues---particularly when drinking.
IMHO
I can argue both sides of this. I have teenage kids that are just starting to drive and I have lost close friends because of drunk driving. I have to believe the "taboo culture" we have created pushes young kids to drink as a rite of passage. I would much rather see us adopt the 'european way' of dealing with young people drinking, and make it a normal responsible part of growing up.
I believe the reality of the "you can fight in a war but can't buy a drink" arguement is false. I left the Marine Corps 15+ years ago, but from what I remember any Marine could buy a beer in the club, regardless of age. During my all too frequent assignments as OOD (Officer of the Day), I saw many really drunk privates that were certainly not 21.
first, all "limits" appear arbitrary at some level. drawing a line at 18/21 is supposed to represent society's best bet as to when the most people are at the right age.
second, the "old enough to enlist" argument is no more or less valid than the "pulled a kid from the wreck" argument. they're both examples that don't address the reall issue.
which is, IMHO, at what age are you mature enough to decide about drinking, particularly in comparison to other issues you are allowed to decide at the same or other ages.
at 18, you are considered an "adult" (in most states). you can live on your own, drop out of school, obtain credit in your own name, purchase real estate, a car, hold a job, vote, and enlist in the military. oh, and this is a big one- get married w/out anyone else's consent.
however, most states also consider you too young to drink.
to me, the above seems highly inconsistent. the notion that at 18 the law recognizes you as "adult" enough to get married but not old enough to buy beer seems simply wrong.
i'm not saying 18 year olds are mature enough to decide to drink. i am saying that anyone mature enough to decide to get married is mature enough to decide to drink. where we set that magic number- 18 or 21 or 30- should be consistent.
and if your really save lives? forget about drinking. raise the driving age to 21. that'll save more people than anything (and yes, i've had a licensed 16 year old in the house since spring).
maybe SiC and Andy need a beer!??
teenaged drivers....
wow
If at 18 you're old enough to get married, vote, go to war, get tried as an adult in any criminal case, drive, gamble, etc. then you are old enough to drink. About the only legitimate reason I can think for keeping the age at 21 is an effort to keep alcohol out of high schools. At 18, many people still have friends that are still in High School at 21, that is less likely. Granted, the 21 drinking age hasn't done a fine job of keeping alcohol out high schools but still.
Maybe it should be 18 AND you have graduated from High School.
(Knocking on wood) With my kids at this point,I am more scared of cell phones and texting while driving than drinking and driving.
Bingo Andy! The dumbest thing I ever did was to try and dial a phone while driving. I hit a Blazer full of unbuckled kids at55mph. I think Mom pulled out infront of me, but I don't really know. Thank God noone was killed.
With regard to the "old enough" arguments, old enough for some things do not equate being old enough or mature enough for all things. Specifically with regard to the armed services, they have looked hard at the alcohol related incidents across all age groups. Just as the public expects the military to reduce the risk to troops in combat, that same mentality applies to keeping our troops safe outside of combat. Risk assessment and mitigation has influenced the services' approach to safeguarding our troops (vice removing "rights") while off duty. The Marines have already instituted a 21 year old drinking age, regardless of local age laws.
An inordinate proportion of alcohol-related incidents in the Navy involve underage Sailors. In fiscal year 2002 underage Sailors accounted for 13.4 percent of personnel but they were involved in 31.2 percent of alcohol incidents. The majority of these incidents occur within the first two years of active duty service.
Many of these young Sailors seem to believe that their actions bear no consequences. They don't seem to understand the severity of alcohol-related incidents or the resulting damage that occurs to their careers. Frequently they incur multiple incidents, which result not only in lost work and training hours for themselves, but also for their shipmates who must assume additional responsibilities because of the incident. In the worst scenarios there is the ultimate loss of the Sailor due to separation, injury or death.
Navy alcohol abuse officials also point to the significant role alcohol plays in domestic abuse, sexual assaults and sailor-on-sailor, or blue-on-blue, violence. It is the No. 1 factor in more than 90 percent of those incidents, officials said.
In 2004, 1,609 ARIs (Alcohol Related Incidents) for Sailors under 21 were recorded, a figure that dropped to 1,450 the following fiscal year a decrease from 5.1 to 4.75 per 1,000. The Navy recorded 216 DUIs for that group in fiscal 2004, or 0.688 per 1,000; that fell the following year to 161, or 0.527 per 1,000.
But in addition to manpower concerns, the Navy is learning that alcohol consumption by younger Sailors can lead to developmental and social problems that run deeper than previously known. According to Roger Hartman, a retired Navy commander and public health analyst with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, new research shows that the human brain continues to develop into the early 20s. Alcohol abuse by adolescents can have long-lasting negative effects on intellectual development, NIAAA said.
So the Navy has a renewed focus on underage drinkers, and it's considering a bold move: raising the legal drinking age for Sailors to 21 worldwide, no matter what local laws mandate.
We do our young adults a disservice when we allow them to get away with some kind of dysfunctional behavior by looking the other way, by not addressing it, by being too busy to address it, whatever the reasons are.
Substitute "college student" for Sailor, and I don't think much of the maturity points would change. Personally, I think it is a cop out for university presidents who have no control over their campuses, and it is a surrender to the inevitable. It is, IMO, a blind eye approach.
Goat, I have a daughter and son inlaw that serve in the Navy. While on the way to a function they were involved in a wreck totaling my son inlaws truck. The Navy investigated whether there was alcohol involved. There was not, but they wanted there to be. As for college kids, most Navy enlisted go to school.
You said,Substitute "college student" for Sailor, and I don't think much of the maturity points would change.
With respect, I disagree.
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