Hmm, Maybe You Don't Cut Teenage Drinking By Making Kids Go Underground?
21 years after a majority of idiots voted to make the drinking age 21, American kids are getting shitfaced -- while French kids, who experience an attitude of permissiveness verging on the blasé, typically don't follow suit. Hmm, maybe this current American prohibition -- just like Prohibition -- is a really dumb idea? Jon Cohen writes for ABCNews.com about attitudes of Americans on drinking restrictions for teens:
Twenty-one years after federal legislation made 21 the national minimum drinking age, Americans by a wide margin continue to support the restriction — and three-quarters see underage drinking as a serious problem in their communities.Nearly eight in 10 Americans oppose lowering the drinking age in all states to 18. Even among young adults, age 34 and under, 73 percent oppose allowing 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to drink alcohol.
Part of the issue is that, although illegal, underage drinking is seen as a problem. Not only do 75 percent say it is a serious problem in their communities, but one-third call it "very" serious, rising to 44 percent of lower-income Americans.
The current age restriction was signed into law by President Reagan on July 17, 1984. Its support today is nearly identical to its level then — 79 percent in a Gallup poll in June '84.
Which proves, what, that voters still haven't gotten any smarter or more sensible? Drinking has never been a big deal for me -- not even in college -- because, like the French kids, I was offered wine or whatever liqueur my father was drinking at home. No prohibition? No drinking problem! At least, that's how it works in France. Getting blind drunk is considered boorish here -- not exciting or a marker of reaching "adulthood."
I let my under-21 daughter and her friends have party (I joined in) at my house, with the stipulation that they all had to spend the night. We had a blast. I asked my over-21 son if he thought I was horribly permissive to have done that and he said "No! Not as long as you didn't try to make out with one of her friends!" We all got a good laugh out of that!
diana at July 17, 2005 4:02 PM
Well said, Amy! Coming from old Yurop, it's hard to understand the fascination of young Americans with alcohol and the high concept of "binge drinking". We had a taste of it when visiting Ireland: our teenage pen pals would schedule an evening of illegal drinking as a thrilling activity, leaving the French kids looking puzzled.
Which is not to say that France doesn't have a problem with youth drinking and alcoholism in general.
Emmanuelle at July 17, 2005 5:04 PM
I hate to kill your buzz there but the legal age in Britain is 18 and they are HUGE binge drinkers.
nash at July 17, 2005 5:40 PM
Yes, but the culture here in France is that overdoing it is disgusting. Per Emmanuelle above. I don't know England well enough to have an explanation -- but their culture says getting smashed is a normal thing. Here's it's "degoutant."
Amy Alkon at July 17, 2005 9:24 PM
Diana is smart, in terms of parenting, but do you know in some states -- or maybe all -- the state can come after you for that?
Amy Alkon at July 17, 2005 9:26 PM
Yep, I know Amy, I actually could have gotten in trouble. But it was great; I got to know Sarah's friends better, we got that great energy buzz of youth, stayed up till 5am, talked, laughed, cried, threw paint on a just-built canvas, played guitar, took videos, ate food. I got up before all of them and ran, (still buzzed) to get groceries and cooked them all an awesome full-on breakfast. The place looked like something out of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when I got up, but we all cleaned up and it was An Event Worth Remembering.
diana at July 17, 2005 10:11 PM
You sound like the kind of mother kids wish they could get adopted by. When I saw the Restons, this gay couple who adopted a bunch of kids with AIDs, etc., I thought I'd like to apply to be in that family...and I bet other people felt that way, too. Great parents.
Amy Alkon at July 17, 2005 10:23 PM
So binge drinking is a cultural thing thing that has nothing to do with the legal drinking age? Who would have thunk it.
nash at July 18, 2005 8:14 AM
Sigh. I wish it was cool to go binge *thinking*.
Radwaste at July 19, 2005 3:41 PM
Oh, yeahhhh... I forgot something you might find funny:
Years ago, the city fathers in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, agonized over what to do about the many nightclubs featuring nude women. Compromises were sought; it was decided to prohibit the sale and/or consumption of alcohol on the premises where nude women were employed.
The businesses thought about this for about ten minutes, and then grinned.
They stopped serving alcohol - no more $5 beer in cups - started serving soda and ersatz champagne, dropped the admission age requirement to 17 and doubled their business, as every high-school senior in the state was now offered access to a room with a view!
After all, drinking is only a small part of the entertainment the youth of America seeks daily. I have no idea what the state of the entertainment industry is in Lauderdale today, but it is, of course, still going.
Radwaste at July 20, 2005 3:46 PM
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