Self Analysis Post

As Nelly Furtado so wisely sang (slash stole from an old English proverb) “all good things come to an end.” Depending on your opinion, you might not necessarily classify my blog as a “good thing”, but just humor me here.

Overall, I think this has been a good experience. As I mentioned in my first post, I didn’t start out this blog with massive amounts of factual knowledge. I feel that there are two types of knowledge, knowledge that is based on experience and knowledge that is based on facts and laws. Guess which one I knew less about. But now I’d venture that I’m pretty well rounded/balanced in both knowledge departments.

As for my growth as a thinker overall, this process has significantly improved the ways in which I think. Now its time for a heart to heart--real talk here. You ready? So, I have a problem. It’s serious. I have the mindset of a consumer. This brain tends to be a complete sucker for whatever is thrown at it. I can’t tell you how many info-mercials I have bought into or the number of times I’ve gone out to a particular restaurant just because “the commercial made this look yummy”. Same thing with facts and statistics, I tend to believe what people tell me. So when I read a fact about number of fatalities due to underage drinking, I say “Oh no! Underage drinking is bad!” What this process has helped me learn is that you can’t trust everything you read or the statistics thrown at you, as shown here. You need to analyze all possibilities and essentially be skeptical of everything you read.

When it comes to arguments, it is important to both A) know both sides to the debate and B) know who your audience is. I think I developed as a blogger through this process because I started out stating my opinions and feelings, and then I realized if I’m trying to convince adults to get on team 18equalsadult, I need them to take me seriously. That’s when I started making history references and introducing legitimate organizations and alternatives, like the Amethyst Initiative and The National Youth Rights Association. People are much more apt to take you seriously if you have serious things to back yourself up.

So through this process I have learned many things about lowering the drinking age: the risks, implications, and possible positive effects. Through my broadened knowledge I can now see what the debate overall is about. It boils down to safety and what can be classified as human rights.

Thanks so much for tuning in! I hope I provided you with enough knowledge for you to form your own opinion on the issue. Maybe I inspired you to create your own blog!!! Yes?? ….Is that too far of a stretch? Probably. Either way, gracias. Until next time!

TV Versus Reality (if you say it with the right emphasis it rhymes!)

So I walk into my dorm room the other night and my roommate has the TV show Gossip Girl on. Yes, we all have our guilty pleasures- don’t judge. If you aren’t familiar with the pretense of the show, it is essentially about the “wealthy and fabulous” teenagers of the Upper East Side in Manhattan. This particular scene happened to be on the roof of NYU where there was a massive kegger going on.

“Aren’t these kids freshman in college?” I asked my roommate.

“Yep,” she nonchalantly replied.

So we all know drinking goes on in college. We also know that it is illegal. What I was unaware of is that it could be displayed in the media with such a casual presentation. Anyone with their wits about them could piece it together that these kids were drinking underage. I asked my roommate if that sort of thing is shown frequently on the show.

“Um, yeah I guess it is. They just like walk up to bars and order martinis all the time. Most of the places they hang out or meet up is in bars,” she replied.

So the media is presenting these 18 year olds with the idea that drinking is normal and easy to do. I can’t believe I’ve never considered the media’s influence on underage drinking; it’s such an obvious topic. Some people think that the media is a negative influence because it doesn’t tend to show the negative repercussions of overdrinking. On the other hand, from what I’ve seen this series doesn’t show the kids getting hammered and making awful decisions. Generally, they just have a drink or two at the bar and go home. This shows how drinking can be done responsibly. Do you think the media generally has a positive or negative influence on underage drinking? Yes, it can influence us to drink, but do you think it is positively or negatively?

Don't You Want To Be Taken Seriously?

So when revisiting all of the links I thought were important to my topic, I realized that one of the reasons no one in the government takes lowering the drinking age too seriously is because teenagers themselves aren’t taken seriously.

There is this preconceived notion that we are oblivious, ditzy teenagers that don’t know what is best for ourselves. Obviously there’s that bad egg in every case that seems to spoil the whole bunch, or in our case, all of the legitimate argument points. I can see where some people like MADD are coming from, there are some teenagers who feel that the drinking age should be lowered because “like drinking is like fun and like we should be allowed to like do it. Yayyyyyyyyyy!”. No! I don’t want that to be the stereotype for 18 year olds across the nation!

I ran across this organization that I now LOVE. It is serious, it justifies its opinions and claims, and most of all, it is fair and just. It is called the National Youth Rights Association and it has a whole chapter devoted to lowering the drinking age. This is created by intelligent kids who actually have their facts straight. These people are talking about human rights here, not just wanting to have fun by taking a couple shots. I found that their statistics and argument rebuttals were incredibly helpful for straightening out some of the facts provided by the anti-lowering-the-drinking-age groups. These kids are taken seriously (finally!) and help improve our rep. Muchas gracias for that one.

Annotated Links Post

Are you one of those basic, lets-cut-to-the-chase-here types of people? Well essentially this link provides 15 reasons the drinking age should be lowered. Obviously, my blog goes a tad bit more in depth to the topic, but if you’re eyeballs are aching at the thought of reading all my posts, I suggest you just simply look here to get the gist of the pro side of the argument of lowering the drinking age.

The National Youth Rights Association is a legitimate organization created by young people to help voice the opinions of all young people across the nation. This organization does not only talk about drinking age, it also brings up the problems with voting laws and curfews as well. If you want to hear the general opinions of the youth and their justifiable arguments for their stance on lowering the drinking age, you should check out their website.

If you were to Google “arguments against lowering the drinking age,” your computer screen would be covered in statistics about death and despair and how alcohol is the worst thing ever. This webpage provides examples of these statistics, de-bunks them, and then provides logical reasons, options, and solutions for underage drinking other than just saying WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DRINK BECAUSE ALCOHOL IS FUN! (Yes, I have run across this once or twice). Check it outttttttt.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is one of the main organizations that strongly oppose the idea of lowering the drinking age. As with every argument, it is important to recognize and be knowledgeable about both sides. So regardless of your opinion, you should check this link out.

As I said in the previous paragraph, it is important to know every side to a story. The Amethyst Initiative is an organization that reasonably supports lowering the drinking age for logical reasons. I talk about this organization a lot in my blog because much of the drinking age debate focuses on who is right and wrong, but this provides a solution and a compromise.

One of my favorite links to the topic of the drinking age is this one right here. It is logical, objective, tells both sides of the argument, and puts new ideas on the table. PLUS it’s a video. No reading! Could life get any better? Thanks 60 Minutes.

Time Magazine Is Just So Smart.

Time agrees with me! Remember back a few blogs ago when I was talking about the culture of drinking and how making drinking more socially acceptable would prevent binge drinking? Well I ran across this article where this guy thinks the same thing!

In his words: “But there is a better way. At first it sounds a little nutty, but you might consider drinking with your kids. Incongruously, the way to produce fewer problem drinkers is to create more drinkers overall--that is, to begin to create a culture in which alcohol is not an alluring risk but part of quotidian family life. Of course, that's a mostly European approach to alcohol, but there's reason to think it could work here. And it may be the best way to solve the binge-drinking problem.”

The article also provides statistics and research pertaining to the issue. Would you ever consider drinking with your parents? Do you think this is healthier environment to learn about alcohol in than, say, with peers? Do you think parents would even be up for trying out this alternative? Give me your opinion!

What About You?

So I was considering the statistics about the amount of kids who drive with someone who has been drinking alcohol, and then I had a mini-realization. This is so obvious, I feel pretty stupid that I didn’t realize it before. If underage drinking was more accepted by society and less punished and frowned upon by the law and parents, kids would be three hundred times more likely to call their parents for a ride home. Duh! Silly 18equalsadult, why didn’t you realize this before??

Think about it: You are at a party, drunk. Not 21 (you little rebel!). There is a cop car outside but your friend Billy Bob is in the corner with keys and a truck out back (this is intended to sound far less sketch than it does). Although Billy Bob has had a couple beers, he’s a big guy. He can handle it. So what do you do? Walk (or shuffle) up to the cop and politely ask them for a safe ride home, or take your chances with Billy Bob and avoid getting that drinking ticket that looks oh-so-bad on your record? Sober you thinks: “Duh! Safe ride!” Drunk you: “Billy Bob’s got my back. Hell yeah for getting away with this!”

My hypothesis for this is that if there weren’t such negative repercussions for drinking, we would be far more likely to call our parents or find a safe way home. Since I was young my mom always told me no matter how drunk or young I was to always call her, in every situation. Do you think this is a realistic option? Do you think kids would actually take advantage of the safer options if it meant no tickets or the inevitable next day “why did you do that last night??” arguments with your parents? What about you, would you do it?

Implications Post

Topically, the issue of the drinking age doesn’t appear to have any world-altering implications. No countries will be blown up nor will the world end if this issue isn’t solved. Sometimes, however, the death of a family member does feel like the world ending to some people. This is, in the end, what is at risk with drinking age: the safety of teens.

Like I’ve discussed in all of my blogs, teens binge drink to defy the rules set up for them by the government. If you’d like to learn more about my argument as to why the drinking age should be lowered, just scroll on down. Lord knows there’s hundreds of sentences devoted to it. As I outline in those posts, the danger of underage drinking does not come with the alcohol consumption itself, just the lack of responsibility and safety that should come with it. If the idea of underage drinking is shunned by society like it is today, kids will go on being uneducated and unaware of the repercussions of their actions. Binge drinking is where the real danger comes in here, and without appropriate education that trend will continue. If this problem goes unsolved the teenage generation will continue using alcohol inappropriately and therefore endanger their own lives and the lives of others.

Theory Post

In order to end this ongoing argument, a little bit of compromise is needed on both sides. In any sort of debate, it is important for each arguer to keep an open mind and recognize the ideas of each side. This is what over 135 college presidents have done; weighed the pros and cons and made an educated decision without bias clouding their judgment. For this argument to come to an agreement, everyone needs to objectively look at the situation and be willing to give a little of what they want. Compromise is key, and that is what The Amethyst Initiative is proposing: a compromise. Those who are for keeping the drinking age at 21 are mainly worried about safety, both of teenagers and others. Those who want the drinking age to be 18 feel as though they are being deprived of their adult right and that a forbidden or bad perception of alcohol is being given off by these rules. Both sides in the end want safety; they just have different idea of as how to achieve that.

Class Links

If you like my blog (and even if you don’t) you should definitely check out some of my classmate’s blogs as well.

The Media Told Me To Do It

First of all, if the media and the prospect of it affecting us subconsciously interests you at all, you will love this blog just as much as I do. This blogger has a light, conversational tone, but still gets their point across by providing facts and multiple visual examples. The conspiracy theorist inside of you will come out and start being paranoid every time a commercial or music video comes on. The video examples cause you to take a step back and analyze how the media affects your view of sex, power, and self-image.

Nature vs Nurture

This is another fascinating blog because once again, it causes you to take a step back and analyze why you are who you are. Do we see a trend here with me loving stuff that simply blows your mind?? But yeah, if you’ve ever wondered why people act certain ways or where your unique physical and emotional characteristics come from, definitely check this one out.

Health Care

This blog is interesting because it is not so much about health care itself as it is a question of morality. This blogger talks about euthanasia, the voluntary ending of one’s life with the aid of doctors. It is really interesting to consider whether or not this should be considered suicide. At what point is the pain too much that you just want it to be over? Should you be allowed to objectively make that decision? Check it out!

Update...

In case you noticed, yes my posts were quite jumbled together this week (3 within 5 minutes, I must be a fast typer!). Joking. I actually did write them on time. The explanation as to why they are so close together is simple enough: I repel technology. Blogger decided to not show any of my posts when I attempted to publish them. Maybe Blogger just really doesn’t like the idea of lowering the drinking age? In any case, it must have just been my computer because now I am on my roommate’s and it seems to be working just fine! Woo-hoo, now you can get back to reading my riveting blog without delay!

Interesting Alternative

So most people would assume that the advocates for lowering the drinking age primarily consist of a bunch of underage kids who want easier access to booze. Okay, so they might be right. But there are objective, educated people out there who are on our side too!

The Amethyst Initiative is an organization that consists of chancellors and presidents from universities and colleges around the United States that advocate the lowering of the drinking age. They aren’t just random party schools either! These are reputable sources we’re talking about here: Duke, Johns Hopkins, and more. These college leaders have realized the risks of underage drinking and how it leads to binge drinking. Everyone knows (and I reiterate this constantly throughout this blog) that binge drinking is where the real danger of alcohol comes into play.

Here is where the Amethyst Initiative starts to get unique and interesting. Instead of just letting us run wild once the age is hypothetically dropped, they are proposing something that they consider vital in this process: alcohol education. People would have to take a test in order to get a license to drink, much like the drivers license. This way, teens are required to know the dangers and effects of alcohol.

I think is a pretty interesting approach to a solution for this problem, how about you?

Do you like organizations like this? Check out the ideas of a branch of The Amethyst Initiative, called Choose Responsibility.

You Know How I Love My US History Tie-Ins....

Okay, so do you remember those little rules about the government like separation of church and state or the difference between federal and state regulations? Well, after reading this website I realized that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 somewhat crosses the latter’s boundaries.

So this is the setup: The federal government has its business and the state and local governments have theirs. That is why we have such things as mayors and presidents, not just one or the other (gee-whiz, you learn something new everyday!). So it was initially determined that the drinking age was something that would be regulated by the state, not the national government. BUT, once accidents started going up and drunkenness became more prevalent, the feds decided that they needed to do something about it. Therefore, they tied the highway funds (10% of a state’s revenue) to each state raising its drinking age. It reminds me of a sort of nice government blackmailing. Sort of like a graymailing between the feds and the state. As Balko so eloquently stated, it is essentially “enabling Congress to meddle in all sorts of state and local affairs it has no business attempting to regulate.”

Am I super oblivious for looking over this before? It’s just so clear to me now! This idea turned me into a conspiracy theorist. The government is out to get us all!!!! ….Only kidding. But seriously, isn’t it crazy to think about how the government can get around their own rules?

But we always have good ol’ Puerto Rico, right?? The US territory that has a drinking age of 18 and also the worst roads I have ever driven on. Hmmm……coincidence?

Analysis Post

So as we all know through spending hours reading my fascinating blog, I am an advocate for lowering the drinking age. Still don’t believe me or are you a newcomer who doesn’t feel like reading through all my old posts? ….C’mon people, there is even a video! Still not feelin‘ it? Well then move your mouse and click on this link that gives you 15 reasons why you should get on team 18equalsadult.

Well if that little taste wasn’t enough and you want to stick around for both sides of the story, then you should continue reading! I was perusing through the websites concerning my topic, and decided to share with y’all those that seemed most useful in aiding you to make an informed opinion. Join the crowd, everyone cares about this! There are blogs and even facebook groups that provide a forum for everyone to express their opinion.

The main argument for lowering the drinking age seems simple enough; you are a legal adult. You can smoke, vote, fight, marry, and more. Why is it that we can’t drink? Some researchers argue that it would be detrimental to our poor little brains and livers because they aren’t fully developed yet (that sentence is so much better if you imagine me saying it in a cute-mocking-baby-voice). Others disprove this hypothesis by commentating that these experiments were done on mice or teenagers who were already dependent on alcohol. Another argument for lowering the drinking age is that prohibition failed and that the alcohol intake actually increased during this period of time. That makes a nice parallel to current and future situations with underage drinking. As mentioned in a previous blog post, we can compare our drinking age to those in other countries. A student from Singapore who is attending Duke University admitted that lowering the drinking age would be beneficial because it would help students adapt once they get to college. Why is there such a problem here but not so much in countries with even lower drinking ages than us? It all boils down to the mindset. With the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, a sort of forbidden fruit mentality was set up. We weren’t allowed to have it? Well then gosh darnit, we want it more. Even President Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush, has been seen attempting to buy alcohol and consuming it at the ripe young age of 19.

Obviously, I am not right all of the time. There are massive amounts of people who disagree with me and who criticize the idea of lowering the drinking age. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD is one of the main proponents against lowering the drinking age. They present seemingly convincing statistics that demonstrate the dangers of and deaths caused by underage drinking. But as shown here and here, everyone can present statistics in a way that are in favor of one argument. MADD isn’t alone in their opposition; President Obama opposes lowering the drinking age as well.

I have realized that the main danger that comes with underage drinking is binge drinking. As Edwin says in a blog post comment, we drink secretly and to a great extent in private now due to the drinking age. We try to hide it from the cops and are more reluctant to get help when needed. This is much more dangerous (which is the main thing that MADD is worried about anyways, right)?

So how do we solve this pickle that we are in? The Amethyst Initiative consists of a group of over 100 college presidents who encourage lowering the drinking age, but also using a tactic we like to call alcohol education. As for now I am advocating the drinking age becoming 18, but eventually today’s problems will filter down into those even younger which therefore causes people to advocate having no drinking age at all. While this is a nice idea, I discuss in my blog comments that there are multiple risks that come with taking that leap. As in the rest of our history, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Clues From Other Cultures

When blogging about the topic of reducing the drinking age, you can’t help but to incorporate a few of your own personal experiences. No, I am not going to share stories of drunken nights a frat houses or New Year’s Eve 2008. I like to think we’re a little bit more intellectual of a bunch than that here at 18equalsadult. Instead, I’m going to talk about my experience with different cultures and their philosophies toward drinking.

My best friend in high school had a dad that was from Israel. In Israel the drinking age is 18, but isn’t necessarily enforced (like most other countries). My friend had the incredible benefit of growing up in a household where drinking wasn’t forbidden or frowned upon. This ended up exposing her to a more objective and open view on alcohol. The curiosity factor involved in most teen drinking disappeared for her because she could have wine with dinner or a cocktail on the porch with the family. Most importantly, this experience and acceptance taught her something that is vital in the underage world: alcohol responsibility. That is what it all boils down to, that is the source of the danger.

Another benefit gained from her parental acceptance was the openness and communication involved in their relationship. When this is a factor, the danger of overdrinking is significantly reduced. My friend was significantly less likely to hide drinking from them or try to find a way to get home or a place to stay the night without them finding out. We could always call her parents and that fear of getting punished for doing something illegal faded and kept us safe.

Now, if my friend could have that kind of beneficial experience just from her parents letting her drink, imagine if the big daddy, the government, let us drink. Personally I feel that this would reduce danger, much like it did with my best friend. Teens wouldn’t have to hide it, because when they do they end up getting themselves into more trouble by getting behind the wheel or running away from the cops.

Don’t know where to take your next vacay? Look at the drinking age in different countries around the world!

Do You Not Like to Read?

Some of us don't like to read. It's just oh so tiring! If you'd rather just watch 60 Minutes talk about my topic, click here!

Take a Gander at Those History Books, People

What do the decades of the 1850’s and 1920’s have in common? Those were the time periods of both failed attempts at prohibition. Although it differs from today because alcohol was prohibited to everyone, the essential ideas of these laws remain the same. The government doesn’t want people to drink, yet we all tend to find a way to do it anyways.

In the 1920’s it was speakeasies and bootlegging of liquor, today it is the local frat house kegger and fake IDs. Do you see a trend here? As a race, we find a way to break the laws to get what we want, and what we want is to be able to do as we please. Prohibition didn’t work them, what makes them think it’s going to work now?

Indeed, history does repeat itself time and time again. Whether it’s secretly making wine in your kitchen during the 20’s or drinking vodka out of that Aquafina bottle, we know that people are going to find a way to get around the rules. Can’t we just cut to the chase here and jump to the 21^st amendment part of the story? We should just go ahead and admit that it isn’t the most logical regulation the government has ever made. Foresight? Not so much. Rules are made to be broken, people. Odds are if the government made a law stating everyone had to have 3 ½ drinks per day, we’d find a way to get around that one. “Maybe they’ll think this grapefruit juice is wine! I can just pretend like I’m drunk, they’ll never know!” Ohhh, how the tables would turn.

Is this little snippet of history just FASCINATING to you??? Click here to learn more about the failure of prohibition, and here for a general overview!

The Psychology Behind It All

Why do we drink? What a seemingly simple question. The NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) presents a series of scary-sounding reasons and explanations to the parents of the world. They lay out different paragraphs (even nicely headed and categorized, gee-whiz!) targeted at the parents of the world and essentially saying, “this is why your child drinks, and here is how to stop them.”

Personally, I think it all boils down to one simple psychological explanation: We drink because we can’t. Teenagers are categorized as rebellious and defiant human beings, and that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Therefore, we drink because we can’t. You tell us we aren’t allowed to do something, by George we’re going to find a way to do it! If the law tells us we aren’t allowed to do something, then it’s an even bigger accomplishment to rebel against Uncle Sam.

There are not many other explanations as to why we would sit around on Friday and Saturday nights getting hammered. There is a reason binge drinking isn’t as popular of a trend in those in their upper-twenties. Drinking is a legal action for them, therefore it poses no challenge or threat and loses its excitement. How many 28-year-old keggers have you been to recently?

My hypothesis is that if we lower the drinking age to 18, which is technically an adult, then that thrill and exhilaration that subconsciously comes with underage drinking will eventually fade. We will be much less apt to binge because there won’t be that sense of no tomorrow or the possibility I won’t be able to get drinks for a while. This is why teens binge drink and binge drinking is where the danger comes from. Binge drinking is where NIAAA gets their “5,000 deaths per year” statistic. Binge drinking is the source of the problem and that is caused by our need to drink as much as we can while we have the chance. If the legal age for drinking is lowered then hopefully this kind of drinking, the real source of danger, has more of a likelihood of becoming an obsolete trend.

Where I Stand

First of all, I won’t claim to be a complete expert on the topic of drinking age. I don’t necessarily have a plethora of factual, relevant information stored in my brain. What I do have is an interest in the topic that I hope will create an informative forum to aid in the broadening of the view of others. I also have the experiences and knowledge of a twenty-first century college student, a group that is far more experimental and uninhibited when it comes to obeying the rules set up by our superiors.

Drinking age is a topic that many people feel strongly about. Of course there is the typical college kid who just wants to get beer easier rather than going through his “older bro” at the fraternity, but there are also those of us who have thoughtfully considered the topic and advocate the lowering of the drinking age for legitimate reasons. Hopefully I won’t just get thrown into the “crazy youngster” category while trying to express my argument on this blog.

I will outrightly admit that the opposing argument has some decent points. I’m not the kind of person to reject every rebuttal or disregard the views of others. Underage drinking is an emotional topic because it is often associated with things like drunk driving and unnecessary death. Believe it or not, I have a soul. These things touch my heart too; I’m not made of stone. So just for clarification and so everyone doesn’t think I’m Satan, when I defend lowering the drinking age I’m not disregarding the danger of alcohol in general. I’m a reasonable person and will attempt to talk about the subject with reason and without bias.