Should the national drinking age be lowered to 18?

by Bobbie Smith

Created on: July 06, 2009

Experience, not the law, brings maturity. Whether you have your first drink at 8, 18 or 28, it isn't the legal age limit that determines how you cope or handle your alcohol. In most cases, alcohol consumption and drinking behaviour are driven by many other factors such as: socio-economic status, level of education, culture, whether or not you were raised in a home with alcoholic parents, mental health issues, unrequited dreams, maturity and a whole host of issues that would be the same whether you started to drink legally at 18 or 21.

Some people are too immature to handle video games, but we don't make that illegal. Some people are too immature to be parents, but we don't make that illegal, either.

I am Canadian and do not understand the desire to prevent adults who are 19 and 20 from drinking. In Canada, the legal drinking age can vary from 18 to 19. It felt natural to me to be allowed to drink by 18. It was strange for me to visit the United States when I was under 21 and not be allowed to drink or purchase alcohol. It made me feel like I was a child again. Sometimes, when we extend trust to young people, we may be surprised by how responsible they really are. And those who are 19 and 20 are adults.

That doesn't mean there shouldn't be any age restrictions, however, if an individual is legally deemed old enough to drive a car, get married, join the army and hold a job, they are old enough to buy alcohol. It is up to society, friends and family to work together to educate, coach and prepare young people for the culture of alcohol consumption and how this substance can be used in a healthy way to have fun. There is no doubt that all young people who try alcohol may overdo it initially. But this rite of passage is part of growing up. Most people get past that quickly and move onto their lives.

There will always be irresponsible and immature people in the world but forcing the legal drinking age to be 21 will not fix that. Instead, it ends up causing legal grief for young people over actions that should be handled morally and ethically, not legally, not to mentiont he multiple administrative nightmares for the legal system to process.

Teach your kids to drink responsibly and they likely will. Be a good example and you will inspire. Tell grown adults they are not allowed to make their own decisions and you'll find mixed results. Demonstrate a complete lack of faith in our young people and they'll not perform at their best. I say, put the age limit at 18, let them have a drink at home with you and a friend of theirs and have a conversation about how it feels, how important it is not to drive afterwards and how important it is to drink responsibly.

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