Saturday 8 February 2014

Drinking Age



There is talk about raising the drinking age here in Australia from 18 to 20, now as far as I am concerned if a person is old enough to vote, join the army and go and fight for your country and possible die than you are old enough to drink.

Now I know there are some who will think I am wrong and that people shouldn't be able to drink at such a young age and they go one about how teenagers are binge drinking and getting into fights and acting in an unsociable and rude manner.

However, the so called experts have been saying this for over 20 years which means the young people acting in such a manner are a new generation of crazy, irresponsible young people. We keep hearing that the youth of the day are out of control, but they have been saying it for so long, to me it seems that is is part of life and each generation have an element that are out of control and act in an irresponsible manner.

However, most of them out grow the irresponsible and out of control behaviour and I also don't think raising the drinking age is going to stop the drinking it is just going to cause more under age drinking.

I am in favour of closing clubs and pups are an earlier hour, honestly I don't get why some places feel the need to be open till 5am, here in Newcastle we have a 1am lock out which means you cannot get into a club or pup after 1am and they stop selling grog at 3am and that has reduced the amount of grog filled violence. When I was young the clubs shut at 3am and that was good enough, so maybe all the drinking venues should close at an earlier time.

What do others think, do you think that the drinking age should be older than the age to vote and enlist in the army or should it all be the same age.

Do you think the age should be 18 or 20 or maybe you think 21 is the right age.



How old were you when you started to drink?

16 comments:

  1. I agree with you 100% I first started to drink (legally) when I was 18. I tell my kids (only one of whom is 21-the legal age in the US) that my generation cocked it up for them. Statistics undeniably show that the older you are, the less likely you are to get into mischief. Then why not raise it to 45? Yeah, I know. Ludicrous. Unfortunately, by making it illegal, we glamourize booze, thus making binge drinking much more alluring. For example, alcohol is forbidden on US warships. So sailors go nuts when they go ashore (I've seen it and have done it). Brits? I'd be curious about any comparisons. In any event, as far as your opinions, "I'll drink to that!"
    Oooh, I couldn't resist! :-)

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    1. I am glad someone agrees with me, I knew there was no grog allowed on warships thanks to shows like Jag & NCIS which in some ways may be a good thing as we don't want drunken sailors in charge of our warships but it also means at times we have hungover sailors in charge of the warship, which can be just as bad

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  2. As far as closing pups early? I'm all for that, too. Those damn dogs have a tendency to bark their asses off when I'm trying to sleep.
    ;-)

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    1. How did I miss that typo.............

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    2. It doesn't matter what the age limit is if youngsters want to drink they will find a way. Closing venues earlier is a good idea but I think trying to teach them responsibility and social skills is more important but we just seem to keep on teaching them the opposite . It is a difficult question and an an important one if we don't want our society to crumble more.
      I didn't drink until I started drinking wine with meals in my late twenties.

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    3. Yes it pays to teach the young about sensible drinking but then again the youth and sensibility don't go well together but it is worth trying

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  3. I think I started drinking, illegally, when I was 16. I rarely drink now. I think the age should be the same to vote, buy alcohol, and join the military.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. I have never been a drinker and out of my three daughters one one has been a drinker and that was when she was in her late teens early 20's now days she rarely drinks.

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  4. They say alcohol is a drug.
    Children & teenagers will drink if they want to no matter what, unfortunately. It's like smoking, education might help.

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  5. In North Dakota the legal drinking age is 21 and it is illegal to serve liquor after 2am. Personally I also think that if you are old enough to fight for your country you should be old enough to drink. I didn't drink until after I graduated high school--but I was 17. Quit drinking at all over 20 years ago...must be going on 25 now.

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    1. That is the big thing with me if a person and fight for their country they should be able to drink I am not much of a drinker

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  6. In the U.S. the minimum drinking age is 21 but 45 states have exceptions or state laws that make it legal for various reason. Those rules are all so vague that I am not sure that anyone could figure it out. Here teens, esp. college age kids...if they want to drink, they will find a way to drink.

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  7. Yes all teenagers will find a way to drink if they want to, I think it is just the way it is raising the drinking age isn't going to stop it

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  8. I don't really have a strong opinion since I've only ever known 21 to be the legal drinking age. Of course, I didn't wait that long. ;) I'm sure there are all kinds of statistics out there on drinking ages. I just know that if an underage wants alcohol, he's going to get alcohol, regardless of the law! Most of our bars close between 1:00-2:00.

    -andi

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    1. I feel raising the drinking age here will only increase the number of underage drinkers because if someone wants to drink they will.

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