2008 Woodie Awards
Age Is More Than Just A Number
Good judgment and maturity don't just happen. Sometimes they just don't happen.
Lyndsay Phillips
Issue date: 3/16/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
There are few ages that our society collectively looks forward to. At 16, it's a driver's license; at 18, there are cigarettes and voting; and at 21, it's the biggie - legal drinking age. After that, it's a long way to the next batch of appreciated but depressing perks like senior discounts and social security.
Underage drinking is a big problem on many levels, affecting not only the individual, but families, the health care industry, birth rates and the nation's work force.
It has been proven that young people who drink regularly lose the ability to retain new information; they are more likely to develop an addiction to alcohol, which can lead to liver and heart disease; pregnant women often give birth to infants suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome and other birth defects directly related to prenatal exposure to alcohol.
In Europe, the minimum legal drinking age is somewhere between nonexistent and 18. In France, for example, youth can drink at 16 but can't drive until 18. The legal blood alcohol limit there is 0.05 compared to the U. S. limit of 0.08, resulting in more arrests of individuals who could have caused an accident had they not been apprehended.
Even when sober young drivers are more accident-prone than older, more experienced drivers, according to the Institute of Alcohol Studies' online fact sheet.
Their lower tolerance to alcohol further increases their accident risk. Nine out of 10 drunk drivers are male and 10 percent of those are under 21.
In the Czech Republic the legal blood alcohol limit is 0.00 but the problem is not necessarily with drunk drivers.
With beer costing less than soft drinks in Prague, there is a growing alcohol addiction among children as young as 10, according to Drug Addiction News online.
This is, in part, due to insufficient law enforcement and poor control over the sale of alcohol to minors. The juvenile alcohol addiction rate has increased to such an extent that local government had to create a children's detox center.
Most American alcohol manufacturers side with teenagers when it comes to talk about lowering the legal drinking age. But does the general public really want to unleash hormone-ravaged, inexperienced and inebriated young drivers onto the nation's highways. I don't think so.
Another big issue in this fight is the conflict between young men and women serving in the military at 18 but not being able to drink until 21.
Maybe the drinking age isn't the thing that needs an adjustment.
Underage drinking is a big problem on many levels, affecting not only the individual, but families, the health care industry, birth rates and the nation's work force.
It has been proven that young people who drink regularly lose the ability to retain new information; they are more likely to develop an addiction to alcohol, which can lead to liver and heart disease; pregnant women often give birth to infants suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome and other birth defects directly related to prenatal exposure to alcohol.
In Europe, the minimum legal drinking age is somewhere between nonexistent and 18. In France, for example, youth can drink at 16 but can't drive until 18. The legal blood alcohol limit there is 0.05 compared to the U. S. limit of 0.08, resulting in more arrests of individuals who could have caused an accident had they not been apprehended.
Even when sober young drivers are more accident-prone than older, more experienced drivers, according to the Institute of Alcohol Studies' online fact sheet.
Their lower tolerance to alcohol further increases their accident risk. Nine out of 10 drunk drivers are male and 10 percent of those are under 21.
In the Czech Republic the legal blood alcohol limit is 0.00 but the problem is not necessarily with drunk drivers.
With beer costing less than soft drinks in Prague, there is a growing alcohol addiction among children as young as 10, according to Drug Addiction News online.
This is, in part, due to insufficient law enforcement and poor control over the sale of alcohol to minors. The juvenile alcohol addiction rate has increased to such an extent that local government had to create a children's detox center.
Most American alcohol manufacturers side with teenagers when it comes to talk about lowering the legal drinking age. But does the general public really want to unleash hormone-ravaged, inexperienced and inebriated young drivers onto the nation's highways. I don't think so.
Another big issue in this fight is the conflict between young men and women serving in the military at 18 but not being able to drink until 21.
Maybe the drinking age isn't the thing that needs an adjustment.
