This week in class one of my classmates brought up an idea on my topic (the drinking age) that I had not really thought of before, and I decided to contemplate this idea through a blog post. This student mentioned that she thought a big problem with drinking was the whole culture of it, especially in the United States. This student is not from the United States and I am not exactly sure which country she is from so I am not going to guess and get it wrong, but where she is from there is not really a drinking age at all.
The drinking culture in America seems to have a completely different theme to it compared to other cultures. For underage drinkers and younger legal drinkers (in the U.S.A) the main goal of drinking is typically to get “wasted”, but other countries do not really follow this trend. The U.S.A has the highest drinking age around the world, but at the same time doesn’t it have one of the worst drinking problems? So age should not really be the main issue with drinking, it should be the culture, education, and connotations associated with drinking. In most European countries the legal drinking age is 16 or lower, and they have hardly any issues with drinking. That is because drinking is part of their culture; they socially drink, and do not drink just to get wasted. If the United States took after these examples then the drinking problem may slowly start to disappear.
The drinking culture in America seems to have a completely different theme to it compared to other cultures. For underage drinkers and younger legal drinkers (in the U.S.A) the main goal of drinking is typically to get “wasted”, but other countries do not really follow this trend. The U.S.A has the highest drinking age around the world, but at the same time doesn’t it have one of the worst drinking problems? So age should not really be the main issue with drinking, it should be the culture, education, and connotations associated with drinking. In most European countries the legal drinking age is 16 or lower, and they have hardly any issues with drinking. That is because drinking is part of their culture; they socially drink, and do not drink just to get wasted. If the United States took after these examples then the drinking problem may slowly start to disappear.
I think it is interesting that you brought up the cultural quirk of American students drinking to "get wasted". Do you think the act of "getting wasted" is a result of over-repression by the law, or is it more to do with socio-cultural developments of American society? Another question to consider is that even if it is the result of over-repression by the law, does lowering the drinking age ensure that students would not "get wasted"? These are just some thoughts I had on your post which may or may not help in your ideas development. Looking forward to reading your subsequent entries!
ReplyDeleteLike all things, educating yourself is important. Do schools teach students about drinking long before they are teenagers? Do schools teach students at all?
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the wondering FLEBHS class I had in elementary school. Parents could either choose to put their child in or not put their child in this class. FLEBHS stands for Family, Living, Ethical Behavior and Human Sexuality. Schools were teaching students about sex in elementary school. Does this have an affect on them as they go to middle and high schools? Do they know what is right because they are taught beforehand?
I do not think every American wants to get wasted. There is social drinking here. I do agree that getting wasted is common among high school and college aged kids.
ReplyDeleteIn my high school we were educated on the effects of alcohol on our brains. There are some serious effects. At college age our brains are still developing which means that alcohol can have effects on our personalities and so on and so forth. I think you should look into this. Supposedly our brain is developed enough by age 21 so that alcohol will not harm us.
Nonlinearperspectives, NatureNurture, and RH thank you so much for the feedback. Nonlinearperspectives, the questions you have brought up are extremely interesting. It is hard to say if the theme of “getting wasted” is because of over-repression by the law, or because of socio-cultural developments of American society. I think that it has to do with a little bit of both. You also bring up an excellent point that if it is because of over-repression that does not mean that lowering the drinking age will terminate this type of behavior. This brings me to another idea brought up by NatureNurture’s and RH’s posts about education policy. At a young age children in the U.S. are not really taught any specifics about alcohol and how to handle it etc. There is the DARE program, but it is not a very long or specific program. Kids are simply taught that alcohol is “bad”. In my analysis post I will discuss which type of program/education should be enforced along with lowering the drinking age. RH, I will also try and do some research on the physiological aspect/effects of drinking!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I thought I'd just make a minor correction here. I'm from Singapore, and there is a drinking age that's enforced. It's 18, although there are a good number of people who flout the rule. Just so you know! I look forward to reading more of your blog (:
ReplyDeletelol Thanks Jane :)
ReplyDelete