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Letting Kids Drink Younger May Reduce Booze Binging


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I'm from Montreal, where the legal drinking age is 18, and just a suggestion at that. We started going to bars and drinking in the 9th grade, and it was pretty out in the open - our parents knew, our older brothers and sisters knew, it was just what kids did, and it was socially accepted. There was always wine with dinner at our house, and my mother used to let me have a Bailey's Irish Cream whenever I asked for it instead of cake or ice cream for dessert.

Most of my friends and acquaintances from back home didn't go away to college to poison themselves sick with booze, because it was always so readily available and not at all a taboo. By the time we were in college, we had already been around alcohol enough to understand the ins and outs of the almighty hangover, and more importantly, we knew our limit.

Montreal is a French-based culture, and alcohol is a part of the lifestyle - it's something to be savored and enjoyed and yes, sometimes get a little buzzed on. From a pretty young age I understood that five tequila shots and eleven beers would not only ruin the evening, but it might put me in the hospital too.

Perhaps the same attitude could be helpful if adopted here. Thoughts?
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24 responses // Letting Kids Drink Younger May Reduce Booze Binging

  • Sounds about right. Growing up near Detroit, we headed over to Windsor to get a drink once we turned 18. I'm sure the Canadians probably rolled their eyes about the big deal we made of it.
    sdonovan
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age
    Legal Drinking Ages ...
    Legal Drinking Ages ...
    Around the world - according to wiki. I think it should be lowered here in the states. It's too high, America you're too uptight.
    Swiyyah
  • Yeah I agree with that too. I grew up in FL but my parents would let me taste or have wine on thanksgiving if I asked, because I was responsible and just curious, and they knew that. Also I have a problem with our country who says it's ok for our 18 year olds to go to war and die for the country, however they can't order a beer if they wanted to. America IS too uptight.
    Tarapotamus
  • I've thought about this arguement for a while. The argument is fair, however, I think drinking in American Colleges stems from a much larger problem; American Culture.

    We're consumers. Instant grafitcation and going overboard is the American dream. Everything is bigger and badder including our drinks.

    Increasing the accessibility for underage drinkers to obtain alcohol is not the answer. Behavior modificaiton on a larger level is.
    cfulton
  • Yeah because being responsible is being up tight. Can you imagine how much the rate of increase for DUI related deaths would be? Who the hell comes up with these hypothesis that if you make something legal people will stop abusing it? Fast food has no limits and look how terribly that is abused.
    batreyud
  • I'm from montreal too, and I'm in the same situation, although I learned more with my own experiences. My parents were really opened about alcohol, but I still got drunk a few times, and that made me understand better. Introducing alcohol at a young age is a good idea.
    sydpwnt
  • The problem isn't as much the law as our damned parents. Americans are great at pretending these "evil" things don't exist, whereas in the rest of the world children are taught about the real world. If we grow up thinking about alcohol as an illicit, devilish thing, it's going to hold greater weight in our minds when we realize we can drink it, and it's fun.
    Jweeke
  • I'm a Montrealer too. I don't think it's so much the legal drinking age as much as the culture that makes the difference, as you point out. Because of the wine culture, drinking in Quebec isn't taboo and so it's not as exciting to for young people to get totally wasted.

    I recently heard a news report on two parents being jailed for serving their child's underage friends at a birthday party, so I doubt America is quite ready to lower the legal age quite yet.
    shannonmcphee
  • i dunno. I went to university in montreal and probably wound up binge-drinking far more then i might have in the states. maybe that's the american in me, though....
    HenryG
  • When you turn 18, you can smoke cigarettes and join the Army, but hey - you stay away from that beer. It's dangerous!
    binowhite
  • I think batreyud makes a good point: Other cultures, especially those centered around large cities, don't drive as far and often as Americans do. If they drink, the effect they have on other people is minimal compared to that of the 18-21 set in the US, most of whom own a vehicle and rely on it to go everywhere. I'd also venture to guess that more people in that age group own cars in the US than in most countries, yet they don't demonstrate a level of responsibility that is noticeably higher.
    platkat
  • http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/youthissues/1092767630...
    Don't forget that each state controls its legal drinking age!
    Don't forget that each state controls its legal drinking age!
    As a reminder! The drinking age is, in fact, established state-by-state here in the United States. But, while there is no federal policy to explicitly state that the drinking age be 21 years, a lot of arm-twisting comes along with the "suggestion". That is to say, setting your state's drinking age to 18 is a great way to get federal funding pulled from your state's highway system.
    jennatar
  • And then what about other drugs including Tabaco?
    usumacinta
  • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6551887.stm
    UK Binge Culture
    UK Binge Culture
    Britain has a lower drinking age than the US and they still have a binge problem. According to the BBC article, beginning at age 12 drinkers begin to outnumber non-drinkers. Again, it's the culture, not the laws.

    I don't think it's about making something less taboo, but about instilling a culture of responsibility or, at least, not celebrating people who abuse alcohol regularly.
    Jackstowne
  • I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
    SusanB
  • -tom waits. cite your sources, susan.
    HenryG
  • If the drinking age were lowered, I'm not sure if the youth of America would just wisen up and be as "matoor" and sophisticated as those swanky 9th grade, Canadian club-goers. Personally I think there would be a sharp increase in drunk driving, teen pregnancy and just all that really cool stuff.

    I say we start the next prohibition! Whose with me!?
    mizer
  • Absolutely true, all my friends who respectably picked up the bottle at the ripe age of thirteen are much better at controling their alcoholic tendencies than those who hit vegas at age 21
    Emmhisattva
  • Part of the fun underage drinking is you feel like you're rebelling so your more apt to drink a lot more than if it was legal and boring. I am all about lowering the drinking age, it may take a decade or so before it takes effect, but come on 21? really? I think driving, cigarettes and the army are much more dangerous to your health.
    sarahbelle
  • I think it should the limit should be higher. 50. No 70. I think that if you can't see the intrinsic benefits of watching wheel of fortune on full blast for five hours straight, you probably shouldn't be drinking either.
    kafka
  • I'm from Montreal as well and totally hear what you're saying. Alcohol was never really a forbid fruit, shall we say, so the intrigue faded pretty quickly. I think for American teens there is such a build up to the legal drinking age that once they hit 21 they overdo it because they've had to wait so long. On the downside, by the time I was 21 I was totally over the whole bar/club scene. Now, my idea of a fun night is cooking dinner and renting a movie- I'm only 24.
    LisaSchwartz
  • It seems that the more open the authority figures in someone’s life is about alcohol (and even smoking tobacco/ marijuana) the less tempted teens and young adults are to abuse them.
    My parents would let me and my sisters drink if we wanted to. But I’ve never felt the need to, it never appealed to me I guess because it wasn't' a risk or away to defy my parents. But the kids in my grade who parents don't let them, or approve, of drinking are the ones sneaking out and drinking themselves to unattractive public vomiting, blackouts and killer hangovers.
    JennaDawn
  • The "official" reason why we had to raise the drinking age in the first place was incredibly high rates of teenage drunk driving. But the underlying reason is that (we) Americans are a bunch of binge and purgers ...
    derk
  • http://current.com/items/88817678_losing_a_daughter
    Kids are already drinking young in the US. And plenty of other drugs too. And there's no binge drinking in countries with lower age limits? It seems binge drinking and alcohol poisoning happens all over the world?
    dbocaz

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