After the brief discussion of the first problem of drunk driving (the concern of those strongly for maintaining the 21 age), let us explore the issue of binge drinking that is the concern of those arguing for a lowering of the age. As with the drunk driving issue, I hope to present ways problem can be addressed apart from a debate regarding the drinking age.
Binge drinking is defined as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 grams percent or above.” An approximation of this is 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more drinks for women. According to the website on Alcohol and Public Health that is referenced above, binge drinking is a national problem: “Although college students commonly binge drink, 70% of binge drinking episodes involve adults over age 25 years.” Consequently, the issue merits attention in and of itself, rather than simply being a tangent of the drinking age debate. The same website lists ways by which the issue of binge drinking may be targeted, namely:
•Increasing alcoholic beverage costs and excise taxes.
•Limiting the number of retail alcohol outlets that sell alcoholic beverages in a given area.
•Consistent enforcement of laws against underage drinking and alcohol-impaired driving.
•Screening and counselling for alcohol misuse. These methods are all good and have been proven to work (the studies of which are referenced on the website).
However, they all approach the issue from a restrictive perspective. In this respect, I think the framework of alcohol education as proposed by John McCardell, former president of and current Emeritus Professor at Middlebury College, as well as a fervent supporter of the Amethyst Initiative, has immense merit and potential. In short, his call to lower the drinking age comes along with an alcohol education programme, summarised here. Setting the age issue aside, there is no reason why the education programme cannot be implemented on its own. In fact, given that binge drinking extends to all ages, it would be a worthwhile experiment to implement the alcohol education for all ages.
I think the key idea is to educate people about the dangers of consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, which is completely separate from the issue of the drinking age. Choosing to binge drink is one thing, choosing to knowingly break the law, another. To say that the law induces one to break it and to binge drink is to form a fallacious causal relationship between the law and one’s act of civil disobedience and between the law and one’s lack of judgement in binge drinking. Since they are separate issues, they should be treated as such.
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I understand what you are saying about the issue of binge drinking pertaining to all ages, but I feel that those under the age of 21 do it for a different reason than those above the age of 21. Individuals under the age of 21 are claimed to partake in binge drinking because it gives them a thrill. They do it because they know that they are really not supposed to. Alcohol, which as seen as the "forbidden fruit" to those under 18, binge drink because they want to experience all of its effects.
ReplyDeleteI think that people over the age of 21 binge drink for reasons such as depression. They attempt to drink their worries away. The excess consumpution of alcohol serves as their tool to get away from all of their problems and worries.
So either way, binge drinking does happen, but I believe that if the age were lowered, those under 18 would not feel the need to binge drink. At least this could eliminate a fraction of binge drinkers.
Thank you for your comment. I agree that binge drinking for those under 21 possesses a sort of "thrill factor" to it. However, this "thrill factor" comes about as the result of more than just the fact that drinking is illegal. Much of the "thrill factor" of college binge drinking comes from its "cool factor," which refers to a significant measure of social desirability associated with the activity that has little to do with its legality. Which means to say, even if the drinking age were lowered, this does not necessarily address the problem of binge drinking among college students.
ReplyDeleteI will soon be posting a post about the appeal of binge drinking in college. Look out for that and let me know what you think!
It seems like the problem isn't the minimum age set by the law, but lies with enforcing the law. One reason that binge drinking is so prevalent in colleges could be that students have the impression that they can escape the repercussions of breaking the law. Why isn't more done to stop underaged students from breaking the law? Maybe the suggestion to lower the minimum legal age is an acknowledgment of the impotence of the existing law, as it's rather difficult to police the behavior of college students. It's not meant to be a solution to the problem of binge/underage drinking, but is illogically put forward as such.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree that enforcement is a problem, and I think that that is one of the ways in which the age law can be improved upon. I also agree that the lowering of the age is in part a tacit acknowledgement of the failings of the law. However, proponents of lowering the age are hinging their argument on the issue of binge drinking, which, as you say, is somewhat illogical.
Nonetheless, the concern regarding binge drinking by college students is a valid one. Hence I'm proposing that it be tackled as a problem in its own right.