"binge drinking" on campus. Young people dissatisfied with the culture of alcohol abuse .
have few other ways to spend their weekends, since they are not allowed to entry into .
entertainment establishments. It is the drinking age, ironically, that literally drives too .
many youth to drink.
People become responsible by being properly taught, given responsibility, and then .
held accountable for their actions. Currently, young adults can legally purchase and .
consume alcoholic beverages when they reach the age of 21. At this stage, we don't seem .
to have any alcohol-educational requirement before they can legally purchase alcohol. A .
program like this would promote: knowledge of legal limitations and liabilities or the facts .
about heavy intoxication. There is no reason to assume that people suddenly and magically .
become wiser at any arbitrary age. Nevertheless, at the age of 21, our law has become part .
of our culture's solution to the problem of irresponsible drinking. If this law actually .
worked, why not make the age limit 25, or 34, or 42? Could it be that age limits don't .
promote responsible drinkers?.
"Abusive drinking is a serious problem today. But we will never make real progress, .
until we take a hard look at the approach modeled by those cultures that have established a .
"truce?with alcohol from Italians, to Greeks, to Jews, and to many others. What exactly is .
the model these cultures share? It can be defined on three levels: beliefs about the .
substance of alcohol, the act of drinking, and education about drinking?(Novello 53). .
Without taking sides, the substance of alcohol is seen as neither a terrible poison nor a .
magical potion. The act of drinking is seen as natural and normal. At the same time, there .
is little or no social pressure to drink, and absolutely no tolerance for abusive drinking.
Education about drinking needs to start early at home. By lowering the drinking age, .
young people can be taught under supervision, through their parents' example.
