Minor Adults: The pseudo citizens

The legal drinking age was brought back to the debate table a few weeks ago when concerned professors mobilized to turn over the 1984 measure that withheld 10 percent of highway funds from states with a legal drinking age lower than 21.

Headed by former Middlebury College President John McCardell, the Amethyst Initiative has already been signed by 130 college presidents from around the country who want to lower the legal U.S. drinking age to 18. Once again, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has established itself as the main opponent.

First of all – drinking for teenagers is inevitable. Young adults are in the years of discovery, and it is ridiculously easy to get alcohol on college campuses. More than half of young adults 18-20 years old have drank alcohol in the past month, reports the Department of Health and Human Services’ latest survey on drug and alcohol use.

Opponents argue that the human brain continues to develop until about age 25, and we are constantly reminded that alcohol kills brain cells, thus harming the development of human brain. But isn’t dying in Iraq or smoking cigarettes harmful to the development of the human brain?

Sure, drinking most likely does damage your potential – but that’s life. Responsible adults need to make that choice and learn to juggle work and fun. The bottom line is that responsibility should be balanced with rights. It is ridiculous to send young adults off to kill people in other countries if we feel they are not ready for a beer. If they have been given the right to gamble off all their savings, purchase a firearm, get married, and help decide who leads the country, than why aren’t they allowed to throw a party?

MADD’s main argument is that lowering the drinking age will raise related accidents and make it easier for high school students to obtain alcohol.

This is not entirely wrong. Lowering the drinking age will raise alcohol consumption; however, the number of accidents that will result is a cultural question.

People learn after their first few experiences with alcohol. The majority of the population decides fairly quickly whether they are casual sippers or fatalist drunks. Some people are inevitably going to fall into this second category whether the drinking age is 18 or 35, but the large majority of people follow the cultural norms – whatever those may be. To combat irresponsible drinking, the government should focus less on legal measures and more on forming an educated societal attitude. Drunk-driving and anti-meth campaigns owe their success largely to shaping cultural attitude and defining what is acceptable.

Alcohol should not be a secret, and it shouldn’t come as such a surprise when you reach the legal age. Alienating young adults makes the forbidden fruit even more desirable, leading to everything from embarrassments to tragedies. It might even be safer to have these first experiences a couple of years before you can legally drive a car.

The country needs to revise our whole relationship with young adults. Right now college simply extends childhood, and parents reinforce it. As San Francisco Chronicle reporter Debra J. Saunders said, we need to stop “infantilizing” our young adults.