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UlisSausage7
seattle


Registered: 02/19/05
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school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa)
#5636780 - 05/16/06 09:17 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Alright so my debate class gave me and my partner the pro side of "making the drinking age 18". I assume most of you agree with this and I as well.
Well I was wondering if any of you had any good arguments and/or sources. I searched but I mainly just find articles written about how we need to teach responsibility. I would like to see more information that makes 18 better than 21 besides the whole "you can do yadda yadda yadda at 18 but not drink a beer" cause i already am using that argument.
just wondering if the shroomery wanted to help (prob not thou lol)
thanks, 5 shrooms for each good thing someone gives me
-------------------- Marx said: good luck with the microscopy
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DoctorJ


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: UlisSausage7]
#5636801 - 05/16/06 09:26 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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you could point out that there are 45 year olds who lack the cognitive capacity of some 15 year olds.
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Cowgold
Bullshit


Registered: 04/04/05
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: UlisSausage7]
#5636802 - 05/16/06 09:26 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Sometimes it helps in debates to work on the opposing argument.
I don't think the drinking age should drop because I don't consider 18 yr olds very mature or responsible. It takes some time grinding away and paying for a few of your own mistakes to really have a sense of consequence.
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Chikitta
Registered: 03/12/05
Posts: 632
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: UlisSausage7]
#5636833 - 05/16/06 09:38 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Look at the UK if you want arguements for not lowering it to 18.
Some nice stats here.
* By the age of 13, the majority of young people drink alcohol on a regular basis. * Binge drinking is common among young people in the UK. A government report found that 34 percent of men aged 16 to 24 had drunk more than eight units of alcohol on at least one day during the previous week. 26% of women from that age group admitted to drinking more than six units in one day during the previous week. * There is a sharp increase in drinking from the ages of 11 to 15. In 2004, 4 in 100 pupils aged 11 had drunk in the previous week compared to 45 in 100 15-year-olds. * A Europe-wide study of drinking among 15 to 16-year-olds showed that UK figures for alcohol consumption were some of the highest in Europe. * Studies suggest that young people who drink alcohol often engage in risky sexual behaviour. * Young people drink mainly beer, cider and lager. Alcopops are popular but consumption of them tends to drop with age.
It's much easier to fake being 18 than 21, and we've got loads of problems with underage drinking over here.
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: Chikitta]
#5636838 - 05/16/06 09:39 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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This is something you agree with when you are 18, however later on in life you realize how immature you were at that age.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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kaniz
That one, overthere.


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: badchad]
#5636847 - 05/16/06 09:44 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Dunno, I found that here where the drinking age is 19, alot of my friends used to drink heavily from around 15 until 18 as it was the 'cool thing to do', they would binge drink, get wasted on weekends because it was 'taboo' I suppose. Once they hit 19, they tended to have a big 'get shit faced' party, then after that now that the taboo / illegal factor of drinking was gone, their interest in getting shitfaced every weekend went down quite a bit.
*shrug*, just noticed the trend of binge drinking went down once it was legal to do so.
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unbeliever
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: badchad]
#5636854 - 05/16/06 09:47 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
badchad said: This is something you agree with when you are 18, however later on in life you realize how immature you were at that age.
Agreed. I think 21 is a fine age that should be used as the limit for all recreational drug use, including alcohol. It should be the minimum age for joining the military as well. Eighteen year olds are still completely fucking retarded. Obviously at 21 there will be some people who are still completely fucking retarded. But at least by then they'll have been out in the real world just a little bit and not living under their parent's protective shield.
-------------------- Happiness is a warm gun...
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welsholi
Stranger
Registered: 10/21/05
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: unbeliever]
#5636877 - 05/16/06 09:54 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I would have said that the drinking culture within the country in question has a lot to do with it. If you look at the continent, where various countries have drinking ages even younger than 18 (seem to remember it being 15 to buy booze in Austria when I went there years ago.) Mainland Europe certainly doesnt have the drink problems we do in the UK, its at least partly because over here it's often seen as a virtue or similar to be able to sink ten pints and still be able to fight.
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DoctorJ


Registered: 06/30/03
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: unbeliever]
#5636927 - 05/16/06 10:20 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
unbeliever said:
Quote:
badchad said: This is something you agree with when you are 18, however later on in life you realize how immature you were at that age.
Agreed. I think 21 is a fine age that should be used as the limit for all recreational drug use, including alcohol. It should be the minimum age for joining the military as well. Eighteen year olds are still completely fucking retarded. Obviously at 21 there will be some people who are still completely fucking retarded. But at least by then they'll have been out in the real world just a little bit and not living under their parent's protective shield.
oh come on
I was getting drunk and smoking cigs at age 13, took acid at age 14, smoked pot at age 15. Since then I have graduated college and am now working a well-paying job that I love.
but then again, I'm a super-genius
just because some people are dumbasses, doesn't mean you can take it out on the people who aren't dumbasses.
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Ginseng1
Elegant Universe


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: DoctorJ]
#5636980 - 05/16/06 10:51 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well, in all honesty, at 21, you are definately not going to be very more mature than you were at 18. Not only that, alot of the time people have left their parents house at 21, therefore when a 21 year old gets shit faced they can get in trouble and will not find any guidance. At 18, when people are still living with their parents and have a bad experience, their parents will still be able to pull the old "live and learn" lecture.
I say its healthier for someone to be able to drink at 18 to begin, so that they can learn through guidance from their parents.
-------------------- Flowing through beginningless time since time without beginning...
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MadSeasonAbove
Reef Donkey


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: UlisSausage7]
#5636994 - 05/16/06 10:54 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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18 y/o's can hardly drive as it is, imagine bringing alcohol in the picture.
18 y/os are not capable of fully making the right desicion, no matter how right it seems at the time. I blame raging hormones, lack of responsibility, and total disregard/respect for their peers.
I will admit, I was one of the kids saying the drinking age should be 18, but that was when I was 18. Now at 24, I realize this was pure ignorance on my behalf.
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Jackenobi
Hermes


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: MadSeasonAbove]
#5637042 - 05/16/06 11:18 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Though the UK's drinking age is 18 and we have a culture of binge drinking over here, you should remember that in most of Europe that age is 16 and they do not have the same problems.
I think that when beginning to drink, the subject will have a similar response mostly dependent on their personality and that response will most likely be a fairly wild one, in conjunction with the discovery of something new and appealing (?!?! frankly but there you go). I think despite a small ratio of maturity applied over the growth through the years this response when first experiencing alcohol will be the same.
I dont really have an opinion on what the minimum age should be but maybe there is some food for thought there. I didnt start drinking till 18 and im English, this was not a moral objection but due to the taste which i found repellent. Instead i started smoking pot whilst my 13 year old friends were getting drunk which has its positives and minuses. Maybe in the USA where the minimum age is highest there is an argument for lowering the drinking age so that others with no problem with drink on the pallate drink first and enjoy that stage of their life, i dont think smoking weed so early did me any favours and i imagine an illegal substance, with no laws on age boundary is often an option for the USA teenager that has no luck trying to get drunk on a weekend. Maybe that's a dumb argument.
Good luck with the debate, try and remember 16 year old Europe because your opposition will probably trot out the damning UK binging figures!
-------------------- read books
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In(di)go
People of the sun.


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: UlisSausage7]
#5637163 - 05/16/06 12:01 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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1. Not being able to purchase alcohol legally at a young age most teenager will tend to go the easier way to score drugs other than having to find someone to buy alcohol for them. It is far easier for a kid that age to buy illegal drugs such as pot, cocaine, speed, etc. and hence they will turn to these drugs before alcohol. Now most of you will say that there is no problem with this, but i started smoking pot at age 17 and that wasn't a second to early. An earlier drinking age (i.e. 16 for germany) will allow teenagers to learn to deal with drugs responsibly before they turn to more powerful mind-altering substances.
2. This possibility to learn to deal with alcohol at an early age has other advantages, too. For instance it makes no sense to me that kids in the states get their liscence at 16 when they still have no idea about their limits and the risks of alcohol. So when they turn 21 and are able to buy alcohol legally it is very likely that they will endanger themselves and others by driving under the influence.
Hope these arguments help you out... 
Good luck!
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cybrbeast
Up, then down, then...



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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: UlisSausage7]
#5637212 - 05/16/06 12:17 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Why are you at the age of 18 responsible enough to join the US army but not responsible enough to drink alcohol?
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futuretribe.space
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Cowgold
Bullshit


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: cybrbeast]
#5637240 - 05/16/06 12:28 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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At 18 you can take orders as well as anyone but are less inclined to take responsibility for their decisions. It comes from fucking up and having things to lose which is why mostly poor people fight our wars to begin with...
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theuser
DON'T LOOK

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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: Cowgold]
#5637518 - 05/16/06 01:29 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Dumb, dumb, dumb and dumb. That's all we need drunken 18yr olds running around. Not like we don't already.
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DoctorJ


Registered: 06/30/03
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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: theuser]
#5637600 - 05/16/06 01:48 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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perhaps the right to drink should be given based on intelligence rather than a arbitrary age.
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Cowgold
Bullshit


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Re: school debate: Making drinking age 18 (usa) [Re: DoctorJ]
#5637613 - 05/16/06 01:50 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Alcohol makes even intelligent people dumb-asses.
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