Educator pushes to lower drinking age
Program would require high school graduates to take alcohol education classes.
Sherene Tagharobi
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: News
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A former college president's nationwide proposal to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 has been met with both skepticism and support by USC students and officials.
Former Middlebury President John McCardell has launched a movement to lower the drinking age in an attempt to curb startling trends in binge drinking and drunken driving among college students.
The plan, which McCardell is promoting to university presidents and policy experts in a cross-country tour, would require 18-year-olds to take educational courses and obtain a license to buy and drink alcohol. He has not yet scheduled an appearance at USC.
Providing alcohol to minors would result in immediate revocation of the license.
"Decriminalizing drinking by kids 18 and older will bring their alcohol consumption out from hiding, where parents and adults can monitor it - and model responsibility without conflict," McCardell said in an interview with U.S. News & World Report.
"Alcohol education is mandatory now only after you've been convicted of driving under the influence," McCardell said. "That makes no sense. Why not make it available earlier as a way of preparing young people to deal with alcohol responsibly?"
Rolf Hoefer, a freshman majoring in business administration, said he is skeptical about the effectiveness of a license to drink.
"Who's going to get a license at a university?" he asked. "It's so easy to buy and drink alcohol (without it)."
Hoefer, an international student from Paris, said he agrees with McCardell that the drinking age should be lowered. The legal drinking age in Paris is 16 for wine and beer and 18 for spirits and liquor, but the age limitations are rarely enforced, he said.
Hoefer said making alcohol less scarce and eliminating the now-or-never ultimatum that influences some students' decision to binge drink will lead to more responsible decision making and reduced binge drinking.
"(If alcohol is legal and more accessible) it's not like, 'Oh, it's Thursday night, and I have to drink because or else I have to wait until next Thursday night.' Then people actually start deciding if they are in the party mood, or even want to drink," he said. "When you have the ability to choose, you're automatically going to pay more attention to what you drink."
Former Middlebury President John McCardell has launched a movement to lower the drinking age in an attempt to curb startling trends in binge drinking and drunken driving among college students.
The plan, which McCardell is promoting to university presidents and policy experts in a cross-country tour, would require 18-year-olds to take educational courses and obtain a license to buy and drink alcohol. He has not yet scheduled an appearance at USC.
Providing alcohol to minors would result in immediate revocation of the license.
"Decriminalizing drinking by kids 18 and older will bring their alcohol consumption out from hiding, where parents and adults can monitor it - and model responsibility without conflict," McCardell said in an interview with U.S. News & World Report.
"Alcohol education is mandatory now only after you've been convicted of driving under the influence," McCardell said. "That makes no sense. Why not make it available earlier as a way of preparing young people to deal with alcohol responsibly?"
Rolf Hoefer, a freshman majoring in business administration, said he is skeptical about the effectiveness of a license to drink.
"Who's going to get a license at a university?" he asked. "It's so easy to buy and drink alcohol (without it)."
Hoefer, an international student from Paris, said he agrees with McCardell that the drinking age should be lowered. The legal drinking age in Paris is 16 for wine and beer and 18 for spirits and liquor, but the age limitations are rarely enforced, he said.
Hoefer said making alcohol less scarce and eliminating the now-or-never ultimatum that influences some students' decision to binge drink will lead to more responsible decision making and reduced binge drinking.
"(If alcohol is legal and more accessible) it's not like, 'Oh, it's Thursday night, and I have to drink because or else I have to wait until next Thursday night.' Then people actually start deciding if they are in the party mood, or even want to drink," he said. "When you have the ability to choose, you're automatically going to pay more attention to what you drink."
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
TJ
posted 4/27/07 @ 6:47 PM PST
"We know that students experience reduction in academic performances as a result of alcohol, so we might still want to do education with incoming students to make sure that they're informed," Taylor said. (Continued…)
Kaveh
posted 4/28/07 @ 4:56 AM PST
The point is that I don't really think the drinking age is doin' somethin'. I mean you're going to see teenagers going crazy after binges no matter which country you live in or what kind of law system is ruling. (Continued…)
Bill
posted 4/28/07 @ 3:03 PM PST
Agree with Kaveh. I started drinking far younger than 18, and that certainly didn't make me a responsible drinker. If anything, it's made me a more irresponsible drinker. (Continued…)
Daltam
posted 5/08/07 @ 1:40 AM PST
It all depends.It would be difficult to compare ourselves with European countries because the social and cultural differences involved.In Europe for example,people for the most part tend to drink with their meals(even at the age of 16 or 18). (Continued…)
Harris
posted 5/09/07 @ 5:26 PM PST
One of the main issues I see with this is that the pressure to get a license just in case something comes up may convince people who would otherwise not drink to act irresponsibly. (Continued…)
ste blap blap
posted 5/10/07 @ 2:52 AM PST
i think that the drinking age should be reduced as students with exams need a way to relax and chill out and as all drugs are against the law drinking is the only allowed way . (Continued…)
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