Lowering it to 18 may or may not help. If you really want to do somewthing useful, lower it to 12 and encourage parents to serve half a glass of wine to their kids with dinner some nights. Lots of kids drink because alcohol is forbidden, it makes them seem more grown-up, or because they just became legal and want to do it because they can.
All of those reasons lead to stupid drinking. Whereas in places where drinking responsibly is taught from a young age, people don't tend to binge drink as much.
I started drinking alcohol around age 3 or so. A thimble-sized cup was provided for me each Passover. As I got older, I also had wine on those Sabbaths that we went to temple, which was really good because I hated grape juice and you had to drink one or the other. When I was older still, I was allowed to have a taste of beer, or have a bit of liquor when it was served. So forth and so on. Drinking was never novel, and I had no motivation to drink huge quantities of crap.
Plus, drinking good alcohol makes you dislike crappy yicky alcohol, and you just can't afford good alcohol until you're older. And you don't look bad socially for turning down alcohol because it's beneath your standards. You're all cool and experienced, yet you're not getting shit-faced drunk.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-04-13 03:27 pm (UTC)All of those reasons lead to stupid drinking. Whereas in places where drinking responsibly is taught from a young age, people don't tend to binge drink as much.
I started drinking alcohol around age 3 or so. A thimble-sized cup was provided for me each Passover. As I got older, I also had wine on those Sabbaths that we went to temple, which was really good because I hated grape juice and you had to drink one or the other. When I was older still, I was allowed to have a taste of beer, or have a bit of liquor when it was served. So forth and so on. Drinking was never novel, and I had no motivation to drink huge quantities of crap.
Plus, drinking good alcohol makes you dislike crappy yicky alcohol, and you just can't afford good alcohol until you're older. And you don't look bad socially for turning down alcohol because it's beneath your standards. You're all cool and experienced, yet you're not getting shit-faced drunk.