How to Fight Binge Drinking

Alcohol should be banned from campus. Drunk and disorderly behavior on campus should be cause for probation and eventual dismissal. Alcohol testing should be done when students are arrested on campus.Same applies to recreational drugs. This should include all staff as well. The colleges are enablers of binge drinking, and drugging.

Im really split on the issue of lowering the drinking age. I am an American raised in Italy, I grew up drinking beer and wine from a young age. When I was 15 my father decided it would be ok with him if I wanted a glass of beer or wine with dinner. I drank responsibly... and then I went to a US university, where there was nothing to do but study, drink and screw, and that's what I did. I think in addition to lowering the drinking age, there needs to be other reforms, like free rides home for drinkers, and finding other things for college students to do in their free time!

Forget lowering the drinking age, we should raise the enlistment and voting age.

I agree with paul.wells regarding raising the age of majority AND decreasing the drinking age. Most teenagers are NOT adult-like. Studies have shown that our brains are not full capable of critical thinking until we are in our early to mid-20's. The age of majority in Japan is 20 and driving is not allowed until age 18. I also have a hard time with the concept of allowing our young men and women to defend out nation, but not allowing them to relax and have a beer or glass of wine at the end of the day. I really believe that de-mystifying alcohol and educating kids about its use is also important. In our house we began to let our children have a small glass of wine with dinner as long as they weren't going anywhere later on - whether they were driving or not. My oldest daughter entered college at age 17. She turned 18 at the end of the next month. Having been exposed to alcohol at home made it less exciting to drink on campus and during her first year I know she rarely did. Does she now? Yes - but I do believe she is more responsible about it, having been exposed to its use at home.

Really, now are you kidding. Why would anyone except bev co's want this http://www.teeniegal.com has some really good articles for teens regarding drinking.

I think it makes more sense to let kids start drinking at 16 but not drive until 18. At least that way they would have a clue what alcohol can do to their system before getting behind the wheel of a car.

When I graduated high school at 17 the drinking age in our state (WY) was 19 for all forms of alcohol. I turned 18 over the summer and I went to school in SD where the age for drinking "3.2" beer was 18 and the age for drinking anything else was 21. That was a long time ago, it seems, but I liked parts of both systems (and not just because it meant I could drink younger). Also, let me say that I have three teenagers, and take this very seriously.
The fact is college kids will drink if they want to, and by having a younger age in place, we did have organized and regulated businesses to go to to try it out. If you got out of control one way or the other, you were cut off. Being an ass in someone's backyard is a whole lot different thatn being one in a club. Also, I do have a problem with telling my soon-to-be 18 year old that he will need to sign up for selective service (a potential military draft), but he cannot be trusted to drink a beer.
That having been said, I also do not believe it wise to allow kids in high school to drink. As there are and will be many high school seniors that are 18, including my son, a drinking age of 18 is problematic.
My idea is this: make the age for both registering for the Selective Service and the age for drinking a lower alcohol content beer (light or the above-mentioned 3.2) both 19. Make the age for liqour, wine, and "high-point" beer 21. It's not perfect, as it does not take into account the young 18 year old college freshmen such as myself, but I believe it is much more reasonable and practical.
If that is unacceptable to the MADD crowd, then please raise the age for Selective Service registration to 21.

While we're in the process of talking about lowering the drinking age, why don't we discuss the problem w/ Prohibition as a whole? As mentioned in the article, Prohibition only funnels money to the underworld and it continues to do so today w/ Cannabis which is completely illegal. Though less harmful than tobacco or alcohol, our government continues to outlaw a plant which has ZERO overdose deaths in documented medical history. Cannabis also provides a nice living for the drug cartels which we waste billions fighting every year. A common sense approach to the drinking age and the drug war is a topic that Washington needs to focus on. We're in debt, fighting wars and wasting money around the globe, yet we still haven't learned from history. It's time to start using common sense in this country. I know it will never come from either side because no one wants to touch the subject (except RON PAUL!), but we need to look at these issues and seriously change our policies.

I live on St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the alcohol is very inexpensive and the drinking age is technically only 18. The kids raised in the VI are socialized to drinking in a complete different manner than in the mainland United States. Binge drinking is just not an issue. Some serious socialogical studies should explore caribbean culture and it's attitudes towards alcohol and how that reflects on thier children, I think we would learn a lot about how this has become such a problem in America.

I am considered an adult by all law domestic and international but as of yet i still do not have all of the rights of an adult. i am all for a graduated system or almost any other system that you can think of as long as i am not treated like a second class citizen. the true argument hear is rights not drinking.

One of the problems is that the off-campus illegal booze parties attract as many high school drinkers as college students. It's harder for high school binge drinkers to find a place to endulge and these parties provide it. Changing the drinking age to 18 will mean that some high school seniors will be able to drink. What will that mean for high school parties? I explore many of these issues on my blog: Party Schools Exposed.

I am writing from Choose Responsibility to ask that the spelling of John McCardell's name be corrected, if possible. Thank you for this excellent article!

My parents allowed us to drink from a young age probably around 10. It was not uncommon to walk up to them and take a big swig from their can of beer. As we got older and our friends were starting to get crazy, it was not a big deal for my brothers and me. The "forbidden" fruit is always the most sought after. Our parents taught us that drinking in moderation was not a big deal. This is the way I am going to raise my two kids.

I am somewhat close to the current age group, only 3 years removed from college and I completely agree with this. The majority of binge drinking that occurs from 18-20 yr olds is done in dorm rooms or basements away from supervision. I drank a ton while in college and binge drank quite often. You had to load up before parties and make sure to get enough in you to last the entirety of the party. Is this smart? Of course not, but it is a reality that most college kids go through. However, when I turned 21 and was able to legally drink at bars, there wasnt any need to get wasted before hand. I was able to get to a point of feeling good and keep it there at a constant pace. If college kids want alcohol they will get it, so why not try to get them to do it while being supervised by either cops or bouncers?

When my 14-yr old was brought home passed out drunk I was surprised. That was in 1987. The next day I sat him down to explain why you pass out when you drink too much. I think we got through to him that he was lucky because he could have died. Do college age kids understand the concept of death and drinking?

What percentage of 18-21 year old drinkers attend college, or Ivy League colleges? If the law changes to accomodate the "best and brightest", it will also change for those not so bright. The lowest common denominator needs to be considered. When you cave into the needs of 25% (est) of 18-21 year olds, you may very well be unleashing disaster on the others. When a 20 year old high school drop out kills your Harvard educated daughter, will the cost be worth it? The universities should teach responsibility, if somebody gets caught binge drinking, lowered grades, lost scholarships, and expulsion are tools available to universities. If these great schools cannot create ideas to solve their local problems without impacting all of society, maybe they are trying to solve the wrong problem.