This is a rant I posed on a local messageboard, the subject is teenage drinking. Basically what has happened is one kid (using that term very loosely since the deceased was 18 and legally was an adult.) died in a car accident and her BA level was approx. .176 (over twice the legal limit.) I personally think this issue si being blown way the hell out of proportion but that's just me. Anways, here goes.

What I am saying will not work is the poster before stated the schools should have a lot more presentations in school and have victims of drunk driving incidents come before us to discuss the dangers of drunk driving.

Originally Posted by Damien the Enlightened

Speaking for someone who did a little drinking in high school I can tell you that will not work. Why? Those people were stupid. They drank and then decided to get behind the wheel, I had a little more common sense than that. If I drank I wasn't going anywhere, just crash on the couch or kitchen floor, wherever I happened to be when I decided it was time to throw in the towel. The problem isn't teenage drinking, alcohol isn't the great evil so many people make it out to be, the problem is when they get behind the wheel. Parading victims and villians of drunk driving in front of high schoolers to tell them the evil of drunk driving will not help, in fact it could have a reverse effect. Either the teachers will decide to pull students out of study hall for this (in which case they lose time to work on school work that they had planned to do during study hall) or you pull them out of class and then they have to work harder that night to make up for the time they missed in class. In the end the students won't remember who was speaking or what they were speaking about, what they will remember is that they had more work to do that night because of some stupid presentation. Trust me, I went through all this crap after the "racial tensions" that hit Sioux Falls, after all those presentations about the evils of racism (that fight wasn't about race, it was two kids who didn't get along, one happened to be black, one happened to be white. THAT'S IT!!!!) the only lingering effect was that we had missed out on time we should have spent doing class work to go see a presentation that was ranting about the same old stuff.

Let's take a look at how Europe and Japan handle this issue, since their crime rates are supposedly so low and they are living in perfect little societies. I believe the age for 3.2 beer is 16 in the EU and everything else is legal at the age of 18. See, they let their teens drink and yet they seem to be all happy and safe. Why? I suppose because these kids are drinking in a safe, controlled (or at least more controlled) environment.

Well, how does the Military handle this? While I haven't yet gone to basic so I haven't been stationed at any bases I have been told that so long as you are on the base you can drink regardless of your age, especially in Texas, the reasoning being "It'd be better for them to do so here than to go to Mexico and get themselves killed." that I am pretty they realise that it's not that big a deal.

Finally, most of the people I talk to at work drank while in high school and I would guess about 1/3 of them have a story about how they went to a party only hours before the first day of school for the heck of it. Maybe some of you who have most likely participated in such activities can tell me the name for such an event, the name escapes me right now. Adults who drink and then drive are a far bigger problem, so perhaps you people should stop looking at the one finger you have pointing at us and take a good long look at the three you have pointing back at yourself. This is just like the supposed danger of teenage drivers being distracted while driving, because nobody's ever heard of an adult talking on the cell phone, listening to the radio, talking to friends or even drinking while driving. Yes, I do all those I just listed except that last one, yet I have a perfect driving record, funny how that works out, isn't it? The people with the right idea are the parents who allow their kids and their friends to drink in their house under then supervision. Like I have said several times before, it's not that big a deal for them to have fun and this way the parents can make sure the kids are being safe.

But what do I know? I'm just some stupid 19 year old who used to drink in high school (Like many of you probably did.) and I obviously haven't learned from my mistakes if I am alive and well and can tell you guys that you are giving this issue way more attention than it deserves.

Just out of curiosity. What is the legal limit in various US states. I've heard it varies.

Drinking age or Blood-Alcohol level? The drinking age is 21 however in some states 18 year olds can drink so long as they are with their parents and the blood-alcohol level limit is .08 max, but I believe in Wyoming it is .04

amen to that damien i agree with you 100% and all the way

Well drinking age limit here is 18 and it works, fair enough you have a few who go mad but in general the age limit is great. Maybe its cos we're such a small country. In us i agree it should be 21 but i think driving should be brought up to 17/18. Maybe if driving age was brought up you could bring down the drinking age.
I had 4 cousins over from us few weeks back all 17, went absolutely mad here on the drink made a holy show of themselves.

No, Irishone, raising the driving age will not help, what everyone doesn't realise is that the problem with teenage drivers is their amound of experience, not their age. If you raise the driving age to 30 then all of the sudden 30-35 year olds will be the ones most likely to get in a car accident.

damien is right

Originally Posted by Damien435

No, Irishone, raising the driving age will not help, what everyone doesn't realise is that the problem with teenage drivers is their amound of experience, not their age. If you raise the driving age to 30 then all of the sudden 30-35 year olds will be the ones most likely to get in a car accident.

Experience is important but also the degree one knows oneself. The younger people hace a tendency to overestimate their capabilities. I've seen crazy accidents which involved no alcohol at all, just mere errors of judgement. That and the fact that I don't go into some crazy contest with somebody. I reckon that a shot of hormones do some damage too.

Knowing their own capabilities is another thing that can only be learned through experiences gained from ones own personal experiences.

Everyone is different and everyone reacts differently and feels different about different things. Just because a speaker won't prevent EVERYONE from doing drugs or alcohol, it doesn't mean that they should not share their experiences. Even if it prevents a few people from doing it, it is very well worth it then!