2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Before I say anything, I want to let it be known I'm not a big drinker. Although I do like to enjoy an appletini now and then, drinking really isn't that much fun.
I recognize, however, that drinking is a lot of fun to a lot of people, and I think that's great. It shouldn't be a surprise that I have a problem with the way things are in this society, but I do have something to say about the problems caused by acting like alcohol is evil. The real problem isn't with alcohol. It's with us.
The drinking age should be lowered to 16-it is America's outrageous age limit for alcohol consumption that causes most alcohol-related problems.
Freshman year of college, much of the conversation seems to be dominated by "Dude, I drank a whole fifth of tequila by myself and then woke up with a huge bruise on my face and don't know how it got there. I can't remember anything! It was awesome!"
Sophomore year is much the same, but people start realizing there are other things to talk about than drinking, and other ways to meet people than through liquid courage.
Junior year shows a steady decline of intelligence again.
This is the year when people generally start turning 21, so it isn't uncommon to see on a person's Facebook profile something to the effect of "OMG I finally turned 21 so I'm hittin' the bars up bitch!" or "I'm finally 21 so you know where to find me!!!1!1!!!"
As a senior, I've noticed I'm not annoyed as much by people and their drinking habits.
By the time most people who drink reach senior year, they have all been 21 for a while. They're practiced at the whole scene of spending all the money they don't have on alcohol and dodging puking frat guys in bars.
After having said all this, my proposition of letting people drink at a younger age seems weird. It isn't.
There will always be stupid people-that will never change.
But the majority of these people who act stupid about alcohol act this way because they are banned from being allowed to do it until a certain age.
When freshmen start college, it is a completely different experience from living at home under parental control. That, coupled with the luring presence of something that "isn't allowed," is not a recipe for sugar and spice.
I realize a major reason for the push to make the drinking age 21 was that people were killing themselves and other people by acting irresponsible and drinking and driving.
Drunken driving is still a huge problem, but there have been tremendous efforts in its prevention in the past 20 years.
It is still something our government could stand to make stricter penalties for.
I really think if people got used to the idea of alcohol at an early age and got to experience it at home and know how it affects them, there wouldn't be as many drunken problems in college or on the road.
Obviously people would still get drunk because it would still be fun, but the novelty, and resulting outrageous behavior, would largely be gone because it wouldn't be anything they have looked forward to for the past ten years.
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Casey J. Burk
posted 4/24/08 @ 9:55 AM EST
Having experienced both sides of the spectrum, I can honestly say that alcohol cannot assume the entire blame of ignorance but when it is combined with the human variable, the human alone cannot be fully blamed either; both perpetuate the chaos. (Continued…)
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