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More than 100 college presidents have signed on to an initiative that seeks to lower the drinking age in the U.S. to 18 years of age. Dubbed the Amethyst Initiative, the project seeks to open a civic discourse on the appropriateness of a legal drinking age of 21 in an era of binge drinking on college campuses.
Here is the initiative's brief statement in its entirety:
It’s time to rethink the drinking age
In 1984 Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which imposed a penalty of 10% of a state's federal highway appropriation on any state setting its drinking age lower than 21.
Twenty-four years later, our experience as college and university presidents convinces us that…
Twenty-one is not working
A culture of dangerous, clandestine “binge-drinking”—often conducted off-campus—has developed.
Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students.
Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.
By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law.
How many times must we relearn the lessons of prohibition?
We call upon our elected officials:
To support an informed and dispassionate public debate over the effects of the 21 year-old drinking age.
To consider whether the 10% highway fund “incentive” encourages or inhibits that debate.
To invite new ideas about the best ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol.
We pledge ourselves and our institutions to playing a vigorous, constructive role as these critical discussions unfold.
It's a stunning statement coming from colleges and universities, where students currently may face institutional judicial action for underage drinking on campus.
At the same time, a drinking age of 21 does, as these college presidents point out, force underage drinking underground, and encourages students to drink too much when they do find an opportunity to drink before age 21. So I completely understand the presidents' and chancellors' concerns.
That said, I have open in another browser window the stats on drunken driving and the history of the legal drinking age, courtesy of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Support 21 Coalition. MADD issued a press release saying that college and university presidents are shirking their responsibility to protect students from the dangers of underage drinking.
Both sides are very convincing, and I have to admit I have limited experience with university student affairs (the "student life," versus the academic, side of the university--a false dichotomy in some ways, but it's the way many colleges and universities are set up to serve students). I haven't yet formed an opinion. That said, the arguments made by Choose Responsibility, the organization behind the Amethyst Initiative, are frequently compelling. The organization also gets my support because it's not just calling for an open bar for anyone over age 18, but rather advocating for such things as increasing taxes on and the cost of alcohol that appeals to young people and a consideration of the special risks faced by young women at parties where underage drinking takes place.
I've written before about how I'm a big proponent of civic discourse. I don't see how opening a discussion on an issue that has become controversial is in itself going to do much harm. But some people seem uncomfortable that the drinking age is even being opened for reexamination. Others are convinced that 21 isn't a magic age where people become responsible--that we need to reexamine our culture's entire approach to alcohol consumption and the way we raise our children to think about alcohol.
Some posts and comments from around the blogosphere:
The blogger at Quo Ero Spero also believes in the importance of civic discourse around this issue. The post illustrates our culture's too-frequent confusion of common sense and legality:
I have always felt that laws that are widely ignored are corrosive to society. The universally ignored speed limit laws, and the contrary, quixotic ways in which they are sporadically enforced, with revenue being a higher goal than safety, are a perfect case in point. Drinking laws in this country are another. Even though the Federal government does not directly set states’ drinking ages, they have used the ability to withhold funds to ensure the 21-year old drinking age across the country. (See the Wikipedia summary of the 1984 law here.) Nearly everyone admires the idea behind
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