To the Ballot, to the Barracks, but Not to the Bar: Why Alcohol is Still an Issue

As a U.S. citizen, at the age of eighteen, you can register to vote. You can enlist in the military. You can get married. You can buy a lottery ticket, and a pack of cigarettes while you’re at it. Yet, you cannot legally consume alcohol until you are twenty-one years old.

 

Since its proposal, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 has been under fire. For three decades, citizens have called for the repeal of this federal mandate, which required states to raise their minimum legal drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one or lose 10% of their funding for highway transportation. Critics of this act are quick to cite the U.S. as one of only a dozen countries with a drinking age of over eighteen, pointing out that the only European countries to make this distinction are Iceland and Kazakhstan.

 

Claiming that the older age minimum is actually counterproductive, they argue that someone who is a legal adult and legally able to give her life for her country should also be able to legally drink alcohol. However, the question remains, would lowering the drinking age really combat the dangers of teenage alcohol consumption?

 

 

American drinking habits are frequently discussed in contrast with European drinking habits. However, according to the United States Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the difference in alcohol consumption between European countries and the United States really isn’t comparable because of the different contexts in which young people are drinking. For instance, if more European teenagers drove cars on a regular basis, and more American teens took public transportation on a regular basis, it’s likely the statistics of teenage DUIs and automobile accidents would look more similar for the two regions. Plus, there’s a major difference between private and public drinking, and the problems that relate to both.

 

The perception is that, in Europe, private drinking typically begins in a family setting, where parents are present to monitor a teenager’s alcohol consumption.  In contrast, in the United States, private alcohol consumption among teens happens in basements or dorm rooms where there is no supervision. The only guides for judgment are a teenager and her friends. So, many people draw the conclusion that European drinking is far more responsible and reserved than drinking that takes place in America.

 

 

Although often criticized for its drinking habits, the United States is not alone in the struggle with alcohol-related illness or crime. The World Health Organization identifies the United Kingdom as one of Europe’s primary leaders in binge drinking, with Russia and Spain not too far behind. Last spring, French tabloids lamented the rise of “le binge-drinking.” Those who insist that many of the problems caused by underage drinking would be eliminated by lowering the American drinking age to that of European countries must take a closer look at the roots of the issue.

 

 

We live in a culture of “alcohol glorification.” Our media is filled with messages about drinking. Just listen to Dierks Bentley’s “Drunk on a Plane” or Lil Jon’s iconic “Shots.” The fact that a popular song contains the lyrics, “I crashed my car into a bridge/I don’t care/I love it,” only emphasizes the fact that binge drinking is a major problem among American teens.

 

Meanwhile, television shows like MTV’s “Skins,” and even ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars,” feature dangerous underage alcohol consumption. They create an air of nonchalance:  the carefree, liberated lifestyle that so many young people look for and often find through these misguided designs. These shows capture an audience of a variety of ages, which means that they maintain the power to influence massive amounts of people and shape societal perceptions. What exactly goes through a fourteen-year-old’s mind when she sees her favorite actress stumbling around in a drunken state? 

 

 

There’s no denying that in pop culture, a “hazy mystique” encompasses alcohol. Knowing full well that underage drinking does occur at universities across the country, many teens begin to drink even before they reach campus, or feel compelled to try alcohol once they do arrive. And why? The truth is, people want what they can’t have. There is a certain forbidden fruit syndrome that surrounds teenagers and alcohol, especially as young people approach their college years, and this is continually influenced by our society’s portrayal of drinking alcohol as a rite of passage and mark of maturity.

 

 

One of the greatest obstacles facing the enforcement of underage drinking laws is the proliferation of alcohol on college campuses. Since about half of undergrad students can legally drink, and students of different ages interact with one another under a multitude of circumstances, it appears as though little can be done to completely eradicate underage drinking on campus.

 

College officials are aware that underage drinking currently occurs, no matter how much they implement systems to prevent and punish it.  A crucial step in addressing underage drinking is to provide not only further education about alcohol consumption, but better education about the laws against it.

 

 

Many would agree that there is nothing morally wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation, which is yet another reason why the minimum drinking age law faces such criticism. Well, there’s nothing morally wrong with driving a car either, but not everyone is allowed to operate one. The age requirements for driving are put into place as a matter of safety, and the same logic applies to drinking laws. The trouble is that, thirty years following the MDA Act, the key phrase dominating the discussion of teenage drinking is still, quite plainly, “Don’t.” 

 

Programs like Above the Influence, Red Ribbon Week, and SADD, which work to prevent alcohol and drug abuse, are well and good— and ought to be promoted— but our society cannot ignore another prevailing topic of concern:  what steps can a young person take to be a legal, responsible drinker?  As a society, we need to take a look at updating effective measures of change.  It’s interesting that, until recently, the approach to informing young people about safe drinking has been so different from the measures taken by each state to promote safe driving. One such effort has been the movement toward implementing programs, such as AlcoholEdu, within curriculum to educate college students on safe and responsible drinking habits. Ultimately, much like driver’s ed, programs like AlcholEdu provide helpful resources to support knowledge and understanding so that young people can be conscientious members of their communities.

 

Certainly, the goal of identifying an ideal minimum drinking age depends on an array of factors, from politics, to religion, to scientific research, to issues of personal freedom and parental rights. Unlike the use of most other drugs, alcohol consumption is greatly influenced by cultural factors.

 

Even if the United States lowered the drinking age to eighteen, there is a possibility that the perception of alcohol in American society would still remain. However, though complicated, the issue of alcohol is far from being a lost cause. To address the drinking problem in America, we have to take a look at underage drinking within the context of American culture, and develop a system that works well for it here. Only time will tell if the approach by new wave programs catalyzes a significant shift in American alcohol culture, but it certainly seems like a step in the right direction.