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[22035261]

How sad that they chose this issue...and the completely wrong side of it...to take a stand.
Truthteller

[takapa]

College student drinking (both in terms of those students 21 and older and those who are not yet 21) is one of the most researched areas you could find.  Massive numbers of peer reviewed pubs on the topic, massive amounts of knowledge about prevention.  They seem to have overlooked the overarching theme of all it.  Someone should send them copies of these pubs and get them to read their libraries copies of the Journal of American College Health.

Regardless of personal opinion, it is pathetic that college presidents would be so misinformed about a topic and rely on information that is (1) not in the mainstream of intellectual discourse or science, and (2) taken out of context. 

[dolljepopp]

Link?

[inthelab]

College student drinking (both in terms of those students 21 and older and those who are not yet 21) is one of the most researched areas you could find.  Massive numbers of peer reviewed pubs on the topic, massive amounts of knowledge about prevention.  They seem to have overlooked the overarching theme of all it.  Someone should send them copies of these pubs and get them to read their libraries copies of the Journal of American College Health.

Regardless of personal opinion, it is pathetic that college presidents would be so misinformed about a topic and rely on information that is (1) not in the mainstream of intellectual discourse or science, and (2) taken out of context. 

Not everyone agrees with this opinion.
If the drinking age is 21, then so should the voting age and the age of military conscription (should it come to that again). Either they are adults or they are not.  I say this as the parent of one bound for college next week. Not that I want her to drink the way a lot of college kids do, but I think I raised a responsible young person who will vote in November.

[aandsdean]

Another important point about the drinking age has to do with students on rural campuses. 

In many instances, what happened when the drinking age was raised back in the late 80s is that drinking was driven off campus.  The consequence of this is that students would drive to some remote location on rural roads to drink, rather than doing so on campus.  Then they would drive back.

The colleges and universities in Iowa at the time banded together to protest the raise in the drinking age for this very reason.  I don't know that stats on what the consequences have been, but I do know--having been in rural Iowa for a portion of the intervening years--that there were some real consequences to the change.

Also, I'm with inthelab on it:  if you're an adult, you're an adult with all the rights and privileges thereto appertaining. 

Finally, if we weren't so crazed and puritanical about drinking, we'd have a lot fewer problems with binge drinking, etc.

[takapa]

True, but the idea that a problem would go away simply by allowing a group to have legal access to something with which they have problems currently is antithetical to about three decades of dedicated research.  Many students would like your child: parented well, mature, etc.  But, that sizeable group which has the notable problems that facilitated decades of research will be there.  Giving them even greater access to alcohol will (to the best of our scientific understanding) not decrease their misuse of alcohol.  Nor will it decrease the negative consequences they will face as a result, nor the negative consequences your well behaved offspring will face as a result of these others students' alcohol misuse.  And I seriously doubt it will reduce what these college presidents are talking about behind closed doors: the damage to their institution's reputation will a drunk student dies or kills someone, damages university property, lowers overall student performance stats, etc.

I honestly do not see any reason why the drinking age should not be 18.  But, all of the problems will remain, and if decades of research on the topic are even in the ballpark (and I dare say they are much more accurate than this) they will likely get worse.

[scheherazade]

One of the main reasons college presidents are supporting this is because colleges have two groups of people on campuses - those that can drink legally and those who cannot.  This makes it incredibly difficult to effectively handle drinking issues.  If the drinking age is 18, colleges can address the drinking issue in a uniform way.  Currently, they are spending too much time and too many resources dealing with underage kids who can easily get alcohol from their 21-year-old roommates.

And please don't tell me that the higher age limit prevents or reduces drinking issues, when most other countries have a lower limit and don't have half our problems.

[inthelab]

Raising the drinking age to 21 has not decreased drinking on campus.  It just has not.

I'm happy with it at 21 if the voting age and age of selective service rise too. Otherwise we're a big fat hypocritical society asking young 18 year olds to die in war. It's disgusting.

Post links to the studies you cite, please?  with a kid off the college in a few days, I've been doing my own research and my own research of schools shows a lot of drinking going on irrespective of the drinking age.  Fake ID's are for sale, and upper classmen buy alcohol to bring to parties in any event.

On Edit: Scheherazade raises excellent points.

[expatinuk]

Lower the drinking age to 18.... raise the driving age to 21.

[aandsdean]

Lower the drinking age to 18.... raise the driving age to 21.

Or handle DUIs/DWIs/OWIs the way most other countries (that have a sane attitude towards drinking) do. 

A number of places, such as, say, the UK, have an established "drinking culture" that dwarfs ours--pubs, etc.--but really really crack down on driving under the influence.  Most Englishpeople I know are scrupulous, even in the U.S., about designated drivers and that sort of thing.

[takapa]

Yeah, the research just doesn't back this up.  Go to PsychInfo or MEDLINE.  Search college drinking, etc.  You'll get several thousand hits.  Read those and we can talk.  Ask the UK about their binge drinking, you'll get a very different response about drinking age than what the non-scientific press would have you believe.

[expatinuk]

Lower the drinking age to 18.... raise the driving age to 21.

Or handle DUIs/DWIs/OWIs the way most other countries (that have a sane attitude towards drinking) do. 

A number of places, such as, say, the UK, have an established "drinking culture" that dwarfs ours--pubs, etc.--but really really crack down on driving under the influence.  Most Englishpeople I know are scrupulous, even in the U.S., about designated drivers and that sort of thing.

In the UK it's EXTREMELY difficult and expensive to get a driver's license. And you're correct... there is ZERO tolerance for drinking and driving.

[dolljepopp]

Interesting discussion. Is there an actual CHE article at the root of it? If so, might there be a link forthcoming?

[kiana]

Lower the drinking age to 18.... raise the driving age to 21.

Would be nice to have the public transit to do that. Not all 18 year olds go to college, not all should, and some actually do use their licenses to drive to work and back. Effectively making it so that 18-20 yo must be in a city or live next to their employer to get a job doesn't seem like a great idea.

[aandsdean]

Interesting discussion. Is there an actual CHE article at the root of it? If so, might there be a link forthcoming?

http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4319n.htm