Michelle Hennessy – News Writer
Lowering the drinking age in America would lead to more students binge drinking, according to sophomore Kyle Krajick.
“All that would do is give kids an excuse to drink whenever they want,” said Krajick. “I wouldn’t be in favor of it, I’m not 21 but I don’t think kids should be drinking. They can’t handle it.”
According to the CDC, more than 90 percent of the alcohol youth drink is while binge drinking, and this is something Krajick said affects Southern.
“Usually kids that are underage don’t drink casually – they’re not just going to have a beer. You go to a party and the majority of the kids are underage and drinking,” said Krajick.
Though America has one of the highest legal drinking ages in the world, Krajick said most won’t wait until they can legally drink.
“Most people don’t wait, definitely not. It’s an issue in high school too, but mostly outside of school. But even then, I’ve heard of kids drinking inside of school,” said Krajick.
In fact, according to Students for Sensible Drug Policy, more than 90 percent of high school seniors claim that alcohol is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain, with half admitting to have consumed alcohol within 30 days of the survey. As a result, a number of colleges in America, including Duke and Ohio State, want to get the legal drinking age lowered to 18, according to the Amethyst Initiative who say the current age is not working at adequately protecting America’s youth.
But sophomore Shannon Harrel said lowering the drinking age would not solve anything.
“I think that would make it worse,” said Harrel. “It would save some kids some trouble but no, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Freshmen for example, they don’t know how to act when they get here. Every night you see ambulances at Farnham from them drinking too much, that’s the whole detox procedure right there. So if they could legally do it, it’s not going to be good.”
According to Sciencedaily, people who grew up in states where it was legal to drink before 21 in the 1970’s were more likely to become binge drinkers later on in life. The research didn’t suggest however that they were more likely to consume more alcohol or drink on a more regular basis than those who grew up where the drinking age was still 21.
But not all students at Southern agree the higher drinking age is necessary.
“Most people won’t wait until they’re 21 to drink, I think most people start at 17 or 18,” said freshman, Megan Baxter. “I think that works better, I think it should be lowered not just on campuses but all over.”
Elisabeth Popp, an exchange student from Germany, said she doesn’t think there’s any more binge drinking there than there is in the U.S.
“In Germany we can legally drink soft drinks like beer and wine at 16 and then things like vodka at 18,” said Popp. “People do binge drink and go out but no more than they do here.”
She said having the lower drinking age is also safer for young people.
“If you’re 18 or 19 here and you’ve drank too much, fallen over, or got involved in some sort of crime and need help you might be afraid to come forward because you’ve been drinking,” said Popp. “Back home it’s easier to regulate it, if you’re sick people aren’t afraid to get help so it’s a lot less dangerous.”