Some Colleges Considering Lowering the Drinking Age

I saw this article on the MSNBC web page. It says there are a handful of university presidents that would like to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. Want to know why? Basically, so that "binge drinking" won't be so clandestine and therefore less dangerous.

Did you get that? There is a law in place to help eliminate drinking from those that are under 21, and university presidents want to lower it so that binge drinking can happen out in the open. These are university presidents! They're supposed to be smart! We're counting on them to shepherd our kids though those difficult years of trying to decide what to do when they grow up.

I had to read the article a few times to try and understand what the real benefit would be if the drinking age were to be lowered to 18. I could not find one; not to the general public anyway. There would be a benefit to universities from the perspective of potential legal liabilities.

The issues they claim to have and potentially eliminate from lowering the drinking age would only manifest themselves in our high schools. Think about it. The same issues colleges currently have or claim they have, would not be eliminated. Rather, they would be moved into our various high schools who's students would be so close to drinking age, that they would start binge drinking. They would create the fake IDs. They would steal their parent liquor from the liquor cabinet.

This seems like a ridiculous notion. Movement of a problem is not a solution.

You know what I think? I think the Amethyst Initiative people also know that. They know it sound ridiculous. So how do they get around it? How can they snooker us into buying the notion that lowering the drinking age would be of benefit? They sign on university presidents. Oh, well, now it must be a good idea, now that university presidents have signed on.

Well, in the words of Forrest Gump: " Stupid is, as stupid does".

Sorry fellas, this is still a ridiculous idea, and I'm not buying it. A better approach would be to teach self responsibility, one of the main charters of the Joshua Project. Self control, self responsibility, whatever you want to call it, is not only a better solution, it teaches a life lesson: self restraint and raising the emotional IQ; control of your emotions and feelings; inserting logic where only feelings are involved. Eliminating, what Stephen Colbert coined: truthiness: the feeling of being right (in your gut) , irregardless of facts.

The most ironic thing about all of this, is if you go to the Amethyst Initiative web site, they state that part of their charter "aims to encourage moderation and responsibility as an alternative to the drunkenness and reckless decisions about alcohol that mark the experience of many young Americans".

I gotta tell ya, fellas, nothing I have read, either in the MSNBC piece or the Amethyst Initiative web site tells me you really do believe in self responsibility.

This is a shame!

Rememberance

This week was the first anniversary of Joshua Sutton's passing. His spirit is still with us as we continue to grow and educate people about the dangers of drinking and driving, and drug abuse. His memory guides us such that maybe our efforts will keep someone from making terrible mistakes, or giving someone the courage to speak out if they see a friend who is drunk and wanting to drive or abusing drugs.

Here's to you Josh. I hope our efforts make you proud!