Boozin and I Don't Care

Ever since the law that changed the drinking age to 21 instead of 18 there has been plenty of debate about the issue. As a teen in high school I shared one perspective about the issue and as a teen in college I shared another. The United States will probably never agree on this issue, but I am going to offer one facet of the argument.

In high school I went to the epitome of Southern Baptist high schools. As a teen I was never particularly as conservative as the rest of my high school companions and was in fact considered kind of radical for maybe popping open a brew and having a good time with some friends. I would not have even considered myself an even regular drinker. So, when I was in high school I thought about drinking as something I did occasionally but was something that I would do regularly once I was old enough. To some things up I was in agreement with the existing law, but was slightly annoyed with it.

When I came to college I began to see the frustration with the number 21. As a college student I regularly go to bars and parties where there is drinking. I am forced, if I want to hang out with any of my friends, to go to these places and partake in illegal activity. This is especially true for a person living in Charleston. There is nowhere to go to past 9:30 if I am not 21 and frankly if I want to go somewhere that is just a house it’s less safe than going to the bars.

Apart from the convenience of drinking there is also the maturity thing. If I am old enough to be living on my own, managing my own finances, and making my own decisions shouldn’t I be able to go to a bar and have a drink with my friends? Since I have come to college drinking has become a regular part of my social life. As a college freshman I went out A LOT but still managed to be in 3 school clubs, a sorority, have a job, and maintain a 3.8 GPA. I can obviously handle myself under the influence of alcohol and it has become what I do to relax. It has become such an accepted part of the average college student’s routine that most of us forget about the risk and the fact that we are doing anything illegal.

Sure there are health risks, but so are there with eating too many hamburgers. Everything just needs to be in moderation and people wouldn’t be so tempted to overindulge and binge if it wasn’t such a big deal.