Our Say: Group of college presidents wrong about drinking age

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hmm - 2008-08-23 00:35:14

McDonalds coffee is gross anyways. Beer is good.

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Amy S. - Crownsville, MD - Karma: Bad

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To Dave D. - 2008-08-23 00:06:15

You need to check your facts on the McDonald's Hot Coffee Case. For starters Ms. Liebeck was hospitalized for over a week and almost died. Second, the coffee was found to be served at a temperature that was much hotter than normal. Get off your high horse.

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IM Freeman - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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How else do you teach? - 2008-08-22 12:16:15

How else do you teach a kid how to consume alcohol responsibly without them actually drinking it? I plan on letting my children have beer or wine once I feel they are old enough. I will let them only drink small amounts and teach them that it is something to be enjoyed on occasion. Meanwhile, everyone else's kids will be off at parties drinking to get drunk. And drinking crappy beer as well. I feel that you can teach kids to appreciate beer and wine and that you can teach them that it is NOT a tool for just getting drunk. Meanwhile, all your kids will be partying behind your back and being reckless.

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R. Black - Churchton, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Eurpean Kids - 2008-08-21 23:35:31

The europeans also have a much more sophisticated public transit system for the drunks to get home on! It is actually a far greater deal to be caught driving drunk over there! Here in the USA the kids will drink and drive as I stated earlier. The only benefit will be, if they don't kill anyone, is the state reaping millions in tickets and fines for these kids getting DUIs, which I'm sure their parents will pay for.

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jean r. - bowie, MD - Karma: Bad

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Common Sense - 2008-08-21 22:37:23

What kind of sane parent would condone allowing their child to consume alcohol, as well as demonstrating that the law has no value, in a lame attempt to teach them responsibility? Not allowing minors to have legal access to alcohol seems pretty common sense to me. There are many other far better ways to teach responsibility rather than breaking the norms of society.

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Dave D. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

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What common sense? - 2008-08-21 21:05:57

Kids drinking until they are drunk? How different is that from many people 21+ "adults" right now? OBVIOUSLY, it just isn't about the drinking age, but also about developing a culture of learning how to drink responsibily. If you put a bowl full of candy in front of a child, they would eat the whole bowl and get sick. That is why parents are supposed to TEACH their kids responsible consumption. The same with alcohol. However, with the way the laws are written now, any parent that tries to teach their children how to consume alcohol responsibly will be arrested. How is that for common sense?

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R. Black - Churchton, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Common Sense - 2008-08-21 18:33:38

It is not about morals, it is about common sense. Teenagers would not stop at one or two beers, they would drink till they were drunk, period. And it is only common sense that more teenagers die in car accidents than from alcohol related causes because it is illegal! These presidents just don't want the responsability of protecting peoples lives. Pure laziness. If they think they have a problem with binge drinking now, just wait until it is legal for teenagers to drink and there will be an explosion of binging and death brought about by the change.

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D. Miles - Silver spring, MD - Karma: Bad

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It is all about morals - 2008-08-21 16:12:09

Most of all this drinking age restriction stuff is based on lingering prohibitionists. People who still think that alcohol is wrong and evil and is the root of all problems. I imagine that if you took a look at the statistics, more teenagers are killed in non-alcohol related car accidents than die of alcohol poisoning per year. But yet we allow them to drive cars! Driving a car is much more dangerous than drinking a beer. That is a fact. It is all about the morals and the minority who still hold on to outdated ideas from prohibition and beyond.

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R. Black - Churchton, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Imperfect logic - 2008-08-21 15:17:23

It has nothing to do with puritanical morals. It has everything to do with common sense. Comparing the cultural differences between the States and Europe is like comparing apples and oranges. Personal responsibility is understood and accepted in Europe. In the states we need signs to tell us the McDonalds coffee is hot and may burn if spilled on ones self. Otherwise, McDonalds is getting sued because some idiot spilled hot coffee on him or her self. Europeans would know that if they spilled hot coffee on themselves, they were responsible for that act, not someone else. There, they take responsiblity for their actions. Here we look for someone to sue for our own stupidity.

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Dave D. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Makes perfect sense to me - 2008-08-21 14:49:21

Raise the driving age to 18 and lower the drinking age to 16. It is much less safe for a kid to be driving a car than it is for them to have a beer or two. It is time for us to get beyond this puritanical morals that are forced on us by narrow minded fools. It is time to teach responsibility instead of banning it till some magical age. European kids start drinking around 16 and they seem to have it pretty together over there. In fact, their kids score higher on most tests than our kids do.

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R. Black - Churchton, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Stupid idea! - 2008-08-20 19:31:28

Most of the 18 yr olds I come into contact cannot drive in a competent and safe manner while they are sober! Throwing alcohol into the mix is asking for trouble. You know they will drink and drive b/c at that age they think they are invinsible.

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jean r. - bowie, MD - Karma: Bad

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Crazed - 2008-08-20 14:35:24

The Amethyst Initiative demonstrates how out of touch the world of academia is with reality and common sense. Rather than fix a problem on their campus, they are willing to put the rest of us at a greater risk by making it legal for young, sometimes immature adults, to legally access a mind altering drug. This is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever seen.

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Dave D. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral