“Party Schools” and Binge Drinking Have Parents Concerned
Nationwide Insurance conducted a survey of adult Americans not long ago, regarding the lowering of the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. According to a press release issued to Blacknews.com, 72 percent of the respondents thought it would “make alcohol more accessible to kids” and almost 50 percent “believe it would increase binge drinking among teens.”
More than half of those surveyed said they probably wouldn’t vote for a state representative who supports lowering the drinking age nor would they be likely to send their children to “colleges or universities with ‘party school’ reputations.”
One of the biggest concerns parents say they have is of binge drinking – consuming five or more drinks in close succession. There have been numerous incidents of college students dying of alcohol poisoning after a night of binge drinking at a party or during a fraternity/sorority hazing ritual. Unfortunately, a student doesn’t necessarily have to be attending a “party school” to end up in this type of situation.
The parents’ concerns are valid; however, there’s no guarantee that lowering the legal drinking age will lead to an increase of these incidents anymore than it will guarantee a decrease in them. It’s so much more complicated than that. That’s why Nationwide has joined with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), to confront the issue of binge drinking at a symposium in Washington, D.C. November 6-7, 2008.
“According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 7.2 million – or one in five – youths under the age of 21 have engaged in underage binge drinking” between July and August of this year. People who oppose lowering the legal drinking age fear that doing so will give even younger teens easy access to alcohol.
“These underage drinking statistics alarm the parents of college-bound students,” according to the release, “and 58 percent of parents say they are less likely to send their children to a known party school. Additionally, 70 percent of parents want colleges to notify them when their children violate the schools’ alcohol policies.”
There’s no easy solution to the problem of underage binge drinking. But I really don’t think lowering the legal drinking age to 18 is a good place to start.
