As school begins in earnest on college campuses across the United States, students begin spending their time at study sessions, sports games—and parties. Party culture and alcohol consumption are a big reality at many universities across the country, including DU, despite the fact that at any given time roughly half of a four-year institution is younger than 21 and thus breaking the law by participating in what many consider to be the tradition of college parties. However, in much of the developed world the minimum drinking age is 18 or 19, and the U.S. should follow suit.
For much of this country’s history, there was no national minimum drinking age—teenagers’ eligibility to consume alcohol depended on the law in their state or county. In 1984, however, President Ronald Reagan signed into effect a bill which would withhold valuable and necessary highway funds unless states adopted the age of 21 as their legal drinking age.
This law was meant to combat underage drinking and driving—which was rampant— and it succeeded in lowering teenage deaths from car accidents involving alcohol. This didn’t mean that teens stopped drinking entirely, though. If anything, the forbidden-fruit factor has made drinking that much more appealing to those who are underage.
A drinking age of 18 or 19 would allow for more oversight when young people are drinking. Much of the danger of underage drinking comes from the secrecy involved—teenagers who are trying to hide their drinking are less likely to seek help in emergencies, or call a parent or cab to drive them home. If college freshmen were able to sit at a bar and order a drink, they would be visible and trackable in their consumption, unlike in the crowded and anonymous house parties where many underage drinkers get access to alcohol.
This is not to say that alcohol isn’t dangerous. Really, in an ideal world, nobody should technically be drinking—some of the risks of alcohol include impaired judgement, physical risks that come from too much consumption (liver damage, alcohol poisoning) and risk of alcoholism over time. However, for much of the world, drinking alcohol is a fun and celebratory tradition.
College students are not going to stop drinking either, regardless of the national minimum drinking age. The obfuscation involved when those who are underage want to party only serves to add an extra layer of danger. So what’s there to do? It doesn’t appear that the law is going to change any time soon, but what can change is the enticing taboo associated with drinking in college. The University of Denver has taken a step in the right direction with measures like having incoming freshmen complete AlcoholEdu (an online program that presents the practical realities of drinking alcohol), and though this and measures like it may seem small, they’re the first steps to addressing the problem of excessive underage drinking.
