Wednesday, May 28, 2003
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Wednesday, May 28, 2003 |
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I learned it by watching Wolverine! By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Let me start this column by stating explicitly that I do not condone underage drinking and I certainly do not condone drunk driving by people of any age. This column started last week when I received a piece of e-mail from The Foundation of Alcohol Awareness. I get tons of e-mail each day from people wanting to spread their releases and get it into the newspapers. The Foundation of Alcohol Awareness got lucky because the title of their release, "Movie Mutants Enjoy MGD ... Do Kids?" caught my attention. The release went on to say that Miller Brewing Company launched a grant matching program to support responsibility efforts in local communities as part of its "Live Responsibly" campaign. Miller says its commitment includes initiatives "designed to aid in the prevention of drunk driving, over-consumption and underage access." The Foundation for Alcohol Awareness found Miller contradicting themselves because Wolverine in X2: X-Men United drinks a beer in the film. I saw X2, I remember Wolverine drinking a beer and I think it is a pretty big leap to think that every kid who saw the film is just itching to get their hands on an MGD, just like the sideburned hero. The reason I think this is a faulty argument is because of this: E.T. drank a lot of beer in the film "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial," which is one of the most popular films of all time and is certainly available to kids much younger than those who can see X2, which is rated PG-13. Were people freaking out when E.T. came out or when it was re-released? No. And really, other than the people who work for The Foundation for Alcohol Awareness, I don't think people are freaking out now, either. The release then brought out a number of facts from a 2003 study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Some examples of these statistics are: Children under the age of 21 drink 19.7 percent of the alcohol consumed in the U.S. ($22.5 billion in sales); 80 percent of high school students have tried alcohol and each year approximately 3.3 million students between the ages of 12 and 17 start drinking. Alcohol use also increases dramatically with age. Forty-one percent of ninth graders currently use alcohol, 49.7 percent of tenth graders, 50.9 percent of eleventh graders, and 61.7 percent of twelfth graders. Some of these numbers are alarming - until you think back to your high school days. For most of the readers out there the legal drinking age when you were in high school was 18. Where is the statistic about how much money was generated in sales back then when people you might have gone to school with the year before could buy for you? Granted, the market was smaller and alcohol probably wasn't the big business it is today but it was out there. I'm sure that if students back in the day took a similar survey, and answered truthfully, close to 80 percent would have answered that they too had tried alcohol. A colleague of mine told me that when he graduated from a local high school the drinking age was 18. He was legal to drink for six months until it was raised to 19 and then it was illegal for six months until he turned 19. At 19, he was legal for another few months until it was raised to 20. This continued until he turned 21. How much sense does that make? You were responsible enough to handle it for six months but now you're not, but you will be ready again in another six months. Think of what it means today. At 18, you can vote, you are eligible to be drafted to serve your country in the military and maybe die for your country, you can go to college, live on your own (if you so choose) and are free from the rule of your parents, legally, (again, if you so choose) but sorry, no beer for you. You can make practically any choice you want now, but no, not that. Couple this with the fact that in most other countries, the drinking age is either 18 or lower. Ask around in some of these countries and you'll find that underage drinking is not a problem at all. It is blase' - old news. It is uncool to get really drunk. American exchange students going nuts at the pubs are looked at as a novelty. If we as a nation are equal to or better than other countries then why is the drinking age so high? It hasn't slowed down underage drinking or drunk driving in this country. In fact, the numbers presented by The Foundation for Alcohol Awareness would suggest otherwise. It seems to get worse each year. Is this Wolverine's fault? Is it really anybody's fault. As parents, is it not your responsibility to tell your children what you expect? I realize that we want to prevent drunk driving and alcohol-related deaths but teen drinking isn't stopping anytime soon. Even if you make it out of high school without taking a drop, you've got three years of college parties, most of which have people 21 or over there, before you're legal. The temptation and the opportunity will always be there. Is it not better to teach children about alcohol, stress the dangers and the penalties for underage drinking but realize that at 18, people are going to make choices and not all of them are always going to be right? It was good enough for you.
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