Voting Age?? Drinking Age?? Smoking Age?? Going to War Age??

Slimppu · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 5:34 am

vote: 18
drink: 18
driving a car: 18
smoke: 18
war: 18

simple.

Adbot · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 5:34 am

Ranging God · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 6:20 am

Mushroom Queen wrote:

Ranging God wrote:

Mushroom Queen wrote:

I get annoyed when I hear the commonly said "point" that "If someone can die for their country, they should be allowed to drink!"

Those two aren't comparable in the sense that the drinking age was raised because of crime and accident rates that were alcohol-related. The military is a different issue. The age for joining the military is 18 because at that age, a child becomes an adult and is allowed to make that commitment to a career.

I can guarantee you that if the drinking age were to be lowered to 18, young people would not be drinking red wine to live longer. In fact, I hate to shoot your argument down, but:

HealthCastle.com wrote:

Many studies investigated the benefits of red wine suggested that moderate amount of red wine (one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men) lowers the risk of heart attack for people in middle age by ~ 30 to 50 percent.

It makes no difference to anyone younger

I could argue that the drinking age should be raised to 25 as that's when the brain fully develops its judgment and reasoning areas.

First off I am not making a comparison. I am just saying that some of the unhealthy things and other adult stuff in my opinion are unbalanced.
I did not put this correctly in my first post so let me rephrase what I mean.
I don't think that children 15 should be able to go off and buy beer or alcohol. But I DO think that they should be able to consume small quantities at a time with a responsible adult.
So I am no way saying that teen's should get drunk or get wasted.

Usually, you're making a comparison if you're saying "If you are old enough to go to war and die, then why cant you drink, that is some cases help you live longer?" I see what you mean about balance..but I really think that some things (like cigarettes and drinking) should be brought in gradually. As for having a glass of alcohol at dinner with parents, this is where law gets in the way of parental choice.

Let's say that a parent allowed their child to have a glass of wine each time they went out for dinner. If this family were to eat out three times a week, the child would be consuming alcohol three times a week. This could be potentially harmful to a child since there's really no limit to how much the child is allowed to consume with parents if they eat out x number of times a week. There really can't be a law made that says, "Children are now allowed to drink at a restaurant with their parents as long as the parent is responsible". What exactly defines responsible? Because of this, it's better safe than sorry.

Very good point MQ. What if there was like a amount limit per age, and they could only drink once per week? They would have to show like a lottle card ro something?

Hairy Munky · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 9:05 am

^ I think that might be getting a little complicated and however reasonable that may be it's still too much effort for the Government to issue cards out to every chilid under 18 when they can just keep the limit at 18 (or 21) and most people are happy.

It's pretty easy to get hold of alcohol if you're under 18 anyway, many of my friends have fake ID's or have friends over 18 willing to buy them alcohol.

As for smoking, I think that should be illegal and agree fully with what Dave said:

Dave wrote:

I truly see no benifit in it at all. All you are doing is spending thousands of dollars a year on cigarettes, which are only making you become more and more unhealthy over time. Also, second hand smoking is making non smokers unhealthy. It smells horrible too.

Voting should be kept at 18 or even raised as most people below 18 won't know who to vote for and for what reasons. I doubt most 18 year olds vote anyway. MQ and Creepy do you vote?

And I think driving should be kept as it is, and agree with what Creepy said:

CreepyPirate wrote:

A child should not be trusted behind the wheel of a machine that can kill someone.

CreepyPirate · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 10:15 am

Hairy munky wrote:

^ I think that might be getting a little complicated and however reasonable that may be it's still too much effort for the Government to issue cards out to every chilid under 18 when they can just keep the limit at 18 (or 21) and most people are happy.

It's pretty easy to get hold of alcohol if you're under 18 anyway, many of my friends have fake ID's or have friends over 18 willing to buy them alcohol.

As for smoking, I think that should be illegal and agree fully with what Dave said:

Dave wrote:

I truly see no benifit in it at all. All you are doing is spending thousands of dollars a year on cigarettes, which are only making you become more and more unhealthy over time. Also, second hand smoking is making non smokers unhealthy. It smells horrible too.

Voting should be kept at 18 or even raised as most people below 18 won't know who to vote for and for what reasons. I doubt most 18 year olds vote anyway. MQ and Creepy do you vote?

And I think driving should be kept as it is, and agree with what Creepy said:

CreepyPirate wrote:

A child should not be trusted behind the wheel of a machine that can kill someone.

Will be doing so come the next elections, yes.

Mushroom Queen · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 4:09 pm

Hairy munky wrote:

Voting should be kept at 18 or even raised as most people below 18 won't know who to vote for and for what reasons. I doubt most 18 year olds vote anyway. MQ and Creepy do you vote?

Yep. I vote. I think it should be kept at 18 also.

Iron Maiden · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 4:12 pm

Yeah, I think 18 for driving a car should be ok cause sometimes, the teen of 16 are a bit...erm..Inconcient of what they doing, they can go at a speed of 130km/h in a zone of 60km/h. And they can also try to do the new thing called Ghost Riding...

Adbot · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 4:12 pm

connor10238 · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 4:55 pm

Ranging God wrote:

In America you have to be 18 to vote.
In America you have to be 21 to drink.
In America you have to be 18 to smoke.
In America you have to be 18 to go to war.

Do you think it is far that you have to be 18 to do all these thing, but you have to be 21 to drink? It has been scientifically proven that red wine helps prevent heart disease. Smoking on the other hand does not have a single good benefit.
Voting I think is at a good age. War I think is at a ridiculously low age. If you are old enough to go to war and die, then why cant you drink, that is some cases help you live longer??? In most countries the drinking age is 16, or they don't have any. Also in some countries they can drink while at eh dinner table with parents.

What do you think the law should be in America. I personally think it should be 15, and if you are in the company of you gaurdia, or immediate older family member (21 or older)

Please don't be immature. And don't go off saying that America sucks and such or I will ask a Mod to lock.

Thanks

That's stupid! Drinking should be before smoking, but I think drinking should stay 21.

Nmr7 wrote:

Voting age should be 16...
Drinking age 16...
Smoking age 60...
War should be 17...

Thats my opinion, lol.

There's no way a 16 year old should vote! Maybe if he/she is responsible it's fine, but 16 is way too young. I mean, think of all the punk teenagers that would try to sabotage the elction by voting for stupid choices purposely.

Warren · **Posted:** January 8th, 2007, 5:10 pm

Maiden4life wrote:

They can go at a speed of 130km/h in a zone of 60km/h.

Lol, that sounds like my mother.

Mikhail · **Posted:** January 9th, 2007, 3:04 pm

Lol, I am 16 and I drive lol well...I drove BTR-90 Personnel carrier hella lot times...its a 8 wheeler....And when I was 6-9 Years old in Ukraine when the roads were clear my Dad taught me to drive the car heh he just did the shifting, i didnt know Manual transmission at that time....I can't forget the old days...By the way i thin that 16 should be a driving age with an adult in the card in drinking should come down to 18, and i think that smoking should be illegal,well voting i am not sure...I think it should be as it is now...And well going to war should be 18, but going to army should be 15-16 well thats all i have.

Robbie · **Posted:** January 14th, 2007, 12:51 pm

connor10238 wrote:

There's no way a 16 year old should vote! Maybe if he/she is responsible it's fine, but 16 is way too young. I mean, think of all the punk teenagers that would try to sabotage the elction by voting for stupid choices purposely.

So, the greatest nation in the world has "stupid choices" running for president?

Brandt · **Posted:** January 14th, 2007, 12:53 pm

Ranging God wrote:

In America you have to be 18 to vote.
In America you have to be 21 to drink.
In America you have to be 18 to smoke.
In America you have to be 18 to go to war.

Heres my thing...you can die for your country before you drink..why? Now, the SCIENTIFIC reason for 21 drinking age is because the area of the brain it affects doesn't fully develop until age 21, which might be why...

Rune Beast0 · **Posted:** January 14th, 2007, 2:54 pm

Robbie wrote:

connor10238 wrote:

There's no way a 16 year old should vote! Maybe if he/she is responsible it's fine, but 16 is way too young. I mean, think of all the punk teenagers that would try to sabotage the elction by voting for stupid choices purposely.

So, the greatest nation in the world has "stupid choices" running for president?

There are some people who simply will ruin the country. I wont name names because I'll get flamed to death, but still.

Back on topic, I think cigarette age should be older, because of all the nerds who say "Smoking is coooooool" and go out and buy cigarettes because they think it's cool. My mom told me about when drinking age was earlier, and practically anyone could buy alcohol. As for driving age, I think it's fine where it is. For voting age, I think you should have to take a test to show you know about what's going on in the world if you want to vote. If this happened I think it would be ok for age 17 and older to vote. Going to war is simple, by then you are old enough to decide whether you want to fight for your country or go off to college.

MattVortex · **Posted:** January 14th, 2007, 3:01 pm

CreepyPirate wrote:

Americas driving age is FAR to young imo, so is Englands.

I agree. Driving age should be 18, or maybe even 21. You dont need to drive at 16. Get a bike, or take the bus, or walk.

In England:

17 to drive (no restriction when on private property)
18 to drink (5 in your own home, 16 in a pub with a meal at a table)
16 to smoke (is going to be raised to 18 soon)
18 to go to war.

While I disagree with the drinking age, there are a lot of idiots around. The problem with these things is that it should based around sensibility, not age. I can drink a glass of wine or a pint of bitter and know thats enough, but some people will drink a bottle of vodka. As has been mentioned previously, a glass of red wine a day is beneficial to health, but obviously cirrhosis of the liver is not.

Smoking is never good for you, though. Smoking should be completely illegal.

As for going to war, I think 18 is fine. If they're stupid enough to join the army, they can go to war.

When it comes to voting, its an issue of knowledge and making a valid decision. There are many 16 year olds who are entirely capable of making a valid decision when it comes to voting, but there are also a load of 30-year old morons who have no idea who they are voting for. Thats the problem with the world today. There are too many idiots.