Let me start by saying that since I am 14-year independent Alcohol Awareness Consultant, I feel that this is definitely a topic I am more than qualified to weigh in on, and if that isn’t enough I also have a 25+ year background in the wholesale beer business to boot, and during that time I was the community Responsibility Initiative Designee for Miller Brewing Company for the Cleveland market.
So as you might imagine, I have been following the debate that has been stirred up again lately about lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 because of the movement being championed by John McCardell, the president emeritus of Middlebury College in Vermont. McCardell’s efforts are based upon the fact the epidemic that is underage and or binge drinking is proof that the current approach is not effective or working. For these reasons, McCardell feels it is time for the United States to bring back the 18-year old drinking age.
What caught my particular attention about McCardell’s reasoning is that he proposes a system that issue drinking “licenses” that would only be issued after someone under the age of 21 would have completed mandatory education about alcohol consumption and its risks, which is pretty much what I do, so I believe he is definitely on the right track, but I would take it one step further, and that is too keep the mandatory education from being too “preachy” or filled with “scare tactics” or statistics. Simply put, if presented properly, and these young adults are indeed treated like adults they will respond as adults accordingly, I know because that is how I train the University specific program of the TIPS Alcohol Awareness program I train.
The University specific program is almost always taught to leaders on their campuses from the various Greek organizations and Student Orientation Committees, and I must admit as I began training this version, I really expected to have the material be met with skepticism and negativity, and frankly I am pleasantly surprised every single time as these young men and women are simply trying to learn more about alcohol so that they do make responsible decisions. What I have come to realize is that if they armed with factual information as opposed to scare tactics, they will respond accordingly.
At Akron University, Bowling Green University, Wittenberg and the University Of Pittsburgh at Johnstown this year alone I not only have been invited to train the program material, but also to help develop responsible party planning guidelines as these student leaders want their fellow students to make good decisions.
Although statistics show, according to Federal highway crash data from the country, that the raising of the legal drinking age to 21 has saved nearly 25,000 lives over the last 30 years, I still feel that by having a “gap” in the ages of when the law classifies someone as an adult and when the law says that that adult can consume alcohol drives illegal drinking activities “behind closed doors” where it most certainly has no chance of being responsibly as the person doing the consumption knows they are already doing something illegal in the first place.
So while I am encouraging you to look further into John McCardell’s efforts on your own, I am going to offer up suggestions to ensure that if the legal drinking age is ever reduced to 18 from 21, the likelihood that it would be successful would be greater if some simple steps are followed.
First, the mandatory education that McCardell suggest for under 21 drinking license must come from a credible source such as the TIPS program that is based upon proper serving and selling practices, information about how alcohol affects individuals, and most importantly how to effectively intervene when someone has over consumed to prevent them from harming themselves or others. Simply putting forth information without support on how to apply it will fail miserably as programs of this kind are only as effective as their implementation.
Second, it is important to invite into the training sessions those within the surrounding college community that offer alcohol to be part of the training session so that they feel less like part of the problem, and more part of the solution. This will also ensure a “sameness” in presentation and understanding of the material.
Third, invite local law enforcement and media representatives into the class to not only participate in the class itself but to help spread the word about the responsibility initiatives that will be in place going forward. If law enforcement is involved from the start they are much more likely to respond to situations to help, as opposed to enforce, and media sources exposed to prevention practices are very likely to champion those causes which is goodwill within the community.
Lastly, I said it earlier, but it is worth wrapping up with, “Teach, don’t Preach.” Young adults treated like adults will surprise you with how much they really do wan to do the right thing, the just have to be told what and why about the right thing, and “each will respond according to their own gifts”, which if you’re a Star Trek fan you will recognize that quote from Star Trek II spoken by Spock to Kirk about the trainees on the Enterprise when put under fire. I don’t know, I think it makes sense, don’t you?
