A Lower Drinking Age?

College presidents from around the country are calling on legislators to lower the legal drinking age. They believe that by lowering the legal age at which one can consume alcohol there will a sharp decline in the number of binge drinkers on college campuses.

They are wrong. Those who binge drink do not do so because somehow they are channeling their angst at not being old enough to drink into drinking a beer in under five seconds. They binge drink in order to fulfill their need for escapism.

Escapism is the number one tool used by those overwhelmed with stress. It allows them for the duration of the binge episode to rid themselves of the shackles of stress. A change of numbers is not going to suddenly have such an impact on binge drinking that the numbers sharply decline. If anything, a lowering of the legal drinking age will increase the number of binge drinking episodes.

Educating incoming freshmen to the dangers involved with binge drinking is an urgent must. Advise them that as your blood alcohol content extends beyond .20 the risk of death becomes exponentially higher. Inform them that since the year 2000 approximately 11,000 college students have died as a result of binge drinking.

Offering seminars and lectures on how to deal with stress is unquestionably needed. Providing students with free and easy access to psychiatrists, counselors and therapists should be considered high priority for any respectable college president.

The time is now for change. Each year 1,400 students die from bing drinking. Providing the proper infrastructure to those students who need help dealing with stress is critical. Let the politician lower the legal age. Let the students actively and vocally demand that it is time that colleges are more concerned with the student instead of their tuition payment.