Role-Play Debate for course EngC 1015

Don't you think if the drinking age was lowered to 18, kids would be more responsible because you could teach responsibility in school and have it apply to their lives right away and not when they get to college?

Parag is right. You could teach high school students to drink responsibly. You parents, officials, teachers, and principals make not drinking such a big deal that we, students, get so curious and want to try it more and more. Then when we get to college, like I am now, we just cant wait to try it. We have our freedom finally and are excited to drink.

You say you dont want to bring it to the high school scene, simply dont allow it at school like guns and weapons aren't allowed at school. Students would really REALLY think of you as the greatest principal then...

Parag is right. You could teach high school students to drink responsibly. You parents, officials, teachers, and principals make not drinking such a big deal that we, students, get so curious and want to try it more and more. Then when we get to college, like I am now, we just cant wait to try it. We have our freedom finally and are excited to drink.

You say you dont want to bring it to the high school scene, simply dont allow it at school like guns and weapons aren't allowed at school. Students would really REALLY think of you as the greatest principal then...

Dear Principal Justice,

I know that you feel alcohol should not be involved in high school at all, but how can you seriously say that. You know just as well as everyone else that drinking has been around in high school even before you went to high school. Heck, it even happened with some of your friends. I'm sure of it. So do you think that they are bad people because they drank? I'm sure that you still hung out with them and it didn't phase you that they drank, because as long as you weren't the one drinking you were fine. Who knows, maybe you experimented as well? Maybe that is why you have such strong feelings against alcohol.

Also, are you trying to deny that there were students in high school that drank responsibly? Students do know their limits. It is the irresponsible ones (the very few of them) that give high schoolers a bad rep. They are the ones that make people believe all teenagers are irresponsible. Give us some recognition and responsibility, and once you do that things will change.

Principal Justice-
I strongly disagree to your comments. Exactly how do you know "a lot" of students just listen or pretend to listen and don't apply it to their lives? You can't know until you try it out. Looking at past performances of students is a terrible excuse to back it up on. People change and the ways people go about things change too. I also don't believe that the majority of students would become mature drinkers by lowering the drinking age especially if you're preaching to them the ethics of drinking. A huge factor in students learning what's being taught is how it is taught. Make it enjoyable or even fun and students will learn and want to learn much more. Having students sit down for a few hours a week for class and simply lecturing them is a total bore.

Parents, teachers, and other mentors COULD also teach teens the dangers and responsibilities of drinking without lowering the drinking age to 18 but who's going to listen when it's not even going to apply to them for another three years??

Yeah the accessibility of alcohol may be easier but only for high school students. I know that I didn't know ANY 18-year-olds in middle school and even now at 18, I don't know any 21-year-olds get me alcohol.

So enforce rules for school, you're a principal, you should know about making and abiding to rules. You take care of consequences so make some and control your students. If you're the best principal then all the students will look up to you and listen to you right? If not, then what kind of "great" principal are you?

Dear Principal Justice,

I just have a couple of questions to the comments that you made to me not too long ago. You said that, "those who break the law aren't making the best decisions of their lives." However, you also said, "I have also never said there are no high school students that aren't capable of drinking responsibly." So one of my questions is, if underage teenagers are drinking and breaking the law, BUT they can still be responsible while drinking, then why can't the drinking age be lowered to 18. At the age of 18, teenagers are entrusted with many responsibilities, such as voting and enlisting.

I'm not trying to say that by lowering the drinking age there will be no more drunk driving. That's absurd even to think about, because no matter what the drinking age is there will always be drunk driving. Heck, the people that ARE of age still drunk drive!!! I'm just saying that if 18 years old is the benchmark for being called "adults", then why can't we have most of the same responsibilities as all of the other "adults"? There are always going to be problems no matter what the drinking age is, but I feel that if the age is lowered to 18, then maybe eventually teenagers and the U.S. can drink more in moderation just like Europe. There won't be a "rebellion" stage anymore, and the country won't be as up tight about drinking.

Thanks for your time,
Mike Vacanti
All-American Stud

I would say that maybe 80% of students try their hardest in school. I can honestly say that I do pay attention in my classes but whether or not I do everything is a different story. If a teacher tells us how make bombs, I'm not going to go home and make something blow up. It comes with common sense and I would hope that not everyone does everything a teacher says. On the other hand, I know that if the class is interesting enough (and that's up to the teachers...) I am more willing to do as they say and automatically pay attention. Just a little something called faith and trust is what makes me believe that things are not always going to be how they have been. You don't see segregated places like it was in the past and you definitely don't see a K-12 schoolhouse.

Oh and for sure, not every teacher tries to make learning enjoyable. "High school students are notorious for being rebelious. I don't see enough of the students actually listening and applying the knowledge given to them to make things better." Well then I don't know what kind of school district you're a principal in, but I rarely saw students being rebelious. And how exactly are you supposed to know and judge students using the knowledge they've gained and when they use it? You can't unless you stalk everyone.

"Even if students look up to me they are still going to make their own choices." Exactly why it really doesn't matter if the drinking age is lowered to 18.

I think that most students listen to what is being said, but they don't fully comprehend the responsibilities that come along with what is being said. You can tell students that drinking too much is bad and they should know their limit, but many students will just test their limit each time they drink. So how do you prevent students from going out every night, and drinking to test their limit? God knows, a person can't be the "light weight" at a party. So do you have to trust that students will behave themselves around alcohol?

Thank you Principal Justice for getting back to me. I just want to say that in no way am I trying to say that drinking is a "good" thing. However, I think that it should be more accepted throughout the country. There are always going to be people who abuse the responsibility, but I feel that once the country accepts a lowered drinking age and the teenagers that will drink, that number of misuses will go down.

Thanks again,
Mike Vacanti
All-American Stud

Principal Justice,

I understand your concern about the catastrophe that could possibly await my career by passing this bill. I understand that there is some risk to passing a bill of this nature and I realize that some people may choose to abuse this bill. Again though, I feel that America's teens are responsible enough to decide whether or not to consume alcohol. Currently I do not feel that our system really works that well to stem underage drinking abuse. People always want what they can't have, I'm sure that you have heard that saying many times being the fabulous principal that you are. I think if we give teens the right to drink, they will not abuse it because it is not the "in thing" any longer. Also, I was elected to my position due to the past decisions that I have made, I do not feel that this decision is really any different from any of those decisions.
Thank you, Senator Haukos

Principal Justice,
I read in your comment to Jessica that you think that she should not be afraid to have a beer with her teens. This is one of the main reasons that I feel passing this bill would be helpful for society. If teens could drink earlier legally, it would allow more time for teens to learn how to drink safely with their parents due to the fact that many teens turn 18 before thay go to college. Think about this fact, many things that our sons and daughter learn are done under the protective umbrella of their parents. Drivers licenses are not issued until the son or daughter has been issued a permit under which they learn to drive with an adult in the car. Many sports and extracirricular activities must be done with parental permission. Yet, in society today, kids aren't even supposed to learn about drinking until the legal age of 21, by this age they are out of the house learning from friends. Hopefully with parents teaching their children to drink in moderation we won't have any more situations similar to the one the presidents family is in.
Senator Haukos

Principal Justice
While it is legal for most parents to drink with their children it is only legal for them to do so in their residences in Minnesota, unlike in Wisconsin where they can go out in public with their parents. I realize that there will always be exceptions to rules, there will people that make bad decisions, but I do not believe we will see an increase in those bad decisions. I understand your concern about 15/16 year olds getting alcohol with the lower drinking age, but I'm sure as you know 15/16 year olds already can get it with relative ease. You make some very good points but I continue to feel that there needs to be some change to the current system.
Thank you, Senator Haukos

If parents teach their kids to drink at a younger age, don't you think that it wil be teaching kids to become an alcoholic at a younger age? When kids drink at a younger age with their parents, it's showing teenagers that drinking is ok, no matter how much they drink. I agree that it is the parent’s job to teach their kids about drinking, and the effects it has. However, not all adults drink. How should non-drinking parents teach their children about drinking?
And I think there is a difference between children drinking with their parents and drinking with their friends. If the drinking age was to change, I think 18 year olds should be allowed to drink with their parents and then at the age of 21 drink with their friends.

Principal Justice,
Absolutlely not. I do believe producing a better tasting beer actually will promote more responsibility. How many times have you seen people binge on soda? I have not seen many at all. Most people drink it with their food or socially because they enjoy the taste of it. I had somebody tell me today that the reason they drink so much beer at one time is so eventually they do not taste the beer any longer. Basically they are only drinking the substance to get drunk. With my beer, I believe more people will drink it like soda, socially, than binge drink it. I am not saying it will never happen but it will help the situation. That and changing the culture around alcohal will definetely make a large, positive impact on drinking, especially on students.

Principal Justice,
You're right when you say you aren't alone when you say teenagers are often rebellious because I agree with you, but only to an extent. Not ALL teenagers are rebellious and even then, everyone has been if not continue to be rebellious at some points in their lives. You were a kid once too ya know. Knowing right from wrong should be common knowledge. And no one else but themselves know what's right and what's wrong for them. They know their limits and besides, don't people learn best from making the mistakes on their own? And just because drinking is illegal, it doesnt stop us from drinking. It makes it more fun almost, because we're being rebels and we know it. What's even more fun is when we don't get caught.

Lowering the drinking age to 18 isn't all that bad.