It's one of those things about adults that make absolutely no sense to me. For nearly twenty years (depending on country/state) they teach you not to drink alcohol. It's bad, poisonous, it can ruin your life, etc etc. They make up tons of reasons to convince you not to drink along with punishments, warnings and what have you. Then, when you join their age group and mention that you actually do not drink, they go "What the hell is wrong with you?!" So to those adults I have this question: What the hell is wrong with you?
Well, first they forbid you to ever have have a drink. For most people, this only makes them want to try it even more. This goes for most things, not just alcohol. When you finaly are alowed to, you 'have to' try it. If you decide not to drink, the people who have been craving it for years declare that you are nuts. And because of the high, erm, adult factor of it, you seem to be cool and grown up when you drink. Personally, I think that 16 year olds here drinking themselves into a coma -litteraly- not so cool.
They tell you not to drink because at that age when they tell you you wouldn't know where to stop with the mixing, amount, etc. and they don't want you to end up in hospital. Possibly something to do with the costs, too but mostly that you're much more likely to do permanent harm in yourself while you're younger. I've seen friends lean out of moving trains (not through the window, but the door) and play noble knights with axes, so I know. By the time you reach maturity you are then more responsible. That, and they can blame it on you if it'll end up being a criminal case
actually, there are mroe15 year old coma drinkers in the netherlands then 16 year olds(16 is the age for beer, wine and other weak stuff)
Like a 16 year old can't get some cheap heavy stuff at the local Aldi. -discount store- You are right about the 15 thing, though. Much more of those. And about the train thing, it is bad, I am sorry, but still: lol!
Its not wrong, but admittedly (I live in Germany, its 16 too) it does drive youth to drink a lot. Eh I'm just grumpy cuz I never drink...yeah. Seriously, beer tastes like piss.
Being an adult, I will tell you the main reason is because when your young your brain and everything is still developing and alcohol has the possibility to damage that development. Also it is against the law as well. Another one would be kids are a lot less responsible. When your older and out on your own and have to hold a job etc, it is assumed you have some level of responsibility and also the alcohol can't hurt the development of your brain since it should be fully developed by now. I meet the drinking age requirement and I rarely drink myself, and when I do it is usually a red wine. I personally don't run into many other people that say I'm crazy for not drinking.
Uhuh. Obviously, I know that it is bad for children. What annoys me ever so much is that attitude for people who don't drink later. You'd think that after all these warnings it wouldn't be that odd for someone to actually adhere to them, but no. They know all to well that whatever they say only makes kids want to drink more and that they do it >.>
It can't hurt the development but it can degrade the brain nontheless so that argument is moot. Not allowing to drink has nothing to do with age from a physical point of view, only a social and ethical point of view.
WRONG it does stop developing. Kuvasz is right though, it actually smooths your brain. You begin to lose cognitive abilities, as well as actual working of your bodily functions.
To be more exact: Your brain keeps making new neurons untill you are 20 years old, at most. After that, it is impossible to make new ones. This results in your brain actually degrading after that age. There are actually special types of medicine in development to counter this, but I think that people who are interested can just google that. -or it will go WAY of topic here-
^ Correction though unrelated ^ New discoveries have found that olfactory and hippocampus cells continue to regenerate but in a slow manner. Back on topic, it still messes you up though, mentally and physically depending on the intake. I agree on how young teens drinking to feel cool and adult like, but without the proper information about drinking, they can abuse it. Alcohol doesn't affect the hypothalamus (pleasure center), but it can affect your reward system (limbic system). And since teens aren't fully developed, their pre-frontal cortex (impulse control) is immature leading to poor judgment. Since some evidence shows that abusive alcohol consumption can damage your pre-frontal cortex, even to an adult, imagine what it could to an individual who is not fully developed. Drinking + limbic system = a sense of reward. That reward is not fully suppressed because pre-frontal cortex is immature = more drinking = further damage. True, plasticity may take it's toll, but it can only do so much when abusive intake happens. Similar to how your white blood cells can fight off germs, but too many pathogens can cause you to get sick. Rather than a parent strictly prohibiting, I think they should be more informative about the consequences since I know a lot of teens are going to get their hands on alcohol from someone eventually.
Uhhhh brain cells... very interesting! Anyways, my mom and dad always tell me not to drink even though it's been proven that alcohol in moderation can help to prolong your life. I don't know why and how people get addicted to alcohol when they know it's ruining their lives and probably others. So basically, they are hypocrites.
Actually the brain continues making neurons for life. Newly developed neurons in older brains die off in weeks if not made to work to learn. There was an article in April's Scientific American about it. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=saving-new-brain-cells As a 22y/o I will put in my 22 cents on the alcohol issue. There are many reasons as to why an adult may tell a minor not to drink; many already mentioned. 1. It's illegal for minors to drink and trouble with the law sucks. 2. You can become dependent. There have been some studies showing early age drinking may increase alcohol addiction in later life. 3. Kids can make bad decisions. Alcohol makes for even worse judgment. I've driven drunk before myself (without major consequence luckily), but not within the past 3 years. 4. Kids will typically drink without adult supervision in groups of other kids. LOTS of bad deccsions can be made in that situation. 5. Parents wanna keep their kids safe and outta trouble. 6. The bar is OUR fun place to go. Stay the **** out you little kiddies! Kids will always get to booze when they are underage. It's not at all difficult. In my opinion alcohol education for young people absolutely must drive the point home that there are risks. But don't lie to the kids either...2 beers will not turn you into a rapist or rapee. Drinking can be fun and safe! Teach kids how to be mature with alcohol not just to stay away from it. I have the same views on weed and sex. Facts; not propaganda make for responsible well balanced human beings.
About sex and drug use, lets not go there this thread is about alcohol and drinking. In my opinion there is no reason at all why minors should drink because at those ages it does a lot more harm than anything else. The only reason it seems to me that we should allow them to is because they want to, thats it. Despite what you may think there is a reason why there is a age limit on things including alcoholic beverages. I mean you wouldn't let a 5 year old drive a car right? or a 9 year old get legally married would you? That is because they are simply not ready or mature enough for those things, same thing for alcohol. It's not because adults are trying to ruin your fun or keep things to themselves etc. I don't want to hear the argument "well they will do it anyway" either, because nor does that make it right nor does it make it a valid argument they should be allowed to drink. Laws will always go broken no matter what they are. Murder still happens, theft still happens, etc doesn't mean we should make it legal.
Sorry, I got a different impression from your first post where you said it makes no sense to you and that they make up reasons that you shouldn't drink. My mistake then, can I ask you what is the point here?
It's that after all these reasons and prohibition they have a problem with you not drinking after you reach legal age for it.
