If you’ve been living under a rock for the past two months then you don’t know that since September 14th I’ve been living and studying abroad in Manchester, England. And frankly I’m upset that you haven’t been paying more attention to me but that isn’t the purpose of this.
While I’ve been living in England I’ve been in a house of 5 with people younger than me. As it always seems to be I’m the oldest person in the house. So as a matter of course I’ve become friends with my flatmate Victor, who happens to be at the tender age of 20. Bless his heart. Victor has in turn introduced me to all of this friends and has invited me along to several flat parties and out to clubs, or discos as our Spanish cousins call them.
On these excursions I’ve had the pleasure to witness drinking culture here in England. I have to say that I’m not impressed and in fact have had to amend my previous thoughts that maybe the United States should lower its drinking age from 21 to match the rest of the world which has that drinking age set at 18. I now see the folly in this train of thought.
In the States we’ve all heard the reports that a lower drinking age would reduce the instances of alcohol abuse, it would produce more responsible drinkers and blah, blah. The European model is held up as the way for the United States to. I mean after all their primary school system is beating us hands down so they must be on to something with this as well, right?
Well I beg to differ. In the US at least drinking is still treated as something that needs to be done behind closed doors without the rest of the world knowing what you are doing. Thus all alcoholic drinks must be concealed in brown paper bags as you leave the ABC store. Well, here in England you can walk into any local grocer, gas station, off license shop and buy anything from beer, to Jack Daniels and coke in a can, to Smirnoff vodka. Then you may proceed to stand in the middle of the sidewalk and consume your beverage. No one is going to stop you, no one is going to tell you that public displays of drinking and drunkenness is not only inappropriate but in poor taste. In fact you may be cheered on but several passerbys.
Drinking is celebrated like its a national hero. Like the drink itself is the reason the sun never sets on the Empire, which is a popular saying here in England. I was certainly shocked when I walked into ASDA (the Wal-Mart equivalent) and saw Vodka on display on the next isle from toilet paper. No I’m not prude and as many of you reading this will know that I do in fact drink, but I may be the only person in history to have waited till I was 21 to in fact drink. Not that I was waiting till I was legal it just wasn’t high on my lists of things to do. I, however absolutely detest being drunk and I’ve only done it twice in my life and I regret both of those times. There is nothing cute or funny about hanging your head in a toilet to throw up your insides.
Here in England that seems to be the only reason to drink. Drink till you are drunk and throwing up in the middle of the street with all of your mates around you cheering and taking pictures to post up on Facebook and to text to other friends who aren’t there to witness your finest hour. Public drunkeness seems to be alright and people just walk past the unfortunate soul who can't hold their liquor. No one stops to help and in fact people hurl insults and slurs at the person inability to hold their drink.
Getting up at 5 in the afternoon and zooming down to Sainsberry to snagged bottles and bottles of wine, alcohol and beer to be consumed before 7pm is the greatest fun to be had on a Friday afternoon. And in deed by the time me and Victor, with several other friends in two have arrived at a flat party by 10pm we are the only sober ones and in fact the only ones able to stand without the whole world spinning. This ritual is repeated again on Saturday and Sunday and then the following weekend.
Yes binge drinking happens in the States, I'm not saying that it doesn't or even saying that the United States is doing a better job at curbing the rise in alcholics, but this just my take on the British drinking culture as I'm an outsider.
Allowing 18 year olds the ability to legally buy and consume alcohol doesn’t produce more responsible drinkers. Nor does it cut down on the instance of alcohol abuse, all it does it lower the age for liver transplants. You are expecting a person who has had all major life decisions made by their parents to handle something as serious as alcohol with adult . I am by no means calling an 18 year old a child, but I wouldn’t go as far as to call them an adult. After all the majority of these kids running around here in England with a wine bottle pressed to their lips are living on mommy’s money anyways.
I said all of that to say that I don’t agree with the United States lower its drinking age to 18 if the English model is being held up as the example.
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