Age restrictions on drinking and joining the army- fair or not?

[Hannah]

Drinking- It should be 18

[Kirby]

well, as I said in the suggestions thread, I think it's completely illogical to assume that an 18 year old is ready to make such an important choice and to then go into combat, but not old enough to buy a beer...however, I'm also not so sure that an 18 year old IS old enough to buy beer with impunity. I think you'd get a lot of high school seniors buying alcohol for all their underage buddies...

so, I think that the ages should meet somewhere in the middle- like 20. I think that would be a good age to be allowed to join the military and to buy alcohol. of course, the military would probably never go for that, as many of their recruits are probably impulsive 18 year olds...

[Kirby]

well, I don't know...I think I was more mature at 20 than I was at 18...and more mature at 22 than at 20. I don't think 2 years makes as much of a difference later in life, but in your early years, 2 years definitely made a difference- for me, at least.

and, yeah, I drank underage whenever I could...but if the 18 year olds at school could have bought me alcohol (along w/ the cigarettes I did get them to buy for me), it would have been a lot more often.

and perhaps I am guilty of stereotyping teens as less responsible than adults...however, like most generalizations, there is some basis in fact. I think that- as a general rule- teens are less responsible than adults, and young adults are less responsible than middle-aged adults. BUT I also acknowledge that there are plenty of exceptions to this...

[Kirby]

aelph- I just now saw in the suggestions thread about how 16 year olds can join the military in the uk? that's crazy- I never knew that!

[Kirby]

so, do they let them drop out of school to join?

[Kirby]

but wouldn't they still be in school at 16? (sorry, I'm really demonstrating my ignorance here...)

[Kirby]

oh, I had no idea! thank you for broadening my horizons! :)

[Cody, Ninja]

You're 18, you're an adult, You're out of high school, you're no longer a kid, you can die for our country, you can do anything without parental permission, you can get a job, you can live on your own, You can smoke cigarettes till your heart gives out. Oh but you want a beer forget about it! You want to gamble forget about it!

Where in hell is the logic in this?

[ARTPOP]

You just shouldn't drink. End off. Drinking has never go annyone anywhere! And you can die from it.

[ARTPOP]

And joining the army should be at least 24 because you can get a normal job first and have a family but then if you want to leave you can leave.

[ARTPOP]

Well only one in a while is ok but it still damages your body.

[ARTPOP]

Even a tiny amount can damage your body.

[ARTPOP]

Well yes but it causes so many deaths every year.

[Cody, Ninja]

Lorelli wrote: "Well yes but it causes so many deaths every year."

Yeah because the prohibition was such a good time in American history. Their is nothing wrong with drinking a little bit every so often. It's when you become addicted that their is a problem.

[Cody, Ninja]

Lorelli wrote: "And joining the army should be at least 24 because you can get a normal job first and have a family but then if you want to leave you can leave."

At the age of 18 you're an adult, you should have the freedom to serve your country if you want, besides it allows people to get a free education which is nice.

[Kirby]

they say that one drink (or less) a day can actually be good for you.

[Cody, Ninja]

Especially wine if I remember right...

[♥ Rachel♥, Hey, whoa, I'm a mod!]

Yeah, red wine has antioxidants, I think.

And I've always been allowed to drink so I don't think any age restrictions at all are necessary...but if they are, they should definitely be before or at the same time as the military age. And smoking.