Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Reference > Help Forum > Drinking Age Debate

[Imperfectionist]

Okay so i'm on the Debating Commitee at my school and tomorrow we're staging our inaugural society meeting, where basically we've invited a bunch of other people come along and watch us debate so that we can teach them how to do it in competitions etc.

Anywho, i'm on the debate and I need some help coming up with ideas against the motion:

'This house would raise the drinking age to 21'

(I live in England btw so the drinking age here is 18)

[scrumpleberry]

I won't give you ideas, because you argue with more conviction when you come up with good ideas on your own and believe them.

What I do with things like this is to write down the motion in the middle of a piece of paper, maybe do a bit of research on the history and current popular opinion, chat to people about it without going "hey hey i'm doing debating" and just note down everything, and your thoughts and ideas will grow from there. Once the paper gets really full and messy, rewrite the plan, then order your points, then write your points up. It's so easy once you get in the mood to do it.

Also: remember your counter arguments, they're essential. If you can start with the obvious arguments and counter them well, it might help you think of your own arguments.

Good luck!

[Imperfectionist]

Yeah that's pretty much what i'm doing now lol I just thought while in the middle of my research that it would be a good idea to see what people on here thought about the topic for inspirations sake, so that maybe if I spotted something and thought 'Oh that's actually a really good point' or if someone came up with something that the proposition team would likely say that i'd missed it would certainly help.

But thanks for the advice and encouragement =)

[Aerith's Knight]

Drinking age is 16 in the Netherlands, weed is legal and smoking age is also 16.

Still, if I compare the students in the US and the students here, the students in the US smoke more weed(they smoke it pure, idiots), drink far more(don't know when to stop), and are overall bigger morons. I didn't really care, as it was always fun, but it was noticable.

I think making something illegal merely makes the appeal bigger. If people really want it, they'll be able to get it. I mean, I was 19 in my time in the US and I had no problem getting booze.

[ShlupQuack]

The legit reasons I can think are for raising the drinking age.

[nik0tine]

It's totally unreasonable to tell a legally adult citizen that he is only 'somewhat' of an adult, or only 'half the adult' that a 21 year old is.

How can your country tell you that you are old enough to pay taxes and old enough to get into life changing debt, but not old enough to have alcohol? You are old enough to be forced to kill and die for your country but not old enough to drink. Until you are shipped out of your countries borders, of course, in which case your government doesn't give a what you do.

You are eligible for the death penalty at 18. Why? Because at 18 you know damn well what you are doing when you commit a crime. Unless that crime happens to be consumption of alcohol, in which case you are an innocent infant who needs the full force of the law and every nuance of government bureaucracy there to coddle you at all hours until you turn 21. That day, however, you are totally old enough to drink your entire life away if you want.

How about the good old 'it doesn't work' argument. In the U.S.A. you will be hard pressed to find someone under 21 that does not drink. When you do finally find one you will discover that the law plays absolutely no part in their decision to abstain.

And finally, my favorite argument. When was the last time a bureaucrat did anything well? I know that in the 20 years I have been alive my government has not done one single thing effectively or with any degree of efficiency. So maybe you think such a law is a good idea, but believe me, your government will find a way to smurf it up.

The legit reasons I can think are for raising the drinking age.

Is it just me, or does this not make any sense?

[rubah]

she's saying the only legitimate reasons she knows of on either side of the debate all belong to the pro-legalization side.

The only argument I have for you is "well, the US does it so why not us 8)"

[The Man]

that's not how I read her post.

Regardless I'd say basically what nik said, with an extra dosage of "it doesn't work" for good measure. From what I've observed of Yurp while I've been over there, there seems to be quite a lot less alcohol abuse amongst teenagers than there is here, and the drinking age is generally sixteen or eighteen amongst countries there.