NJ high school to test teens for alcohol consumption

[RunDownHouse]

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Kids under 18 don't need to be drinking alcohol period.

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As another poster stated, somehow the rest of the world manages just fine not imposing such puritanical, neo-prohibitionist standards on their society.

[BCPVP]

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Every year a lot of 16 year olds die as the result of drunk driving accidents. It's something that is totally preventable.

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About as preventable as keeping them from having sex.

[dinopoker]

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Why do I find myself agreeing more with the ACLU nowadays?

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You should. I mean, they spend all of their time making sure that our rights are protected. I think they get a bad rap far too often.

[Golden_Rhino]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Kids under 18 don't need to be drinking alcohol period.

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As another poster stated, somehow the rest of the world manages just fine not imposing such puritanical, neo-prohibitionist standards on their society.

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Problem is that kids in the rest of the world are used to having alcohol around, so it's not a big deal. If the US announced that there is no age limit for the hooch, could you imagine the craziness that would ensue?

[RunDownHouse]

As Sam Calagione states in his book about starting a brewery, MADD has morphed from a group of parents just trying to get out a basic message about responsibility into a giant lobbyist powerhouse spending millions to outlaw alcohol. They're almost definitely the single biggest neo-prohibitionist force, and they don't flinch at outright lies to accomplish their objective. Things like the tests mentioned in OP are undoubtedly connected to and influenced by MADD.

I'd like to encourage everyone to take a deeper look at MADD and their policies, aims, and advertising campaigns, and give generously to brewers and distillers everywhere if you find them as distasteful as I do.

[4_2_it]

Wow. The views expressed here are exactly those of the parents whose kids are the ones bringing alcohol/drugs to school in the first place. I wish you good luck raising your kids.


Comparing drunk driving to slipping in the bathtub is idiotic. IMO, one young person dying because of a teen drunk driver is one too many.

I realize the demographic I am dealing with so I won't try to reason with those who can't legally drink. Did I drink when i was underage? Yes. I now realize it was dumb. I have every intention of raising my kids in a manner that they will not feel the pressure to experiment with drugs/alcohol before they are mentally ready for it.

[RunDownHouse]

4_2_it,

Does having "every intention of raising my kids in a manner that they will not feel the pressure to experiment with drugs/alcohol before they are mentally ready for it" include not allowing them to experiment before they're 21, regardless of their ability to handle it?

It wasn't so long ago that you could buy beer at 18, until the federal government (and we could go into a tangent about the War of Northern Aggression here, but anyways...) decided to pull transportation funding unless states changed their laws to conform with the 21 age requirement. No, its not a federal law that you have to be 21 to drink, but it might as well be, thanks to federal machinations.

[blackize]

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I have every intention of raising my kids in a manner that they will not feel the pressure to experiment with drugs/alcohol before they are mentally ready for it.

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My parents did this with me. They made sure that I never thought it was taboo and that I knew the responsibilities that came with drinking. Not to excess and no driving. It worked pretty well and I had no strong desire to drink until college when it mainly was something to do.

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Did I drink when i was underage? Yes. I now realize it was dumb.

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I don't think it's dumb. Kids getting wasted every weekend, hiding it from their parents, and driving drunk are all dumb. In high school some of my friends had parents who were cool with having parties and allowing kids to drink in their house with supervision. They made sure no one got sick and that no one drove drunk. I think it worked out pretty well for my group of friends.

[Scary_Tiger]

If I was a parent of a child that goes to this school, I'd start serving alcohol with dinner just for fun. So are parents going to throw their kids under the bus and not be like, yeah we had wine with dinner the other night, why the [censored] are you taking urine samples?

[4_2_it]

RDH,

I am open allowing 18-20 year olds the ability to buy booze. If I was king, I'd make the drinking, voting and draft age 19 (guarantees they are out of high school). There is a big difference emotionally between a 16 year old and an 18 year. 16 year olds don't need shots of jack Daniels to socialize.

My kids have no choice who are stuck in high school with, so I really I am opposed to the drinking age being low enough that high schoolers have easier access (not that it's that difficult now) to alcohol and drugs.

My view is that it is my responsibility to rear my kids in the manner I deem best. Schools should be focused more on learning, but until a majority of parents adopt my view, nothing will change.

I understand the average 20 year old here is going to disagree with me. I felt the same way 20 years ago [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]