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Pocono News Section
Drinking age debate
Drinking age debate - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 5:44PM EST
Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 @ 05:44pm EST
There's a group stirring up a lot of interest in an age old debate: the drinking age and whether or not it should be lowered in our country. The Amethyst Initiative is a non-profit group, fueling the debate. It has a long list of college presidents signed on to help.
Kings
College and Wilkes-University administration say they want to be part of this debate. That doesn't necessarily mean they're in favor of lowering the drinking age, only that there's an intelligent debate for and against it. It's a debate that serves up mixed opinions.
Wilkes
University sophomore Andrew Bookin says, "As soon as you get to college it's going to happen one way or another. I mean we're mature enough to make our own decisions at this age."
Wilkes
University senior Pat Nardone says, "Just changing the age and lowering it isn't going to stop anything." Students here at Wilkes-Univeristy say underage drinking is part of college. The Amethyst Initiative wants college leaders and politicians to take a closer look. It says the current drinking age promotes binge drinking. Some agree. "It actually will probably promote binge drinking, only because if you look at the media and stuff, all that stuff is geared towards the younger people, it's not even geared toward 21 year olds," says Nardone.
More than 100 college presidents nationwide have signed on to debate. Wilkes University Vice President of Student Affairs Paul Adams says, “I think this creates a wonderful dialogue opportunity for us on campus but also in society about what it really is to be an adult."
Kings
College says underage drinking is a serious issue. Leaders there say they want to be included in the debate. Still, some students say underage drinking is a temptation that doesn't go away.
King's sophomore Dana Kirchner says, "I think it does because it's more of like a risk. You do it because you know you're not allowed to." Others say changing the drinking age just makes sense.
Kristen Klimchak, a
Wilkes
University
Pharmacy
School student says, "If you're old enough to vote and you're old enough to join the army then I think you should be old enough to decide if you can have a beer."
Here in
Pennsylvania , presidents from
St. Joseph 's University and
Moravian
College have signed up with their opinions. | | |
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