Image courtesy of The Acorn at Drew University. 

I have never had an illegal drink of alcohol in my life.

Kinda shocking, huh? Coming from a UND super senior who spent her teenage years in South Dakota — a state as notorious for underage drinkers as its northern counterpart — it can be a bit surprising to learn that someone in my position chose to abstain from drinking.

Full disclosure: I did drink before I was 21. I visited various countries in Europe when I was 18 and Canada when I was 19. I was of drinking age in both places when I was there, and both times I choose to partake in the drinking going on around me.

I never have drunk illegally. Whenever I went to a party at one of UND’s fraternities — which, admittedly, didn’t happen much — I stayed stone-cold sober. At birthday parties, I was the friend handling the knife and lighter — for cutting the cake and lighting the candles, of course. I have been called more than a few times to be a designated driver for drunk friends, both of age and not, who knew I would be sober.

Despite this about me, I do think our laws regarding drinking age are stupid, especially when looked at in the context of other, similar countries and cultures.

According to a study done by a university in New York, the U.S. has the highest drinking age in the world, of the countries that allow alcohol at all, that is. We are not the only country that makes its citizens wait until 21 to drink. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are other countries that have the age set at 21 as well. Still, no country makes its citizens wait longer to legally consume alcohol.

I’ve never liked the phrase that gets tossed around high schools to try to justify lowering the drinking age: “If we can legally get married or sign up to die for our country, why can’t we legally drink?” Most of the time, this logic is just used to justify breaking the law.

That doesn’t mean the law is correct, though. American society views drinking as something that is done socially. It’s ritualized. Watch any movie about a college student, and you’ll see plenty of rituals revolving around drinking, all of which are done in groups. Regardless of what George Thorogood would lyrically testify to, drinking alone is looked down upon and even listed as a signifier of alcoholism.

I understand there are worries that lowering the drinking age will result in an increase of DUIs and alcohol related car accidents. But, I argue, the problems we face with irresponsible drinking and actions happen regardless of age.

A 60 year old who drives drunk is no more stupid than an 18 year old who does the same. Both of these hypothetical people are incredibly stupid for endangering themselves and others by getting behind the wheel drunk, but age makes no difference.

Think about it this way: most of my friends who drank underage felt pressured to drive drunk because they did not want to get in trouble for drinking at all. This is a common problem that society thrusts upon youth. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I was such a popular designated driver in my underage days; my friends knew I wasn’t going to tell their parents or call the cops.

The people I hang out with aren’t divided up into “of age” and “underage.” People who were friends with me didn’t take my age into consideration when planning their gatherings. Alcohol, as discussed above, is part of our societal system of interaction. Keeping 18-to-20 year olds away from alcohol doesn’t really do anything in the long run. Stricter punishments for stupidity, like driving under the influence, do.

The issue in the end isn’t with age, but with crime and punishment. We shouldn’t criminalize people for acting like their peers and enjoying their social activities.

Kjerstine Trooien is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].