Daily D: VT Should Protect Dartmouth Students From Themselves

Verbum Ultimum is a real winner today. The Daily Dartmouth‘s Editorial Board argues that because Dartmouth students are prone to drunk driving, the state of Vermont shouldn’t change its drinking age. Nice. Then, at the end, they throw in this little tid-bit:

Putting aside the disastrous consequences the new law would have for Hanover, unilaterally lowering the drinking age in any single state is a decidedly bad idea. At present, American society is not adequately equipped to deal with the repercussions of making alcohol readily available to high school students. While many proponents of lowering the drinking age point to Europe as an example of success, they fail to consider the deep cultural differences that make teenage access to alcohol incredibly more problematic in the United States. Namely, American teens are less interested in having a glass of red wine to match their dinner than shotgunning cheap beer in their parents’ basements.

I wonder why that is? Is it possible that, in the states, drinking for drunkenness’ sake has anything to do with the illicit nature of alcohol? No, of course not. According to the Daily D‘s brilliant analysis, the people most able to teach teenagers about responsible drinking are not their parents, but rather their post-21-years-old friends.