Those of us on the trip that are youngsters (the majority)
have greatly appreciated the low drinking age in France. Some of us got to
order our first legal drink, or march into a Monoprix and buy as much alcohol
as we wanted. And we didn’t even get our ID checked.
The drinking cultures varied vastly between the two
countries, though. (I wish I could make a ven-diagram, but I am not talented
with computers)
In my opinion, allowing teenagers to drink earlier simply
allows them to fuck up sooner.
French teenagers turn 18 during high school. If they decided
to get absolutely hammered every night and ignore school, it is not nearly as
likely to destroy their future or their jobs as there are colleges for all
levels of GPA (or lack of) out of high school and later in life.
On the other hand, Americans are only able to drink over
half way through college. If a Junior in college decides to experiment with
alcohol (as I think everyone should have the chance) and gets hammered every
night then they risk failing college classes that prevent them from getting a
job (or they show up hungover and lose any job they have.)
I am well aware that not everyone “goes crazy” with
drinking, but if it happens sooner then it is not quite as detrimental.
Furthermore, I discovered that the idea of a “house party”
doesn’t really exist here. Sure people might come over for a couple drinks, but
it is nothing like a red-solo cup filled frat house as exists in the states. I
don’t really know if that is good or bad, but it is definitely a difference.
In talking with this to my Host Mother, I realized that the
French perception of American drinking was the red-solo cup stereotype, and
that the American view of “a little” was VERY different than the French view of
“a little.”
Lastly, I would like to mention the relationship that I
think this has between young people and their parents. These are just
observations as I obviously didn’t grow up in both places.
In America, by the time we are in our 20s our parents tend
to trust us more. We have more freedom, we can (kind of) swear in front of
them, and they (for the most part) are aware that we consume alcohol. Until
this point though, this stuff is all kind of hidden (again, for the most part).
I think this culture results in strained relationships, or at least
truthfulness between parent and child.
In France, the legal drinking age coincides with the
“rebellious” phase. Because SOME of the rebellious stuff is legal, and kids can
go out without worrying about being arrested, they don’t have to lie to parents
either. I think that this would kind of help with the long term relationship
between French youngsters and their parents.
Anyway, I had fun drinking in France.
I think that one of the major reasons Europe's low drinking age works is due not to their likelihood to "fuck up sooner", but rather to the way in which theyre exposed to it. As the child of a European, I grew up sipping a miniscule glass of red wine at diner, or drinking a single beer at a family cookout. Drinking is not something that Europeans shame, or something that they hide from their children. i feel that the lax regulations on alcohol are actually benefitial for children. Because drinking is strictly prohibited in America for those of us under 21, and because of parental perspectives on alcohol intake, american teens often binge drink once the opportunity arrives. If we were to loosen our regulations, perhaps there would be a weaker yearning for that forbidden fruit.
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