The USA should lower the drinking age to 13 to promote more responisible drinking

1.I will not get into a back and forth. On something so stupid. I accepted in round 1 and offered an alternative if he wanted. He chose no alternative. OK. Move on. 2. My opponent accused me of using data supporting 18 year olds. As I wrote in round 2, According to the CDC 1 in 4 8th graders have consumed alcohol. http://www.cdc.gov... If my opponent is correct that 8th grade is not always specific to 13 years old because various ages can be in that grade (mostly will be 13 at some point in 8th grade). However, to equate that with 18 year olds in the 8th grade is disingenuous, unless, if those are his observations. If so, I suggest he move to another neighborhood. 3. Can my opponent show how raising the legal age to consume alcohol will equate to more responsible drinking statistics? If not, then we must consider a new paradigm if we want to change the course of alcoholism in the US. We must consider not criminalizing parents who want to teach their children how to drink responsibly. We must remove the moral dilemma parents are faced with - teaching your child how to drink responsibly while teaching them it is OK to break the law. We must allow an opportunity for them to acquire the responsible social drinking skill set under direct supervision of the parents before they are left unattended in the presence of alcohol and peer pressure. 4. As my opponent correctly points out, "The only reason this method of lowering drinking to 13-15 or so works in other countries is because its tradition that has been established for generations" the consumption of alcohol is [as] integrated into common behaviors as sleeping or eating" Its common sense that it will take a lot [time] for Americans to ever view drinking as a common activity like sleeping or eating. " His own position is a direct representation of the paradigm I have suggested. He finds the reasonable conclusion of having 13 year olds drinking can promote socially responsible drinking. And in this debate as outlined by my opponent, there is no referenced timeline for the realization of this responsibly to occur. I could not have written it more clearly " thank you. I agree with your assertion that commons sense dictates it will take time for the paradigm shift to occur is correct. Time and lives are valuable which is why we need to start lowering the age to legally drink alcohol to 13 sooner rather than later. I accept your position. There is little left for me to debate since my opponent has met the same conclusion I have. Reducing the age of alcohol consumption will result in improved social responsible drinking. DEBATE WAS JUST WON. VOTE PRO. Below this line is for those who still need a more compelling argument than my opponents acceptace, or for my opponent who stated in round 1 that this question is an exercise in academics. These are valuable points that may help him refine his position in future debates. ________________________________ 5. My opponent makes an interesting claim: Viewers he fails to show us how he will effectually implement and insert a new detrimental drinking policy in America That was not the point of this debate. The general thesis of this debate was if lowering the age of alcohol consumption will equate to more responsible drinking. If you cannot read the above #4 and conclude it is a more responsible approach to teach youth about alcohol, with alcohol than the current paradigm, vote for my opponent. However if you feel there is any benefit in allowing a parent to legally consume alcohol with his or her child, to teach them how to drink responsibly, then that is the only point I need to really make in this debate. If you are still not convinced, please continue reading, however below are thoughts for my opponent to consider since this is an academic exercise for him as he explained in round 1. One must consider the moral dilemma The current law creates for a parent. How can a parent teach a child how to drink responsibly while also teaching them breaking the law is OK? We teach our young people everything we want them to do in a responsible manner through direct supervision. Should the paradigm change and allow for 13 year olds to legally consume alcohol, this will provide the opportunity for parents to teach their children socially responsible drinking skills. As my opponent has provided as evidence, this type of mindset of decriminalizing alcohol consumption by youth is the only environment that allows for it. As my opponent correctly stated, children are not always able to make the best decisions. They need an environment that allows for them to learn that responsibility. Responsibility is not divine; It comes with education. This paradigm shift provides the specific environment required to educate their children about the responsibilities of drinking. Through direct supervision and discussion responsibility will be created. In contrasted the current paradigm disallows alcohol consumption around the parents. The teen then enters college unware of how to drink in a socially responsible manner, and falls prey to the peer pressure of binge drinking outside the sight of any supervision and they lack any responsibly learned skillset to defend with. 5.To my opponent"s direct position, how does he suggest we teach responsibility to youth in regards to alcohol when there is no legal opportunity to do so? We teach young people how to drive responsibly through supervision of driving and the discussions that naturally follow. We teach young people how to handle guns responsibly through supervision of shooting and the discussions that naturally follow" We teach our young people how to write in a class supervised by an adult teacher" everything youth learn will be from either parents, teacher or peers. We as responsible adults teach our children how to act responsibly in the hope that as adults they grow up and act as responsible adults with those learned skillsets. However, the current law makes teaching them the responsibility consuming alcohol impossible. 4. My opponent argues: The burden is my opponents to prove his assertion that early exposure for youths to alcohol consumption will not promote a more responsible environment. This is not correct. He is the instigator. He is making the claim. He must prove his assertion " that reducing the age to 13 will not promote more responsible drinking. Since proving a negative is extremely difficult, He can instead show raising the age from 21 upwards will provide more responsible drinking. At an extreme, Prohibition did not promote responsible drinking. Logically if altering the age upwards or downwards will have any positive or negative effect on the responsibleness of consuming alcohol is his burden, not mine. on 13 year olds. In round 3 my opponent again seems to think I have acted in poor taste, and is requesting you vote for him because of my actions. If you agree, vote for him. If you feel I was NOT out of line, then by his own stipulations, in fairness, you must vote for me. 4. As he claims I have not defended my position, his own argument against my points actually proves my position. I wrote we must change the current paradigm which will change the stigma of alcohol. That will allow more supervised drinking sessions with parents so they are not fearful of being arrested. This provides a clear opportunity teach their children how to drink responsibly. My opponents response was this ""However traditions can take decades sometimes centuries to change as shown on http://www.sirc.org...; There is no timeline attached to my opponents debate question. From the site above provided by my opponent clearly states, " Finally, the primary function of drinking-places, in almost all cultures, appears to be the facilitation of social interaction and social bonding."