BGM wrote: I don't know if drunk driving or alcoholism is less or more common in Western European countries where drinking ages are more lax, but I can't help but believe that being more open about it takes away the "rebellious" aspect.
Europe does have much lower drinking ages (16 in most places). However you generally cannot get a drivers license in an EU county until you are 18 and of course over there mass transit is widely available and widely used. In the US it's pretty common for 16 year olds to get provisional drivers licenses. When I see a car driven by a young teenager I become a more defensive driver. When I see a car driven by a young teenager and the car is full of other young teenagers I go out of my way to stay away.
In nearly all EU countries the drunk driving limit is at 0.05% or lower and they have much stiffer penalties and enforcement than what we have in the US. Both Sweden and Norway are at .02% and in Sweden if you get caught driving after drinking you are in for a world of hurt because they absolutely lower the hammer on you (I believe if you are at 0.10% or more you're going to do some jail time ... no exceptions ... and pay a large fine on top of that).
If you decide to supply alcohol to YOUR kid, that's one thing. But you have no right to supply alcohol at a party to other folks' kids. If they don't want to allow their kids to imbibe, they should not be undermined by another kids' parents. I know parents can't control their kids 24/7, but there is a HUGE problem for me in parents aiding and abetting their kids in breaking the law (which is what they are technically doing).
Fair point. I'm not in favor of adults giving their minor children alcohol, but in some selected situations (e.g. a HS graduation party) I think it might be the better way to go. There are good arguments on both sides of this one.
Frankly, kids are getting alcohol when they should not be able to get it. Once again, we have laws that need to be enforced better.
And once again Europe does a much better job of enforcing their drunk driving laws than we do. I don't know when Europe started to really crack down on drunk driving (quite a few years ago) but they went through a period with lots of drunk driving traffic deaths and then their respective governments essentially said enough is enough. I think most people in Europe know they going to pay a big price if they get caught driving under the influence and I do think that has had an significant deterrent effect (but I don't have any links or stats to back that up).
Something that is common in EU countries are sobriety checkpoints. Some states in the US do sobriety checkpoints but from what I know it is mostly a half-assed PR endeavor. If sobriety checkpoints are well-publicized they do have a deterrent effect. In Fargo the police have been doing sobriety checkpoints for several years now and I think they've made a difference. Some on the political fringe objected to these checkpoints as an invasion of privacy and violating the 4th Amendment but the Supreme Court knocked that down many years ago.
