When I turn 21, I will be able to have my first legal drink in the United States of America. Many of my friends who have already crossed this threshold have gone to bars or restaurants and gotten a special free drink for finally being of age. But America, who ever has authority, I apologize. I have already had my first drink and let me tell you, the majority of my friends have already had their first, second, third, or 100th ones too.
I can't tell you the exact date or age I had my first "forbidden" sip, or drink... or bottle. What I can tell you is this: I think I turned out okay. This is not to say I have been the perfect under age drinker, in fact, I have spent many times doing extremely stupid things that I probably would never have done sober. I grew up in Kathmandu Nepal, where the drinking age is 18, but this age is ignored as kids who are even in middle school can order drinks at bars without being carded. The fact is, growing up in a country where there wasn't a drinking age didn't ruin my life. I am not promoting the idea of under age drinking, or dismissing the horrific tragedies that have occurred from under age drinking, however, I want to portray the idea that drinking before the age of 21 is not necessarily bad.
During my high school years, I was able to drink alcohol legally. My friends and I would order drinks, beers, mojitos, shots, ect. We would talk, dance, and when we "went out" our intentions were not always to get belligerently sloshed. A lot of the time we would sit around, order drinks, talk, or play cards. Yes, sometimes we could get a bit out of control, but I have learned that coming out of an environment that allowed me to drink helped me become a lot more responsible at a younger age. Not having a drinking age actually allowed me to control myself and understand the true effects before coming into college.
We are often told, "kids aren't responsible," "you don't make good decisions," etc., and yes that is true, we are not always responsible and we don't always make great decisions, but what about the times we have? What about times where a person says no to a second shot, or does not listen to their parents about curfew because they are helping another person? At a young age I had to make choices dealing with alcohol. Should I have another beer? Should I text that guy? Should I ignore my mum's phone call? There are times where I have done all of those things when perhaps I shouldn't have, but the fact is having the experience of the mistakes has allowed me to make better ones for the future. Truly understanding the effects through experience has allowed me to fully comprehend the effects of alcohol, and also the consequences.
Just like myself, there are millions of other 20 year olds who have drank, irresponsibly and responsibly, and they have learned, and grown, been independent, or even perhaps defiant. I'm sorry to a lot of the parents out there, but your kid has probably drank before they are 21, and probably before college. But this does not mean that their futures are doomed, this does not mean that they are horrible kids, this just means they are human, and in fact, your baby is normal, and 21 is just another age.
