You Will Always Want What You Can't Have

After spending two weeks in Germany, and doing some research about the drinking age, underage drinking, and just drinking in general, we have come to a conclusion that there is a problem with underage drinking in Germany.

It really doesn't matter what the drinking age is, kids will always want to start drinking before the legal age. This is because of the temptation and the thrill that people get out of doing something they know is illegal.

Germany is really not that different than the US with underage drinking. There is a problem and they are trying to get rid of it by educating students, just like the US does. They have programs like D.A.R.E. that teach students in class about the consequences that drinking has on underage kids.

We came to Germany thinking that they did not have a problem with underage drinking because the legal drinking age for beer and wine is 16 but for hard liquor or 'spirits' it is 18. In the US the drinking age is 21 and kids start to drink a lot younger than that. We thought that because the drinking age was so young that kids wouldn't start drinking until 16 because there wouldn't be any real temptation or thrill out of drinking earlier than that because the thrill wouldn't be there.

We were soon to find out that our preconceived notion was wrong. Even though drinking is a more cultural event, Germany still struggles with kids drinking before the legal age. A couple differences that we have found out after talking to many people from 16-25 is that Germans tend to be smarter about their drinking habits. Not many young people have their own cars, so it cuts down on people drinking and driving.

If young people want to drink, they normally do it at a private party, not somewhere out in public. Also, when drinking, they use the trains and the subway as form of their transportation. After talking with a bunch of kids our age, it is clear to us now that there is in fact underage drinking occurring in Germany even though their age limit is a lot lower than ours.

So, would the US benefit from lowering the drinking age? That is a question that I am sure has been pondered by a lot of people for quite some time, and still we don't have the answer. Because no matter where you are, what your age is, people are always going to want what they can't have!