drinking age

I applaud the defeat of the bill to raise the drinking age. I also applaud the governments decision to review the current act and in particular how those under 18 seem to have such free access to alcohol.
I opposed the Bill as it was based on a whole lot of myths. The first was that there is a crisis across all teenagers binge drinking and being out of control. It is just another saga on the ongoing vilification of young people. We see it all the time. It sells newspapers and TV programmes. It creates an adult population that is scared of young people. And it leads to bad legislation.
Binge drinking is a societal issue, not just a youth issue. Young people mirror what they see in the adult population to claim their own status as adults. When we see shocking things in young people we should first look to ourselves as adults and ask what it is they see in us they are mirroring back to us, and what do we need to change. Then we can look to them and address the issues as manifesting themselves in their behavior
So I hope the review will address adult drinking behaviour as well as youth. Then we might address the real issues and do something that will work.

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