<p>It’s hard to gauge the effective of the drinking age really. I think that it’s difficult for the US to change it because the sudden change will get lots of oppositon and definitely wouldn’t prevent kids from drinking. In the culture, the mentality that teens who drink and get plastered are cool is already there, and that’s going to be hard to dispel. </p>
<p>My parents have never prohibited me really. Their mentality has been “drink at home” and I feel that because of their openness about it, I have never felt pressured to drink at parties or feel the need to get drunk to have fun. This probably has something to do with the fact that my parents are chinese and I don’t even think there is a drinking age there, at least it’s not enforced. I was sent to buy beer for my grandparents when I was nine; I get offered it a lot at dinners, etc. </p>
<p>At least for me, I feel like I want it less if it’s just there. I recently vacationed somewhere where the drinking age was 18, and not enforced and for the first two days it was exciting but then it got really old really quickly. </p>
<p>I don’t know how reliable this is, but my spanish teacher (who is from Spain) once told us that it wasn’t cool in spain to be plastered/drunk/passed out. I think drinking is ok in moderation…probably not for 14 year olds… but that same argument returns…if you can be drafted and dying for your country, you still can’t have a beer?</p>