How do you feel about...

[Esau of Isaac]

1.) They do not, obviously, but at least they're old enough for it to not horribly ruin their bodies and minds forever. Not to mention at that age people are pretty much done growing, so the sex is far more enjoyable.

Can you cite evidence that shows individuals "under the age" (as this varies from area to area) will have their bodies and minds irrevocably ruined by having sex?

2.) Mental maturity is reached older and older these days, 21 is still quite young. Alcohol is a powerful beverage, drinking responsibly can be extremely difficult. By 25 most people have matured to the point where I think they could handle it properly.

What things would change in four years that are not in a person by the age of twenty-one? Younger teenagers in several areas around the world drink alcohol without their nation receiving adverse affects that I hope you would be suggesting to keep it out of reach for grown adults.

[Fenrir]

1.) They do not, obviously, but at least they're old enough for it to not horribly ruin their bodies and minds forever. Not to mention at that age people are pretty much done growing, so the sex is far more enjoyable.

2.) Mental maturity is reached older and older these days, 21 is still quite young. Alcohol is a powerful beverage, drinking responsibly can be extremely difficult. By 25 most people have matured to the point where I think they could handle it properly.

ruining their minds? most teenage dudes watch porn so they've already done this.

whenever you start driving or drinking its gonna seem young, but better to learn now than never. example, 16 yr olds are reckless drivers, partially because they're teenagers, but the biggest thing is that they have never driven before so naturally a 35 yr old will be a much better driver, but if we started driving at 35 it might be a little tiny bit safer(but often not even this) but now tons of people wont drive for half of their life.

[Original Alear]

eh, I view pot the same way i do people getting drunk, don't have a problem with it, just dont do it while driving. I have a hard time believing your brother is a better driver high...Where u high when he was driving?

I know for a fact that my reflexes improve when high, I play warcraft 3, cho ren sha (a SHMUP), and Cave Story better the few times I have been high. Been some time since I've been high tho.

(Ex. My friend tried to kiss me. WTF!?!?!?)

Nice. You should try kissing back sometime. Nice.

Edited August 7, 2010 by SeverIan

[Fenrir]

i never been high, id love to be high and play video games...one time i thought i was gonna get sum weed my friends messed it up... =[

[Treasure Chest]

Can you cite evidence that shows individuals "under the age" (as this varies from area to area) will have their bodies and minds irrevocably ruined by having sex?

What things would change in four years that are not in a person by the age of twenty-one? Younger teenagers in several areas around the world drink alcohol without their nation receiving adverse affects that I hope you would be suggesting to keep it out of reach for grown adults.

1) I apologize for not being clearer. Sex itself won't ruin them (probably), I meant the potential tragedies that can arise from it will. Sex is great and should be enjoyed, I just think waiting until everyone has finished growing up would be better for everyone. Patience is a virtue!

2) Life experiences, pretty much. Having a job, moving out from your parents' place, finishing college, etc. I don't think most people that turn 21 are suddenly magically mature enough to handle drinking properly. As a bartender, trust me when I say I speak from experience.

[Parrhesia]

2) Life experiences, pretty much. Having a job, moving out from your parents' place, finishing college, etc. I don't think most people that turn 21 are suddenly magically mature enough to handle drinking properly. As a bartender, trust me when I say I speak from experience.

Is 25 really THAT much better, though?

[Blasied]

Underage sex is fine by me as long as both people are absolutely sure that it's what they want to do and take proper precautions in terms of contraception.

Pot and drinking, I don't care if people do it. I just have no idea why anyone would want to deliberately ingest/smoke substances that will make them stupider than they already are.

[Defeatist Elitist]

1.) They do not, obviously, but at least they're old enough for it to not horribly ruin their bodies and minds forever. Not to mention at that age people are pretty much done growing, so the sex is far more enjoyable.

2.) Mental maturity is reached older and older these days, 21 is still quite young. Alcohol is a powerful beverage, drinking responsibly can be extremely difficult. By 25 most people have matured to the point where I think they could handle it properly.

1) But it wont't. I know plenty of people who started having sex before being even 18, and I know aproximately zero people who have had any lasting ill effects because of it.

2) Yes and no. While we do live in a culture where children are generally treated incredibly lightly and often over-nurtured or overprotected, it doesn't always lead to mental maturity coming later. I know many people who are probably slower to mature, but I also know many who reached mental maturity for before 21. Now, this perhaps might be affected by the fact that I live in a rural community where it is not uncommon to start work at 14, but still...

Just to kind of explain my perspective on this, where I come from, the majority of people from 14-25 spend a great deal of time in various stages of inebriation. For most people, there is nothing else to do. It's literally "what do we do this weekend?" "party at X place, invite the whole school and everybody's brothers/sisters/cousins/friends". I have yet to see significant negative results coming out of this.

Now, I know these are just anecdotes, but since I have never really seen any hard fact based arguments against these things...

[Original Alear]

i never been high, id love to be high and play video games...one time i thought i was gonna get sum weed my friends messed it up... =[

How old are you? I'm not trying to patronize you, but It should be easy to find some in college, and I thought you were there.

[Crystal Shards]

1.) They do not, obviously, but at least they're old enough for it to not horribly ruin their bodies and minds forever. Not to mention at that age people are pretty much done growing, so the sex is far more enjoyable.

2.) Mental maturity is reached older and older these days, 21 is still quite young. Alcohol is a powerful beverage, drinking responsibly can be extremely difficult. By 25 most people have matured to the point where I think they could handle it properly.

1. If you think sex horribly ruins your bodies and minds forever, then that is a problem for you, not society. Sex is a highly enjoyable act for me and it helps intimacy grow in my relationships, and even with my history, sex did not ruin my mind or body.

2. Wrong. Making the drinking age as high as it is here makes drinking underage seem glamorous, which encourages more people to do it, and when they do it, to do it to an obnoxious degree, which is what leads to brain damage, drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, etc. Also, because the drinking age is higher than the driving age, when people DO become legal, since it's been prohibited for so long, they often overdo it, which is why a lot of auto insurance goes up at 21 and then goes back down at 25 or so, especially for males. I'm from Europe and our drinking ages range from 16-18 (though I've never seen it really all that enforced) and most people just have a beer with dinner or something. Binge drinking is a fairly new idea in Europe, and while we are seeing it on the increase, it's mostly the age bracket that can't drive yet. (The driving age is 18.) Because a driver's license is so hard to come by in Europe (it's expensive too) and it can be easily taken away if you do something stupid enough, people generally take it seriously, as opposed to the States, where's it's like 20 bucks and a test and bam you have it.

[Esau of Isaac]

1) I apologize for not being clearer. Sex itself won't ruin them (probably), I meant the potential tragedies that can arise from it will. Sex is great and should be enjoyed, I just think waiting until everyone has finished growing up would be better for everyone. Patience is a virtue!

When has someone finished growing up?

2) Life experiences, pretty much. Having a job, moving out from your parents' place, finishing college, etc. I don't think most people that turn 21 are suddenly magically mature enough to handle drinking properly. As a bartender, trust me when I say I speak from experience.

So you would agree that anyone who lives on their own and has a stable job has the life experience to drink alcohol? I mean, that's really silly and arbitrary and has nothing to do with maturity, really, but it's not very unusual for an eighteen-year-old just graduated from high school to move out and have a source of income. So, should they be allowed to drink?

Nevermind that you don't believe people the age of 21 are magically able to handle alcohol, but you do believe people the age of 25 are.

[eclipse]

Hmmm. . .

1. Only if both sides are willing to deal with ALL the consequences (and abortion is not "dealing with it"). I knew I wouldn't like the consequences, so I never partook of it.

2. Why do we have a legal drinking age? My mom's side celebrates New Year's with a bit of (traditional) alcohol, and I was allowed to try a little starting from 16. A little after that, both sides of my family let me have a very small amount of wine with dinner on occasion. Thus, I knew what alcohol tasted like, wasn't interested in getting drunk, and have since developed a taste for dry wines. I think it would help a lot more if children got it in their heads that alcohol was simply another beverage (I don't see parties where the kegs are full of water!).

3. First, I'd put the same restrictions on a joint as I would on a cigarette (in terms of where it can be smoked). Second, to hell with the age limit on both cigarettes and weed. If kids want to ruin their lungs, let them. I don't want to kiss a smoker! However, I'd like to see if there would be a way to reliably measure if THC is in the bloodstream. I've been around people who are high, and I don't think they belong on the road.

. . .and to think I'm religious. . .

[Fenrir]

How old are you? I'm not trying to patronize you, but It should be easy to find some in college, and I thought you were there.

wow, i can fool ppl on xlive AND on the internet into thinking im older than i am :D (not in college if you didnt catch tht)

[Crystal Shards]

(and abortion is not "dealing with it").

Uh, yeah it is. It's not like abortion is some magic candyland adventure. Most people actually think long and hard before getting one.

[eclipse]

Uh, yeah it is. It's not like abortion is some magic candyland adventure. Most people actually think long and hard before getting one.

We're talking kids here. Do you think they'll think long and hard about it?

[Crystal Shards]

We're talking kids here. Do you think they'll think long and hard about it?

Yeah, yeah I do. I know I was having serious discussions about abortions with friends when I was that young, and many of my friends from university report similar discussions. It's not exactly an uncommon phenomenon. And really, if you make contraception available and have proper sex education, it's a lot less likely that it'll ever come up anyway.

[eclipse]

Yeah, yeah I do. I know I was having serious discussions about abortions with friends when I was that young, and many of my friends from university report similar discussions. It's not exactly an uncommon phenomenon. And really, if you make contraception available and have proper sex education, it's a lot less likely that it'll ever come up anyway.

Those that are smart enough to use contraceptives (like you and your friends) will probably be the ones that will think over the decision. Those that aren't will go for the methods that they perceive to be the easiest way out. I've met people who fall into both categories, and the latter is more common than I'm happy with.

Have you tried talking to those that didn't see the point in going to a university?

[Esau of Isaac]

Those that are smart enough to use contraceptives (like you and your friends) will probably be the ones that will think over the decision. Those that aren't will go for the methods that they perceive to be the easiest way out. I've met people who fall into both categories, and the latter is more common than I'm happy with.

Contraceptives fail. Are you saying that methods that would solve the situation shouldn't be used in such a case?

Why or why not?

[Crystal Shards]

Those that are smart enough to use contraceptives (like you and your friends) will probably be the ones that will think over the decision. Those that aren't will go for the methods that they perceive to be the easiest way out. I've met people who fall into both categories, and the latter is more common than I'm happy with.

Have you tried talking to those that didn't see the point in going to a university?

Why do people always see abortion as the "easy way out"? You guys are also always the ones that talk about the emotional repercussions of abortions and how they make people suicidal or whatever. There's nothing easy about abortion. The two people I know who had abortions (one got raped in college, one's birth control failed while in high school) made the decision with much thought and while I don't know that they regret the decision it's certainly not as trivial to them as spilling water onto their shirt.

[Junkhead]

1)Underage sex.

2)Underage drinking.

3)Smoking pot.

@1: I think it's alright. But there really should be limits to that. Such as not having many partners frequently or at the same time. Sexual frustration is what leads someone to become a rapist.

@2: I find that wrong.

@3: I think it's a alright as long as it isn't in a public setting and is kept privately without harming others.

[Fenrir]

since there was sum stuff about abortion and shit like this, i recently watched this vid.

i actually like the way he states his points, i agree with him on most levels of his arguent.and hes fucking god at cod

[Phoenix Wright]

2. Why do we have a legal drinking age? My mom's side celebrates New Year's with a bit of (traditional) alcohol, and I was allowed to try a little starting from 16. A little after that, both sides of my family let me have a very small amount of wine with dinner on occasion. Thus, I knew what alcohol tasted like, wasn't interested in getting drunk, and have since developed a taste for dry wines. I think it would help a lot more if children got it in their heads that alcohol was simply another beverage (I don't see parties where the kegs are full of water!).

3. First, I'd put the same restrictions on a joint as I would on a cigarette (in terms of where it can be smoked). Second, to hell with the age limit on both cigarettes and weed. If kids want to ruin their lungs, let them. I don't want to kiss a smoker! However, I'd like to see if there would be a way to reliably measure if THC is in the bloodstream. I've been around people who are high, and I don't think they belong on the road.

. . .and to think I'm religious. . .

But it's not "just another beverage."

I'd personally ban cigarettes.

Yeah, when you're high, your reactions are slowed.

[eclipse]

Contraceptives fail. Are you saying that methods that would solve the situation shouldn't be used in such a case?

Why or why not?

I think if you're smart enough to properly use contraceptives, you'll think about that decision long and hard.

If you don't think it will happen/don't care, that's another story.

The situation where contraceptives fail is another topic altogether. I don't need to derail this one any further.

Why do people always see abortion as the "easy way out"? You guys are also always the ones that talk about the emotional repercussions of abortions and how they make people suicidal or whatever. There's nothing easy about abortion. The two people I know who had abortions (one got raped in college, one's birth control failed while in high school) made the decision with much thought and while I don't know that they regret the decision it's certainly not as trivial to them as spilling water onto their shirt.

I'm talking about a couple of teenagers that don't care about the consequences, not those that are smart enough to consider contraception.

But it's not "just another beverage."

Give me enough Pepsi, and I will be extremely ill. This means that if I drink Pepsi, I must stop after a certain point, or I will regret it. In that sense, alcohol is no different. The stop point for alcohol is probably lower than my Pepsi limit (in this case, half a can), for most people. I think it would be better if a teenager found their limit at home with someone who should be responsible enough to call for help, rather than a bunch of friends who may not want to call for help, for fear of being caught.

I agree about the cigarettes, though. They smell bad, and the smoke is harmful to others.

[deleted35362]

I'm abstinent, beer tastes like crap would rather have some fizz,

and I don't see the good in tasting smoke \:

[Original Alear]

wow, i can fool ppl on xlive AND on the internet into thinking im older than i am :D (not in college if you didnt catch tht)

Let me give you a hint, you didn't fool me with your maturity XD

College is fuckyeah

Is something you said in response to me on the "forget about the when was/is" topic so I assumed you were going or gone.

you'll think about that decision long and hard.

I'm abstinent, beer tastes like crap would rather have some fizz,

I agree, except that to compound on my weirdness I also hate soda because I hate carbonated drinks. Makes it easy not to drink. (I do occasionally indulge in distilled spirits though :)

Edited August 9, 2010 by SeverIan