-
Asked by nine46cup to Philip, Jake, Ann, Annette, Amy Heather on 21 Nov 2019.
-
Amy Heather Fitzpatrick answered on 21 Nov 2019:
Hello, so for drinking alcohol the answer is very simple. Alcohol is a drug with addictive properties that can damage your liver and maybe also your kidneys. The later in life that you start to drink, the lower the rates of liver cancer are seen in the population. So for example in Iceland, they increased the drinking age to 20 and saw a reduction in alcohol related diseases, many years later. If you were in charge of the country and wanted to reduce the money you had to spend on health, its very easy to increase the drinking age, as the results are less alcohol related diseases and therefore less people in hospital. In Ireland, 18 was chosen as it is the age at which you are considered an independent adult, in charge of your own medical and financial diseases. This doesn’t mean you should drink the minute you turn 18, it just means now if you want to drink alcohol you can legally drink. In Ireland, there is no rule saying you can’t get a tattoo if you are under 18, but maybe the tattoo shop might refuse to do it, if you don’t have your parents permission, in case they get in trouble. In other countries, you do need to be over 18 or 16, as you need to be allowed to make your own medical decisions legally in order to get a tattoo.
-
-
Philip Schuler answered on 21 Nov 2019:
To my understanding, any age limit defined as legal statue is based on a convention – in my opinion, it’s impossible to strictly argue for a certain age limit with regards to a certain activity, e.g. 16, 17, 18, etc.
It’s a fair and good question you raise – also you could ask why you’re allowed to vote with the age of 18 years in Ireland, why not when you’re 17 or 19.
I guess at some point, you need a number, and once you have this number defined, always you can argue against (or in favour) of it.
Comments