As you know the highest risks of accidents today are the 16-24 year old range. If 30% of all passenger fatalities are caused by this generation then we better rectify the problem now!

Because we are now dealing with the Baby Boomer's generation of kids, we have a larger population of adolescents driving on our roads today. More than ever before! When the government decided to lower the drinking age way back when, from 21 years of age to 18 years of age we were forced to deal with 16 year olds or younger passing themselves off as 18 year olds getting drunk and driving. The maturity level of a 16 year old can't compare with that of a 21 year old!

I am a mother of seven children, five boys and two girls. Five are over the age of 21 and two under the age of 19. Our oldest son 31 years old lives in Taiwan and teaches English, another son 29 years old has graduated from the University of Concordia in Edmonton with a BA in History and minored in Anthropology. The next one at 25 years old is residing in Edmonton specializing in house renovations. Another son 22 years old is currently attending Portage College taking Power Engineering, and two still live at home under 19 years of age, so we have had lot's of life experience and opportunity to see how society and its priorities have changed over the decades with our youth.

My husband and myself struggle constantly trying to raise our children on a positive path to enable them to gain financial security with moral values in order to obtain and secure a future for themselves. Every year it is getting harder. We as parents just don't have the influence over our young ones today that we had in the past, and we believe one of the major contributing factors is being forced to allow our kids to legally drink at such a young age. There are so many negative influences out there for our youth today. They don't seem to know whether they are coming or going anymore. A few examples (obscene and aggressive music pumping into their brains, drugs and alcohol) and they are just not interested, in what parents have to say any longer once they have reached puberty. We now have 14, 15,16 and 17 year olds passing themselves off as 18 year olds and attending alcohol permitted house parties and field parties and demanding that it is their right to go because all the other kids are going or are doing it.

We have witnessed a strong decline in family values, and the youth today are finding it is more stimulating to drink and party than it is to have calm quality family time at home. They have been raised in a society where permissiveness rules, and consequences to inappropriate actions can be deemed as abusive or unfair to the youth of today and the only important thing in their lives at this point in time is when and where is the next party. Give these kids a drivers license combined with alcohol and drugs and the result is deadly, and we now have an accident looking for a place to happen. The point I am trying to make here is, that over the years we have personally watched our youth self destruct at an alarming rate and believe that giving them legal permission to indulge in alcohol at such a young immature age is disastrous.v

Giving 18 year olds the legal right to drink is ludicrous, because we are not just dealing with 18 year olds as mentioned earlier, we are also dealing with the14-17 year old range. It is not only effecting the healthy development of their young body and brains but also affecting their performance and concentration levels at school and they are becoming bored and restless during class, and the end result is that the learning and preparation it takes for their future loses its substance. The only thing that seems to matter is the now!

Because education requirements have increased drastically today and they are in school for a longer duration than yesteryear most 18 year olds are still in high school and have another 2-4 years left of post secondary schooling to establish a career or profession. Therefore they view themselves as students at this later age in life rather than mature responsible adults and the maturity level is slower coming.

In the l960's and early 70's young men and women at that age were working full time to be financially responsible for their living expenses and therefore learned to grow and become mature and responsible for themselves at an earlier age than today. Or maybe it was, that alcohol was not a factor during that time frame because alcohol was illegal till the age of 21 and they had been given a little more time to allow their brains and bodies to grow and develop properly, than the 14 -19 year olds of today.

We and other parents like ourselves have worked very far to hard emotionally and financially to give our children a responsible secure upbringing and dont appreciate the government taking the responsibly out of our hands and making the decision that our teenagers are mature enough to handle alcohol at such a young age. How would they know the different maturity levels of the kids out there today? Even though all they would have to do is pick up a newspaper, and read the results of giving permission to these kids to drink alcohol and the events going on in our high schools today should be a good indication. Read a newspaper of yesteryear and compare the alcohol related vehicle accidents and fatalities of the same age bracket compared to those of today. As stated earlier we are not just dealing with 18 year olds here, we are also dealing with the 14-17 year olds. Where does the government feel it has the right to give our kids permission to drink alcohol while still attending school at our expense.

Our roads have now become death traps for the unsuspecting motorist and their family members due to the increased population of adolescents on the road today drinking and driving. Let's stop making victims of our family members and loved ones as well as our youth of today and tomorrow and finally put a stop to it!

RAISE THE DRINKING AGE BACK TO 21!

Sincerely

Lynne Whiteford - proud mom of 7 from Alberta