For many people, college is the time to live the good life. The time right before they’ll need to get a job in the real world to support themselves. The time to get a fake ID.

Ever since Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the national minimum drinking age has been 21. It was then found by the public population that many military bases throughout the U.S. allowed soldiers to drink even if they were underage.

Although Fort Bliss, the last standing Army post in America that allowed underage drinking, raised its drinking age to 21 one year ago, this fact is still most likely a catalyst of the alcohol consumption debate.

Is drinking alcohol a right or a privilege? Supporters of one side of the debate believe you show responsibility when you volunteer to enlist in the military. Therefore, taking on such responsibility affords you the privilege of drinking.

The other side comes back with the argument, “Do you really need to risk dying to have a beer?” I’m going to agree and disagree with both parties. I see drinking alcohol as a privilege too, but I believe you should be able to “prove yourself” in more ways than going to war.

Lowering the drinking age won’t make any difference. If you lower it to 18, in a few years you’ll have 15 year olds arguing for it to be lowered once again, and so on and so forth. It would be a never-ending cycle.

Instead, we need to give people reasons to be exceptions to the law. We need laws that can make exceptions for these individuals.

I’ve seen 15 year olds that would be completely responsible with alcohol, and I’ve seen 21 year olds who shouldn’t be trusted to be near Listerine bottles.

It isn’t age that determines responsibility, it’s the person. The choices we make determine who we are and what we can do in life.

I haven’t exactly worked out the specifics of the new rules, but maybe that really intelligent 19 year old woman who volunteers at the hospital should be allowed to drink.

Maybe the law should state that you can’t drink before the age of 21 unless you have a good academic standing and/or a lot of community service and work experience, but with the caveat that drinking under the age of 19 is illegal no matter what.

This type of law will encourage kids to go out and get jobs well before their 18th birthdays. Kids who want to have more privileges will take on more responsibility, and this will help them in the long run because they’ll have the proper work skills to get jobs more easily later in life.

It isn’t a perfect plan, but it’s a good start, and sometimes that’s all we need.

Reach Brian at brian.p.anderson@asu.edu.