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Raise drinking age to 19, school division demands

By: Nick Martin

2/03/2009 6:34 AM | Comments: 40

The St. James-Assiniboia School Division wants Doer government to raise the legal drinking age to 19.

TOBY TALBOT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES Enlarge Image

The St. James-Assiniboia School Division wants Doer government to raise the legal drinking age to 19.

A city school division wants the legal drinking age raised — because principals fear that some students who can legally drink are choosing to go into licensed establishments at lunchtime.
"We’ve had students arriving in the afternoon, 18, able to drink, and we’re able to do very little, unless they’re obviously intoxicated," St. James-Assiniboia School Division board chairman Peter Carney said. "We have many students, in our Grade 12 especially, who can legally drink."
The division is preparing a resolution to be tabled March 20 at the annual convention of the Manitoba Association of School Trustees.
St. James-Assiniboia wants school divisions to demand that the Doer government raise the legal drinking age to 19.
Education officials elsewhere in the city say there are sometimes students who come to school under the influence, but that students legally able to drink and going into a bar or licensed restaurant during school hours hasn’t been a noticeable problem.
Only Alberta, Quebec and Manitoba allow drinking at 18, Carney said.
"We hear about it from the principals. There’s little they can do," Carney said.
St. James-Assiniboia has four high schools.
Other divisions said it makes no difference whether students can legally drink, that coming to school under the influence of alcohol or drugs is inappropriate conduct.
"I’m aware that principals from time to time deal with students under the influence," said Seven Oaks superintendent Brian O’Leary.
The age of the student doesn’t matter, it’s whether he or she has been drinking during school hours, O’Leary said. "We would treat it as conduct unwelcome in schools."
Schools are concerned that students who have turned 18 can buy alcohol on behalf of underage students, O’Leary said, but that concern is directed at adult students going to liquor stores and beer vendors, then delivering the alcohol to underage students.
Students legally entering licensed establishments and drinking at lunch would not be a major issue. "I’m not sure how prevalent that would be," said O’Leary.
"The great majority of our high school students are responsible young people," Louis Riel superintendent Terry Borys said. "There are always people who make bad choices, and have to suffer the consequences."
But Borys said students legally drinking during school hours is "not something I have heard from my principals. That would certainly not be many," said Borys.
"We’re not aware it’s a problem" among 18-year-olds, said a Winnipeg School Division official. "If a student comes to school and they’re under the influence of alcohol or other substances, they’re suspended and sent home."
Doug Mowbray, Manitoba head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said Sunday night MADD supports any increase in the legal drinking age. Some states in the U.S. have raised the drinking age in recent years, he said.
"Between drugs and alcohol, there is the odd person who does abuse that," said Mowbray. "When someone walks up to me who’s been drinking, I can sure tell that."
But, said Mowbray, MADD is not aware how much of a problem it is for students legally able to drink doing so during the school day.
If schools suspect a student has been drinking, they should call the parents or the police, even if the student is legally an adult, Mowbray said.
Students can’t simply be shown the door, if it means they’re on their own to drive or otherwise get home if they’re under the influence, said Mowbray.
nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Drinking age

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The legal drinking age is 18 in Manitoba, Alberta and Quebec.

In all other provinces, the legal drinking age is 19.

In the U.S., the legal minimum age to purchase alcohol is 21.

 

 

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40 Commentscomment icon

This is a really bad idea as are most school division policies i.e. suspending students who are truant too often (tell me how that one makes sense). If these 'adults,' and I'm using that term loosely, feel the need to show up at school intoxicated, perhaps an afternoon in the drunk tank up in the core area will be a wake up call. Sending them to a counsellor is a waste of their time and the counsellor's time as 99% of them won't want to go anyway if given the choice. If people don't think they have a 'problem' we are wasting our time convincing them they do.

Why should laws be changed just to molify a few. If the school board has a terms of conduct for their students then they should enforce it. If the board is not capable then perhaps there is a bigger problem here that needs attention.

It would be a simple enough matter for the St. James-Assiniboia School Division to enact a policy prohibiting students, staff and visitors from being on school property while under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances. Since this school division has not done so, and since other school divisions don't seem to feel this is a real problem, it's hard to escape the conclusion that the St. James-Assiniboia trustees are simply grandstanding in advance of the MAST convention. If your editors had chosen a Shakespearian headline for this article, it surely would have been "Much Ado About Nothing."

Some school administrators are definitely out to lunch (pardon the pun). Do your jobs and council and if necessary expel students of any age that are caught either drinking or are inebriated on school property. C'mon now, are you not in charge of your school(s)? If so then do your job! I also find it funny that there are still people out there who are concerned about kids smoking cigarettes on school property. Wake up people, it's easier for a kid to buy some marijuana from a locker buddy than it is to buy cigarettes! And yes, the marks go down with every dope filled free period experience.

I graduated high school in 2006. Let me tell you, the people who drank at lunch time or during spares were certainly not 18 -- nevermind the many, many students who decided to smoke pot either at home or on school property. This is a ridiculous change that is really not going to affect anything so long as teens have beer at home and parents at work.

Realist, actually, SJSD does NOT allow smoking on any of it's properties. Has been in effect for quite a long time.

I think those same people on the school board should be taking a closer look at the adults who are in care of our children that show up to work smelling of alcohol. Age is not the issue here.

Just because you raise the drinking age to 19 doesn't mean at all that people will stop doing what they are doing. There are many kids who go to school who are 16 and 17 who easily get ahold of alcohol and come to class under the influence. Just because you are not of age, doesn't mean other people arent. When i was in high school, 15 year olds came to class drunk!

I don't see this coming to light at all. Keep it at 18.

Why won't the school division just treat them as the adults they are, and call the police for public intoxication? If the police are called for any other illegal matter, like vandalism or assault, what's the big hold-up when it comes to suspected drunkeness? Are employers to simply call upon a higher drinking age if their employees enjoy a few beers over their lunch break? Get a grip.

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