Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#91

Post by saghm » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 5:52 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #78

Tehnix wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, I should maybe have been more clear. My point was that it would have better effects to change the culture around drinking, rather than increasing the age limit of when you can drink. I’m not suggesting that it’s an easy thing to do though.

Another approach is to change technology. Volvo has keys with a built-in breathalyzer: https://accessories.volvocars.com/en-us/C30/Accessories/Docu... And of course, autonomous vehicles could make drinking a non-issue for getting around, just like trains and buses do today.

If this were a universal thing, I could see it helping, but unfortunately I'd be surprised if only people who opt in having this feature makes a significant dent in the issue.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#92

Post by butisaidsudo » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #34

superbaconman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These ages really should be legally aligned. If you're not responsible enough to live your own life, you've no business telling someone else how to live.

Nothing prevents you in Japan from drinking and smoking before 20. You just can't buy such goods directly, but it's well known that people get it thru other means (via a third party, friends, parents, etc...).

I lived in Japan when I was 19, and I never once was asked for ID when buying alcohol, neither at a store nor a bar. It seemed to be largely the honor system, since you could buy alcohol from vending machines. Although when one bartender found out my age, he said it wasn't a problem since I wasn't Japanese. Go figure.

A big club in Tokyo was the only place I was ever asked, and even there I was waved right through. Apparently, they were just checking for "gang affiliation".

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#93

Post by ozim » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

pattusk wrote: post #7

> But teenagers will still be banned from smoking, drinking alcohol and gambling until they are 20. The logic of this escapes me. Although the article does not seem to mention it, it seems probable that the voting age will likely also be lowered to 18. This means teenagers will be considered old enough to make decisions that will affect the entire country, all the while being considered too immature to make decisions…

I have hard time reading "teenagers will be considered old enough to make decisions that will affect the entire country", how many 18 yo people are there any given elections? I don't say their votes doesn't count, but still in face of facts it is not real argument.

There is no way 18 yo is going to be president of any country. To be elected to parliament there is separate rule where you have to be 21 in my country (I assume it is quite the same in other countries). So even though you can vote when you are 18 you are not going to make real decision that can make impact.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#94

Post by Y_Y » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:59 PM UTC

saghm wrote: post #91

danans wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another approach is to change technology. Volvo has keys with a built-in breathalyzer: https://accessories.volvocars.com/en-us/C30/Accessories/Docu... And of course, autonomous vehicles could make drinking a non-issue for getting around, just like trains and buses do today.

If this were a universal thing, I could see it helping, but unfortunately I'd be surprised if only people who opt in having this feature makes a significant dent in the issue.

Well people do exercise this option if they are obliged to by a court ruling, or if it gets them a lower insurance premium.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#95

Post by praneshp » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 7:11 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #81

praneshp wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, the phrase risk/rewards was a trigger. I know acquaintances that drive in the carpool lane because they can afford to pay the fine if caught, and brag about it. You seemed to fall in that camp (vs thinking about higher level, heavily debated laws like the ones about homosexuality), but clearly that wasn't the case!

You never answered the question - do you ever go over the speed limit? Would you speed if the penalty was $1000 a mile over? What’s the moral difference? And in either case there shouldn’t be anymore of “a debate” about how two grown people decide to have sex and who they should marry than whether a grown person should be allowed to drink. That 18 year old college student who the government doesn’t deem to be mature…

No, I never ever go over the speed limit (except for the minor single digit breaches that happen when I'm not in cruise mode, etc.). But that's kind of a stupid question to ask, it's a super straightforward decision (at least for me) to follow the law when driving.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#96

Post by robdachshund » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 7:17 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #19

pattusk wrote: post #7

> But teenagers will still be banned from smoking, drinking alcohol and gambling until they are 20. The logic of this escapes me. Although the article does not seem to mention it, it seems probable that the voting age will likely also be lowered to 18. This means teenagers will be considered old enough to make decisions that will affect the entire country, all the while being considered too immature to make decisions…

In the US at least, the 21 yo drinking age is mostly a wholly pragmatic law [EDIT: laws. It's state by state but there was a big federal stick attached to highway funding.] to reduce teenage drunk driving (which affects more than the individual). Tobacco sales is mostly 18 in the US (although a few states are 21). Casinos also vary although the drinking age restricts It's hard to make an intellectual case for dispari…

Drinking age at 21 is for 2 reasons: makes it harder for seniors to buy alcohol for people under 18, and your brain is not fully developed until 21 years or so. Drinking under 21 gives you a much bigger risk of causing serious neurological damage.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#97

Post by tropo » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 8:11 PM UTC

devoply wrote: post #25

insertnickname wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not make it a hundred years?

Why prevent sexually mature humans from engaging in sex?

This is Japan.

Nobody is likely to have sex at all, or to do anything that is banned. If "allure of forbidden fruit" would actually work though, setting the age of consent to 120 might just be what Japan needs.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#98

Post by kazinator » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 8:16 PM UTC

pattusk wrote: post #7

> But teenagers will still be banned from smoking, drinking alcohol and gambling until they are 20. The logic of this escapes me. Although the article does not seem to mention it, it seems probable that the voting age will likely also be lowered to 18. This means teenagers will be considered old enough to make decisions that will affect the entire country, all the while being considered too immature to make decisions…

> The logic of this escapes me.

It doesn't escape me. Japan has a declining population.

Drinking, gambling and smoking don't produce babies (only an environment that is harmful to children).

The motivation here is obvious.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#99

Post by tropo » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 8:16 PM UTC

magduf wrote: post #64

jgowdy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not avoid artificially grouping those age restrictions out of an artificial sense of "fairness"? I was one of the previously rabid "if you can be sent to war you should be able to have a drink" back in my teens. The two topics aren't related. I insisted that they were to the ends of the earth before, but they aren't. Alcohol is a dangerous trap. Having the age be 21, even with some sneaking it early, is smart. 18…

>When I was in my teens and 20s, I felt like older people were just rigging the rules for their benefit. As I approach 40, let me tell you younger folks something (even if it's useless), we are all on the same team and we're trying to make things the best we can (for you too). This isn't true at all, at least in America. The Boomers are absolutely pushing for policies that will benefit them at the expense of younger…

Consider the possibility that they are wiser, having been through some hard times, and might like to leave a functioning economy for the younger generations.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#100

Post by krapp » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 8:25 PM UTC

tropo wrote: post #97

devoply wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why prevent sexually mature humans from engaging in sex?

This is Japan . Nobody is likely to have sex at all, or to do anything that is banned. If "allure of forbidden fruit" would actually work though, setting the age of consent to 120 might just be what Japan needs.

>This is Japan. >Nobody is likely to have sex at all, or to do anything that is banned.

You know you're talking about the country with the love hotels and the yakuza, right?