You might have read a bit about the push by some college administrators to campaign for rolling back the drinking age from 21 to 18.

One scholar — John M. McCardell Jr., president emeritus of Middlebury College in Vermont — says the current drinking age is actually prompting many college students to engage in risky behaviors such as binge drinking, which in turn leads to increased incidents of sexual assault and other problems.

He proposes a system in which those between the ages of 18 and 20 are given the right to legally consume alcohol — provided they complete alcohol-education programs.

His argument, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education:

“It is naïve to believe that 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds are not going to drink,” he says. “The question before us isn’t do they or don’t they drink, should they or shouldn’t they, but how to make it the safest environment for these young people.”

It’s still too early to say whether this push will gain any type of real traction.

But given the close town-gown relationships that exist in Erie around Gannon University, Mercyhurst College, Penn State Behrend, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, this is a debate that could soon hit home.

What do you think? Would lowering the drinking age help or hurt the relationship between the Erie community and its colleges? Would it make the community safer — or would it lead to a host of new dangers?