The drinking age in Aruba is 18 and should remain that way!
I read in another post that the drinking age should be raised, I total disagree, the responsibility is of each individual parent to teach there children to drink responsibly!
No im not 18, im in my 40s and was born in the Azores and at one time there was not a drinking age i think now its 16. But you never see kids having a drinking problem there, the more you make it unavailable the more kids want it!
I been to Aruba 12 times and have brought my children along 11 times, the last 2 times my son who is now 19 has been able to have a beer or drink on the island, and never came home drunk, he was tought that drinking is not a taboo if you do it responsibly, and to this day, thank God i never had a problem with that!
So let Aruba keep there laws the way they are and instead teach responsiblity here at home.
We have no right in going to ARUBA an tell them how to RUN there island!

By the way my son was at Carlos and Charlies several nights and I too went with my wife one night, I did see IDs being checked out and the place was full of young people mostly, it was a bit loud for me but looked like a safe enought place as long as you are responsible!

I agree with the drinking age thing, if kids can't or don't drink here then when they are at a place where there are no real rules they tend to over do. Its just human nature. But then again most kids drink anyway here, so.. I was in aruba with my 3 daughters in april and never saw them asked for an I.D. and only one of them was over 18. As far as Carlos and Charlies it is just a bar, where the kids or adults go to get drunk...but I sure wouldn't have wanted my 17 year old girls hanging in there. sorry.....

Tony,

I respect your opinions. I think it is fair to say you've done a good job raising your son and he is demonstrating adult characteristics- excellent! The problem is large groups of kids w/o Mom & Dad acting like idiots. I completely support 18 yo being legal to drink. Just knock off Spring Break and Grad parties FOR A LOT OF REASONS, NOT JUST THE DRINKING.

Suds

You are correct. It is up to the parents to teach their children right from wrong. And no one other than the people of Aruba has a say on the island. However, no matter how well you teach your children it only takes one time for something to happen. And nothing is the same after. I'm also in my 40's. But when I was growing up, it's nothing like it is for today children.

The bar is probably safe, but the people who go there possibly aren't. Who know, maybe those boys earned money to kidnap young women, then turned them over to someone else.

it is deinitely not the drinking age in aruba that contributed to the disappearance of natalee. i'd like to know where her friends were that they could let her leave the bar with 3 people she barely knew. also, if i were natalee's parents, i'd be real upset with the chaperones who didn't seem to know she was gone until it came time to fly home. food for thought....

well said!!

My 19 y/o son who is in college, would not have gone on vacation with us unless he could "legally" drink. He's very responsible and so is his friend that we took with us, they didn't run out to nightclubs getting wasted, but liked to order a beer here and there and also gamble in the casinos. The Carlos and Charlie mentality is for people who are looking to get totally trashed, it's no different than senor frogs in cancun. Just my opinion.

I am 47 and have an 18 year old boy and a daughter who will turn 21 next week. I have always disagreed with our drinking laws from the start. I don't ever remember kids abusing the privilage when I was 18. My son has been drinking in Aruba since he was 16...at Carlos & Charlies too! (They did not card him!)He never abused the priviledge. I am a firm believer that when the laws changed to 21 was when kids started abusing because they were not allowed. You always want what you can't have and the suspence of sneaking it is that much greater and then once you get it you go overboard. I have heard that Vermont is looking into changing their drinking laws back down to 19 which is a nice compromise. It is sad to know that kids right out of high school who are 18 can fight in Iraq, vote, have a cigarette, but they can't have a beer with their buddies. I bet many European countries are laughing at us right now...you know the ones who start their kids with a glass of wine at a very young age and so they never feel that have been missing something so abuse never happens. The drinking thing coinsides with the speed limit thing. US may think they have done right but in hindsite they have come to realize that they have actually made things worse. At least we have come to our sense and the speed limits are back within reason. Perhaps sometime in the future statistics will offer a change with the drinking laws too. In the meantime what a shame.....

When I was a senior in high school, the drinking age where I lived (in VA. in the 60's) was 18.
Does that mean we went out and got drunk all of the time? NO! Did it mean we were horribly irresponsible? NO!
Age is only a number - some people are more mature at 18 than many at 40!

And age of legailty in this country (USA) doesn't seem to matter, as kids are drinking at younger and younger ages.

Of the many college kids I've known over the years, few haven't been to keggers shortly after arriving on campus. Legal??
NO! Still happens!

Party bars are meant just for that - - for people to get drunk and makes fools of themselves. It's kind of how I feel about shots. Seems to me the only reason you'd do them is to get drunk. Doesn't appeal to me then, doesn't today.