Age Of Responsibility Analysis

“What is the age of responsibility?” said Alan Greenblatt in his article “The Age of Responsibility.” Clearly what can be seen according to one of his lines “In America, ‘adulthood’ already has its familiar compass points, 18 and 21” (Greenblatt Par. 6) that the controversy between the milestone of adulthood and what age it should be is blatantly present in society. When Alan Greenblatt explained “...what if that age--the point when citizens are responsible enough to earn all rights [...] bear no resemblance to the ages already enshrined in law” (Par. 6) obviously what can be seen is that even though adulthood is marked between age eighteen and twenty-one, that doesn’t mean they’re responsible enough to handle them. Several factors apply to marking the milestone of adulthood, such as rites, rights, responsibilities, and overall: the age of responsibility.

In the United States of America, there is a minimum drinking age of 21. The legal drinking age legally specifies the youngest age in which a person is allowed to consume and purchase alcoholic beverages. From country to country, there are varying ages of legal drinking ages. There is much debate in the United States on whether the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen from twenty one, or should remain the same. People in favor of lowering the drinking age propose that since eighteen is characterized as being an adult (legally and socially), one of the rights that should come along with that is drinking alcohol. Also, that if we were to lower the drinking age, less young adults would be

Political writer and author, Alan Greenblatt, in his thoughtful article “What is the Age of Responsibility?” argues that “...the point of laws regulating the behavior of young people should not be to restrict them. It's to begin educating them in the ways of responsible adulthood.”. The age of responsibility, when one is legally allowed to do things like live alone, obtain a paying job and a driving license, consume alcohol, get a tattoo, etc., as of today varies and contradicts itself in our country. The current system that determines the legal age of responsibility in our country is outdated and made up of arbitrary numbers. The age of responsibility should be taken into deeper consideration. Although the legal age of adulthood in this country is a controversial issue, the current system in place for determining the age of responsibility for minors somewhat makes sense with

A college report showed that most kids are drinking to get drunk. In college a large sum and the majority of students are under twenty one. This fact is showing the immaturity of the students and more reasons the age should be twenty-one to drink. Drinking to get drunk and binge drinking are irresponsible which those under twenty-one are continually showing that they are. Yes there are adults who drink irresponsibly but the majority handle alcohol maturily. Some argue that there are children who drink responsibly, how can a minor drink responsibly when drinking at all is illegal. Binge drinking does more than harm the body , thsi is another reason the drinking age at eighteen would harm college students. Binge drinking increases academic struggles in students and while eveyone may not believe this, the actual reason for college is an education. By binge drinking obtaining this goal can be a challenge. While the college life is a large part of the legal drinking age there are other reasons it should stay at twenty-one. Drinking and driving is not acceptable by any age group and effects many lives every day. A vehicle is a weapon and operating this such weapon while intoxicated, or under the influence of any substance that will decrease your ability to operate the vehicle is foolish and dangerous for the driver, its passengers, and anyone who may be unfortunate enough to

According to Alexis Aguirre in The University Star, “Keeping the minimum legal drinking age at 21 will not dissuade young people who want to indulge in reckless alcohol intake. If anything, the age limit encourages binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age could make it easier to regulate consumption among younger adults as well as encourage healthy drinking habits” (Aguirre). Sure enough, if the drinking age were lowered to 18 it would avoid the illegal, abused intake of alcohol by 18 year olds. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, “Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking” (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). A way of avoiding such tragedies is lowering the drinking age to 18, teaching younger

A lower drinking age law would save even more lives and also stop minors from drinking under the limit. Having it higher will result in more traffic injuries and fatalities among youth. A lower drinking age is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among youth. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heavy drinking age. According to John McCardell, founder of Choose Responsibility, the legal drinking age does not eliminate consumption among young people. Instead, it only drives underage drinking underground, creating a dangerous culture of irresponsible and extreme drinking. Although the legal purchase age is 21 years of age, a majority of college students under this age consume alcohol but in an irresponsible manner. This is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing "forbidden fruit," a "badge of rebellion against authority" and a symbol of "adulthood."Keeping the minimum legal drinking age at 21 will not dissuade young people who want to indulge in reckless alcohol intake. If anything, the age limit encourages binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age could make it easier to regulate consumption among younger adults as well as encourage healthy drinking habits. “For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers.” “Among drinkers only, 32% of underage compared to 24% of legal age are heavy drinkers.”

Most people think that the brain is fully developed at twenty five this can be wrong because most teens are mature in high school. This fact can be true but not everyone is the same, especially with girls they mature faster than boys. By proving to be mature some people do not think paying bills, attending college, and holding a job states that you are responsible you can still make mistakes. In my life, my parents do not think we are capable of being responsible because most teens do not do things on their own. Teenagers think the age of responsibility is just a number. The age of adulthood in our country should be determined by the ability of a person to prove that they are mature by paying bills, holding a job or attending college instead of by arbitrary laws and set

Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will delay underage drinking, as well as terrible injuries or deaths that result from such conduct. Keeping the drinking age at 21 is driving to more cases of binge drinking in a short time because it has become a ritual among this age group. However by lowering the drinking age to 18, the binge drinking practice will decline, because it will demystify the drunken experience therefore viewed the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages becomes a disciplined behavior.

Every year thousands of students move into college dorms expecting to start their adult life. These students have every right that all adults have, except the right to consume alcohol. Currently in the United States, the legal age for consumption of alcohol is 21, which is three years senior to the other rights of adults. At eighteen years old an adult can serve in the military, rent an apartment, become legally married, sign contracts, vote, and even use tobacco based products, but they are not allowed to drink. At this age many feel the need to assert their adult age, because they logically cannot understand why they can serve but not be served. This law entices young adults to binge drink, use drugs, and engage in risky behaviors. For these reasons in personal opinion, the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years of age.

The youth is not trained or prepared to take on the burden of responsible drinking. Rather than provided leadership he is subjected to peer pressure encouraging him to act irresponsibly. The draft age and drinking age argument does not provide a convincing basis for a change in the law. A second argument often heard supporting a reduction in lowering the drinking age "eighteen to twenty year old are going to drink anyway so lower the drinking age."??????? The attached chart shows, "Over 75% of eighth grade students have tried alcohol, and 55% of them have tried it by sixth grade" ???????? While it is obvious that many teen-agers are breaking the law today, this is not advocating a change in the law. "It has been argued that laws do not impact or change behavior, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that drinking-driving laws do make a difference. Laws are a statement of the views of society, and the increase of penalties given the clear message that drinking and driving is viewed as a crime against society" (Tatman 1). The fact that laws are sometimes is not justification for changing the laws. Many supporters of a lowering of the legal alcohol age contend that eighteen or nineteen are mature enough to deal with alcohol. This argument is not supported by the facts. "Over 40% of all the 16-to-20 year olds who died in 1994 were killed in car crashes. And about half of those were

For me I think that 18 is the age of a new adult because you can get your driver’s licence. When you turn 18 years old you can get your driver's licence which gives you the freedom to drive a car without another adult.

In our society, a juvenile is eligible to vote at the age of 18, allowed to drive in some states at the age of 16, and permitted to drink at the age of 21. Therefore, it is logical to determine that a juvenile under the age of eighteen is mature enough to be charged as an adult when they commit violent crimes (Chiou, 131). According to the Justice Department, about ten percent of homicides occurring in the United States are committed by juveniles under the age of eighteen (abcnews.go.com). When the question of whether or not juveniles who commit violent crimes should be tried as adults arises, debates always surface. The debaters have a difficulty resolving this conflict because there are multiple perspectives on

However, that does not mean that we should have twenty- five be the set age for responsibility. It means that we should take into consideration the fact that adolescents are not fully capable to reach the level of understanding that adults do. It means we shouldn’t hold a sixteen year old to the same standards of responsibility as a twenty- one year old. In recent studies neuroscientists have used advanced brain- scanning technology to get a better view of how the human brain develops. Neuroscientist found that in most people, “ the prefrontal cortex and its links to other regions of the brain are not fully formed until age twenty- five .” (Greenblatt 5) This clearly shows how a teenager or someone who has not been introduced to legal rights might think completely differently and be largely less mature than an adult with a more developed brain and sense of

Do you know the age of responsibility? When you turn 16 and earn your first driver's license? Or when you turn 18 and can finally leave home and move off to college? Or just simply becoming 21 and can now legally drink alcohol? Can one of those actually be the age of maturity and responsibility?

Parents And Society always put thin lines on what exactly the requirements are for being grown. Some people might agree that being grown means that you pay your own bills, have a job, and don’t live under your parents roofs. But most people agree that if you are eighteen then you are legally grown and an adult. However we still have a system that gives prosecutors the unchechecked authority to push children into the adult system. In our court system injustices are treated very differently based on a multitude of things like race, sex, etc. I am taking a stance on things based on older people fully having wisdom of the harsh crimes that they commit, whereas