Age of Responsibility

The drinking age was moved from 18 to 21 for a reason. The higher drinking age of 21 has saved many lives, helped reduce the amount of underage drinking, and therefore should not be lowered. Many studies from a large variety of sources have proven higher drinking ages have a positive effect on society.

Other people might argue with this, some people will say that 18 is too young to responsible for yourself and except the consequences that adults get. People will say that at 18 you are not mature enough to understand your actions, but 18 years of life does prepare you. 18 year olds are mature enough to be adults, because they should have common sense of what’s right and wrong. 18 is the perfect age for people to be considered an

What is the right age of responsibility, where a teenage is entitled as an adult? Some say 18 and lower, while others say 21 and higher. Nowadays, there is a wide spectrum of ages as to what is deemed to be correct in society. “What is the age of responsibility” by Alan Greenblatt explains how young adults are constantly getting mixed messages as what age they are viewed as responsible young adults. The age of responsibility for young adults should be at age 21.

The article “What is the Age of Responsibility?” by Alan Greenblatt investigates the different ages states give young adults and how they can cause confusing as to when the age of responsibility comes into play. The article gives an account of one man, Justin McNaull. “By the time he was 23, McNaull had graduated from college, married and

“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.

Throughout history drinking and the drinking age has been a controversial topic. There have been many criticisms regarding the drinking age, many of which have some valid points. Some of which believe there should be no drinking age others believe drinking should be banned. The United States government passed a law in 1984 restricting persons under the age of 21 from purchasing alcohol. Brain growth, body growth, and maturity are all factors when looking at why the drinking age is 21. We should also consider the upside of no legal drinking age less abuse, more tax revenue, tradition.

I believe maturity is not dependent on a person’s age because humans are affected by different situations, are different genders and are raised differently.

Everyone knows that it is illegal to consume alcohol under the age of 21. Why is 21 the "magical" age that makes a person intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? Sure, some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly, but why not 18 or 35 or 40? This seemingly random number, 21, is associated with adulthood, as if the day a person turns 21 they know everything and are mature. The drinking age should be lowered to where one can learn to drink responsibly.

Despite the facts that individuals contend with twenty-one the magic amount of our general public was pulled out of thin air as the suitable age. Here is the explanation for it the drinking age initially began at twenty-one yet in the sixties and seventies it gradually brought down to eighteen. Yet states recognized a huge increase in the highway death to teens have an influence on these laws. Then states realized before the change, the roads were much safer. This is ultimately why twenty-one was the suitable number.

The legal drinking age should remain at twenty-one because having the age at twenty-one effectively cuts down on consumption and drinking is a dangerous activity. People under the age of twenty-one are not fully developed mentally and therefore should not be permitted libations. Drinking is a dangerous

Some say that the brain doesn’t fully develop until at least age 21. According to research released concerning the stages of brain development, “ the brain does not finish developing until a person is in their early twenties.” This means that young adults, around 21 years-old and older, are expected to have more knowledge and should be able to consider all facts and/or consequences before consuming different amounts of alcohol. It is also said to be that drinking at age 21 saves lives. “Scientific evidence shows that raising the minimum drinking age in 1984 directly resulted in reduced alcohol-related crashes and fatalities among people.” This statistic is a major factor in determining what the legal drinking age should be since there is proof that lives are being saved. Regardless of the amount of lives being saved, “To save a life. You saved

In the united state, anyone after the age of eighteen is considered as an adult. They are expected to be counted as a responsible grown person, which means that one is responsible for making their own decisions, education, bills, and goals. Also, at the age of eighteen in the united state; a person can vote and enlist to fight and protect for the love of their home country, but they are not allowed to have a drink of a beer legally. In the article “The Gallup Briefing” by author Carroll agrees that if the government lowered the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen the number of young people who gets hurt from alcohols or other related accidents that happens due to fear of legal consequences would decrease lot faster. Even though, the government have ruled the drinking at twenty-one, personally, I strongly agree with the statement by author Carroll. For that reason, I will be discussing about the goods and bad of lowering the drinking age, and the consequences that has among people and surrounding.

Likewise a 18 year old has many other adult like perks such as getting married driving and serving the military which are all have a much much more adult like manner getting married is a threatening decision decision for most people so if 18 year olds can do it then why couldn’t they have a smaller decision such as drinking and even a bigger decision can be made at the 18 year old mark which is serving the military and that can be a very dangerous place for such a young person to go to the military can present many life setbacks such as injury and loss of time to finish the time at the military so if that decision can be made at such a low age then the small decision of drinking should be given too at that age because it is much less dangerous and can have a smaller life changing impact.

A widely debated topic that has gone on for many years is whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years old, as opposed to where it is now, at twenty one. Some argue that at age eighteen, a person is legally an adult and able to go to war, vote, and partake in other adult activities. If they are an adult at this age, why are they unable to legally drink alcohol? There are numerous reasons why drinking is unsafe for those under twenty one. The drinking age is set at age twenty one for a reason, and should stay that way. Some states have experimented with the drinking age in the past, but unsuccessfully. Between the years of 1970 and 1976, some states lowered the drinking age and the results were disastrous and promptly rose back to the age of twenty one (Main). Most eighteen year olds simply are not responsible nor mature enough at this age to handle alcohol safely. Drinking at a younger age has a potential to cause health problems, issues with younger teens, in addition to complications with college drinking and in worse case scenarios can end in death.

The question is: Should eighteen be the new drinking age? There are so many aspects to that one question. Are they mature enough, are their brains fully developed, and what about accessibility? Those are just a few thoughts on this hot topic. In 1984 President Reagan signed a bill that changed all states’ drinking age to twenty one. He found that in many states that had previously switched from a lower age to the twenty one age acquired lower rates of deaths caused from driving (Rowley 1). Just a few years difference in the age, but there was a dramatic amount of lives being saved. Teens have an immunity to alcohol, even if they have never had a drink. Being more immune results in more drinking, and leads to making not-so-smart decisions. Despite being a legal adult at the age of eighteen by law, individuals at this age still lack the overall maturity to be knowledgeable about the consequences of their reckless actions when drinking alcohol.