There has been continuous controversy and debate over the topic of lowering the already set legal drinking age from its current standing of twenty one to eighteen. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen would significantly decrease the amount of deaths of minors due to alcohol poisoning as a result of binge drinking.
This is a proven fact. According to LiveScience.com, “"The brain of an 18-year-old college freshman is still far from resembling the brain of someone in their mid-twenties," said Craig Bennett” (Than). Eighteen year olds do not know how to control themselves when it comes to alcohol. They drink very irresponsibly, never knowing when to stop. At twenty-one most people have gone through it enough, that they know their limits and when to stop. Teenagers are not mature enough to make good decisions about alcohol. When one is at the age of eighteen, the brain is still developing and growing. When at the age of twenty-one the brain is pretty much done developing. Most eighteen year olds are either in high school about to graduate or already out. The majority of eighteen year olds go to college and since it is their first year, they usually go to a lot of parties and try to enjoy themselves. At twenty-one, the majority of people are in college and trying to get an education to make a career out of it. They usually have already done the whole party scene and are settling down and getting serious. Some eighteen year olds are still in high school, this would make it easier for younger high school kids to access alcohol. This would be dangerous not only for the kids but the eighteen year olds as well. This could get them in a lot of trouble with the law. This proves that twenty-one year olds are more mature than eighteen year
However, at 18 you are generally inexperienced and can cause reckless behavior while drinking. How will it help colleges having more alcohol around? College students already want to drink and making it legal allows them to get sauced whenever. That wouldn't be good for school. But, lowering the legal drinking age allows parents to teach kids what they can handle and when they have reached their limit. It would help colleges because most universities don't report underage drinking unless someone is bluntly acting a fool. Why they don't report it? There are too many people who participate in the act to enforce the 21 drinking age. The law put in place is what drives people to drink excessively. Making a 18 drinking limit allow them to drink in
The legal drinking age in the United States will always be a point of contention. No one can settle upon a drinking age that everyone is in agreement with; should it be 18 or 21? Ages 18 and 21 are the most popular options, yet neither one has 100% of the vote. With the current legal drinking age in America standing at 21, meaning that people under the age of 21 cannot purchase or consume alcoholic food or beverages, there is the question of whether or not to lower it to 18 or 19 years old. This paper will argue that the drinking age should be lowered, and examine its impact on State University.
Minimizing the age limit would allow there to be more control over how intoxicated a person is allowed to get. When the eighteen to twenty age group is prohibited to not be able to drink, even though they are considered “adults” already, it leads to drinking elsewhere. I pushes people it into places that are uncontrolled like fraternity houses. These are places the promote drinking games and excessive, rapid consumption of alcohol, which put people in danger of getting alcohol poisoning, and that can be very fatal! In public areas such as bars, clubs, and restaurants drinking has to be done more responsibly. Another beneficial reason to lower the drinking age is that the peer pressure rates are likely to decrease. If you compare the rates of influence to take a drink in a public area as to a secluded area, the rates of influence in the secluded area are going to be higher. Peer pressure can be a very dangerous thing and in areas like fraternity houses not many people will watch to prevent peer pressure from taking place.
The United States has one of the highest legal drinking ages among the developed world, and the entire world overall (McCardell). Yet underage drinking is still prevalent in American drinking culture, and typically indicates an instance of binge drinking and often results in dangerous activity (Hingson, Zha, and Weitzman). Supporters of the current federal policy on the drinking age would suggest that drinking under 21 results in these instances of irresponsible drinking by default. Other developed countries in Europe have lower drinking ages and trends that would suggest otherwise (Rooney). The legal drinking age in the United States should be lowered to at least 18 years old to ensure a safer drinking environment for young people and to guarantee
When teen-agers turn 18, they are told that they are adults and are sent into the world. They go to college, get a job, marry or join the military. They do grown-up things like vote, pay taxes and become parents. But they can't go to the pub for a beer because when it comes to liquor, they are still just kids. Where's the fairness in the 21-and-older drinking law?
It has been a rising issue within the past century to have the drinking age set at 21, but many people are more in favor of having the age set at 18. For instance, “’Raising the drinking age to 21 was passed with the very best of intentions, but it’s had the very worst of outcomes,’ stated by David J. Hanson, an alcohol policy expert” (Johnson). Many people believe that having the drinking age set at 21 was a smart idea, but it has caused many more deaths and injuries over the years. Most of these fatalities are cause from people who are underage and choose to consume alcohol. Again, “Libertarian groups and some conservative economic foundations, seeing the age limits as having been extorted by Washington, have long championed lowering the drinking age” (Johnson). These groups see that keeping the drinking age set at 21 is dangerous as it causes more problems to the Untied States. If the drinking age was lowered, or set at 18, there would not be such unforgiving outcomes, like deaths and lifelong injuries, which are usually caused from people who are under the age of 21 drinking alcohol. Although there are numerous groups that are fighting to keep the age
In conclusion by lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age, more positive outcomes exist than negative ones. A lower drinking age will allow for those of age to have a chance to learn a better sense of responsibility, decrease alcohol related incidents and provide several health benefits. As a legal adult those between the ages of 18 and 21 deserve the right to make the decision of whether they would like to participate in the consumption of alcohol or
In fact, of all underage drinking, some 90 percent is consumed through binge drinking [as of March 2014]” (Hall). That being said, by making alcohol more readily available it will reduce pregaming and excessive drinking on and off campus. “ The main consequence of this law has been to drive college-age alcohol consumption underground, which has in all likelihood increased that consumption and probably actually increased drunk driving,” says Gordon. Nevertheless, pregaming can lead to heavily intoxicated individuals driving drunk to their final party destination; which could cause more alcohol related traffic fatalities. By lowering the drinking age young adults could safely drink a reasonable amount of alcohol, legally, without the fear of getting in trouble for doing so.
Lowering the drinking age will cause more problems than fixes. Alcohol causes many problems in the society we live in today. Not only does it affect a person’s mental health, but it also harms a person physically. Alcohol is not friendly to the human body. It can affect how many different organs function, including the brain. If the drinking age were to be lowered younger people would be exposed to these harmful side effects. Another problem that is going to happen if the legal alcohol intake age was lowered is the number of alcohol related accidents will rise past the current rate: “In 2006, 26% of the drivers involved in fatal crashes in each age group had some alcohol” (Fell). Alcohol also is involved in many other activities that could be harmful to an impaired person and then could result in death. With the drinking age set at twenty-one,
Alcohol having a set age limit has made it more appealing to teenagers than anything else, so why not lower the drinking age? This has been a hot topic for many of decades but has started becoming more relevant in today’s social scene. Teens are still going to drink whether the law is changed or not so why go through the steps of changing it? For starters if the drinking age was reinstated at eighteen where it was for many years (in certain states). Youth would be more informed of alcohol and how making certain decisions while under the influence could alter their lives, instead of treating it as the forbidden fruit. Everything changed in 1984 when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed and now federal law has it listed as no one under the age of 21 can buy or consume alcohol, this is where it stands today. There are numerous reasons backing why lowering the drinking age to eighteen would be both logically and socially acceptable, reasons ranging from at the age of eighteen your classified as an adult to how many countries have had lower drinking ages to eighteen or even younger and have had less issues surrounding the consumption of alcohol.
Think back to college: throwing parties, getting wasted, getting in trouble for having alcohol. Back then, you probably thought that life would be better if people your age were allowed to drink. Now however, you might think differently. Many people around that age group believe that the drinking age should be lowered. Now though, people who are older and more mature, believe that the legal drinking age should not change.
Lowering the drinking age will increase peer pressure to consume more alcohol and lead to binge drinking. College provides the perfect environment for peer pressure. Often times having fun at college means alcohol will be involved. It can be hard not to fall in that trap of wanting to fit in when your roommate and buddies are drinking. “Peer effects on binge drinking are robust, regardless of gender and prior drinking” (Eisenberg n.p.). Peer pressure can not only affect 18 year old college students but younger students as well. Peer pressure may lead to the selling of alcohol to students younger than 18. 18 year olds could very easily buy alcohol for a younger student (Alcantara 468). Younger peers would have more success with a fake idea for 18 than 21(Alcantara 468). The number of young binge drinkers would increase because of easier access. “Alcohol is one for the most used and abused drugs among teenagers in the U.S.”(Alcantara).