Do not Lower the Legal Drinking Age

The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 in the United States and allowing these young adults to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions (Engs). There are several ways responsible drinking can be shown and taught. One way is by older adults being good role models of this as well as educational programs that focus on responsible drinking and why it is important. Right now in most states in the U.S., the legal drinking age is currently twenty-one, although the majority of students in college are consuming alcohol and not always in a responsible manner (Engs). When these students are drinking under the age they see it as rebelling against authority and realize its risky behavior and still choose to partake in it making their actions irresponsible. “Prohibition, which banned most alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933, normalized the frenzied sort of drinking that occurs today at college parties” (Glaser). My final point

Samantha Juneau Marguerite Newcomb English Composition I April 6, 2014 Why the Drinking Age Should Stay at Twenty-One The United States drinking age throughout all 50 states has been the same since 1984 when a law was put in place by the U.S. Congress punishing all states who did not abide by the legal age limit of 21. Since this law was put into place, it has become one of the most widely studied laws in history. While there are many arguments and new bills being created to reduce this age, especially among college universities, all have failed to become law. Over half of adults agree that lowering the drinking age would increase binge drinking among teens, and 72% believe that it would make alcohol more accessible

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.

Lowering of the Legal Drinking Age Research Paper "Adults under 21 are able to vote, sign contracts, serve on juries, and enlist in the military, but are told that they are not mature enough to have a beer?," said Ruth C. Engs, a professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University (Engs). No matter what is done, teenagers and young adults all over America are going to drink if they want to. The question is, why can 't they start legally drinking when they enter adulthood? An alternative to simply lowering the minimum legal drinking age could be thought of, such as, having a learner 's permit for responsible drinking for people between the ages of 18-21. In other cultures where the minimum legal drinking age is lower, there is not as large of a problem with drinking. Lowering the minimum legal drinking age would stop criminalizing a large amount of people for the minor crime of underage drinking, which on your record makes it hard for young people to apply for jobs or apply to colleges.

Lower the Drinking Age 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

Alcohol is usually sought after within the adolescent community and has been an issue among young people. On July 17th 1984, congress passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which enforces the legal drinking age and purchasing of alcohol in the United States to be twenty-one. Since then, the debated idea of whether or not the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen has been an ongoing topic for decades. Alcoholism affects many people in the United States but promoting it at such young age would not be such a great idea for the youths in today’s society.The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact that it poses many dangers in the lives of teenaegers especially brain damages, underage drinking has declined since 1984, enforcing alcohol among teenagers may cause an increase in drunk driving and deaths and most importantly, teenagers who start drinking at an early age are more than three times more likely to develop alcohol dependency later on in life than those who started at the legal age of 21 or later.

The debate of the drinking age has been long discussed throughout America. The drinking age has been 21 for the last 22 years, and people around the country have wondered weather or not this was the right call. People say that 18 year olds may not be mature enough to drink alcohol and might not know when to stop. It isn’t that teenagers don’t know how to stop, but rather have not been properly taught when enough has been consumed or how to drink responsibly. Changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 years old will take the thrill that teens get from breaking the law while drinking, will no longer give them the idea that drinking is the final stage of adulthood and full maturity, and will no longer force teenagers to drink in unsupervised

There are numerous problems involving alcohol in the world today, including alcoholism, drunk driving, and alcohol poisoning leading to death. Many of these problems involve minors and are linked to drinking underage. The legal drinking age in many states is twenty-one years old. The purpose of

Should the Drinking Age be Lowered from Twenty-One to a Younger Age When people think of drinking, they think of fun games and parties. However, this depiction is wrong. When individuals under twenty-one drink, consequences emerge. In the United States, the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is twenty-one. According to the

Tayrin O’Rand 14 March 2012 Should the Minimum Drinking Age be Lowered? The minimum drinking age became a hot topic ever since it was set to twenty one years old. It is a law not everyone welcomes with open arms, one that has the most impact in the lives of adolescents and if violated, one that can put a state at risk of forfeiting ten percent of its annual federal highway appropriation. John M. McCardell Jr., president of Middlebury College; founder and president of Choose Responsibility, a non-profit organization, clearly states his desire for the National Minimum Drinking Age Act to be lowered to avoid binge drinking. On the other hand, Melanie Fonder and Misty Moise, among others, clearly express the benefits of this law and the

"The presidents of 135 colleges have called for lowering the drinking age from 21. They note that the age restriction hasn 't stopped binge drinking on campus and argue, not without reason, that it has turned alcohol into forbidden fruit begging to be picked. Perhaps teaching young adults how to imbibe in moderation is the safer direction to go (Harrop)." Having the drinking age at 21 does not teach young adults who are starting to pledge anyway, how to drink responsibly. It makes them hide away from adult supervision and makes alcohol seem that a great deal more appealing. Office of the trill of drinking underage is hiding and getting away with it, so lowering it to 18 would take the thrill of drinking underage away. Things cannot go on this path.

Without a doubt, the United States has been facing serious national problems with underage drinking. Depending on personal ideologies, some people might not agree that the current minimum drinking age of twenty-one is based on scientific facts rather then ideology of prohibitionism. For example, since 1975 over seventeen thousand

For countless young adults after high school the next stepping stone is college, however, students are not only learning from the classes they attend, but also from the parties. Consequently, they are being introduced to alcohol and plenty of it; learning how to shotgun a beer or attempt a keg stand is all the rage. Suddenly, people are viewing college binge drinking as a right of passage for even their youngest students. Thus, demands the questioning of lowering the drinking age to counteract college binge drinking. “The reality is that at age 18 in this country, one is a legal adult. Young people view 21 as utterly arbitrary—which it is. And because the explanation given them is so condescending—that they lack maturity and judgment,

This era of teen indulgences has become an issue across the country. The problem is the bizarre and reckless drinking habits of the young adults in America. Focusing on college campuses, this is where many mishaps with alcohol takes place. When some young adults in the age range of eighteen to twenty-one think of the word "college," the word "party" also comes to mind. Partying in college is like a general tradition which is being depicted in many movies; although, they usually end with incidents regarding an irresponsible, intoxicated teen. With all of these real life and terrifying events, some U.S. states want to lower the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) anyhow. Missouri, South Dakota, Vermont, and Minnesota would still like their MLDA lowered. As reported from the Guardian Unlimited, there are bills in Missouri, South Dakota, Minnesota and Vermont that would lower the drinking age for the general public; Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina have introduced bills that would make alcohol available to those under-twenty-one that are serving in the military. Although, there are several organizations that support the Country’s decision on the MLDA of twenty-one. These organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the Gallup Organization try to develop smart ways to empower the movement of lowering the risk of unsafe drinking. All we simply have to do is keep the legal drinking age, for all states, at twenty-one.

The Debate Over the Legal Drinking Age College life is filled with changes. It is filled with many new experiences. As college students, we are on our own, adults. As adults we are responsible for keeping up to date on information that affects us. One issue that affects college students nation wide is drinking. The current legal drinking age in the United States is twenty-one years of age. The Federal government raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1984. Even with the current drinking age at twenty-one, many people under that age choose to drink anyway. In fact, a government survey from 1996 showed that 56% of high school seniors reported drinking in the last 30 days (Hanson). With so many underage drinkers, many people