Time flies when you’re having fun. It can fly so fast that it can eventually stop. Underage drinking claims the lives of 4,300 18-20-year-olds a year. Now these 18-20-year-olds usually source their alcohol from their 21-24-year-old peers. Now, if you think about it, the 18-20-year-olds are 1-5 years off of the current legal drinking age. If we were to lower the drinking age to 18, let’s take 1-5 years off that. We would find more 13-year-olds and below drinking and binge drinking. The statistics for high school drinkers now, 34% of them have drank in the last 30 days and of those 34%, 17% are binge drinking. Now imagine those statistics on our middle schoolers. There could potentially be people who are not even hitting puberty yet and they’re binge drinking. In 2010, there were almost 200,000, um, cases at the emergency room due to underage drinking or injuries related to alcohol from people who are under 21. Not only could this be totally prevented but people who drink um are six times more likely to gain alcohol dependence when they start drinking at the age of 15 than if they start drinking at the age of 21 and this can lead to greater problems. Not only can that happen but it can also affect the development of the frontal lobe and the frontal lobe is essential for uh organization, memory, it’s also essential for emotions. And when the development of the frontal lobe is compromised, this can lead to greater uh risks suicide, it can lead to depression, addiction, violence,
Dear Uncle David, I really wish you would stop drinking all the time. I hate to see you throwing up every day. Seeing you drained of energy is frightening. You used to have a smile on your face every time you saw me, now I hardly ever see you smiling and laughing because you're always sick. I don’t understand why you keep drinking since you are always in and out the hospital. You were such an enthusiastic, funny, dramatic, fun person that people need in their life. Your smile lit up the room and now, I only see you moping drunk every time you're up and moving. It’s sickening to hear family gossiping about when you're going to die. I hope that by reading what I have to say will make you realize the problems you have with drinking and how
The legal drinking age is a highly debated topic in the United States and Canada. The drinking age refers to the age when people are allowed to buy and consume alcohol. The drinking age varies from country to country, and in some cases state to state. South Dakota, for example, allows teens to drink at 18 with adult permission unlike many other states in the U.S. Many people are happy with the current drinking age where it's at, but many want it lowered to 18. Those people that want it lowered think that when people turn 18, they are considered adults and should have all the rights and privileges that 21 year olds possess. Many people disagree with this and think adolescents are not fully responsible until they are 21. This has become a major debate in our country over the past few years as we have seen an increase in underage drinking. Being a legal drinker requires lots of responsibility and smart decision making.
Thesis: I think that lowering the drinking age would be a great idea. 18 is a responsible age, and the underage citizens would react to it differently. We wouldn't have to do it illegally and we wouldn't have that rush of sneaking it around. Out of 190 countries, 61% of those have their drinking age to 18. There are only 11 not including the united states, who has their drinking age at 21. Why not change? Our economy would grow and increase by purchasing alcohol. I think if you are able to fight for your country at the age of 18, you should definitely have the freedom of drinking alcohol.
Is it worth it to let teens to ruin their whole future by allowing them to start drinking at a younger age? Annually about 5,000 youth under age 21 die from motor vehicle, other unintentional injuries, and homicides and suicides that involve underage drinking.(“Underage Drinking”) It is a current debate on whether or not the minimum drinking age should be lowered to the age of 18 from 21. Though, the reasons why the drinking age should be 21, clearly triumph the reasons for the opposing side of minimum legal drinking age 18. When a young boy named Brian started drinking as a teenager, it resulted into increasing issues into adulthood. According to Brian, he started to drink with friends in middle school. As his drinking led on, his grades became progressively worse and he became less involved with school activities. When his drinking continued into adulthood, Brian notes that he became depressed and wanted to die. ("I Started Drinking as a Teenager"). Underage drinking is a widespread offense that results in serious or fatal physical, neurological, and legal consequences, the minimum drinking age of 21 years old is an effective way to keep these consequences from occurring and lets young adults have a safe and successful future.
When it comes to the minimum drinking age limit, there are many different perspectives as to what age is a responsible, yet reasonable age a person should be allowed to drink at. The reason there is a drinking age limit is because of the Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This act made it so that no one under the age of 21 is allowed to drink any alcohol, as well as purchase any alcohol. Some people feel that the drinking age limit should be reduced to a lower age such as 18, because the age 18 signifies adulthood. Other feel that the minimum drinking age limit should be above twenty one because they think that it will increase the amount of health issues in different countries. Despite these different views,
Teens that do the underage drinking can have many health problems. Health problems that can be caused by underage drinking is Death, serious injuries, impaired judgment, increased risk for physical and sexual assault, brain development problems. All of these health problems are serious, and they aren’t thought about by teens before they have a drink. (Underage) Impaired judgments can be considered irresponsible drinking. Significant increase were also found for other variables: “cutting class after drinking” jumped from 9% to almost 12%; “missing class because of hangover” went from 26% to 28%; “getting lower grades because of drinking” rose from 5% to 7% and “been in a fight after drinking” increased from 12% to 17%; these are examples of irresponsible behavior. (Dr. Ruth)
When you turn 18, you consider an adult. You can vote, donate your own blood, buy your own property, buy guns, get a tattoo without parental consent, and can get prosecuted as an adult. Yet you can’t walk into your kitchen and drink a beer in United States at 18. All of this doesn't make sense considering that Civilrights.org explains how the 26th amendment sets precedence for adults in the United States to make their own decisions, but by have the drinking 21 we are not following this amendment.
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.
A drinking age of 18 is associated with a increase of four percent in drinking participation. A three percent increase in heavy drinking rates is seen mainly in states that raised their drinking age. The legal drinking age of 21 fails to have fatality reducing effects. Commonly attributed to it while most of the drinking age occurred in the 1980s. Traffic accidents rates have been going down since 1969, due to things as improved vehicle safety standards, medical advances, and better driver training.
The feeling of happiness is one the most amazing feelings a person experiences. Such as when someone aces a test studied hard for, seeing that letter ‘A’ on the paper causing the nerves in the brain to tone down (nymag). Alcohol tends to have rather the same effect on a person, when one drinks alcohol the nerves in the brain slow down causing everything to feel and be ok (quota). The feeling of happiness can tend to be the reason why people drink, especially underage teens. When an underage teen rebels against something such as the law or authority, the sensation of thrill and adrenaline (your hormones). Meaning, underage teens tend to drink for the thrill, why have the drinking age be twenty one when if it were to be changed to eighteen underage drinking thrills would escape. The drinking age should be lowered to eighteen because eighteen is the age of adulthood, the economy would have a
Alcohol is drinks such as beer and rum. It contains a colorless flammable liquid which affects the thinking in persons and causes them to lose consciousness. Alcohol is a big problem in today's society. During the pass ten years the world's death rate documented is over 20,000 and the amount hospitalized is over 9,000. Alcohol drinking in teens has many side effects which could lead to several problems and risks in the loss of their lives also because of its impact on health,behavior and mind. So after a keen screen of what alcohol is about and it's causes I robustly believe that the drinking age should be raised from the current age of 18.
Alcohol leads to other drugs and substance abuse, too. If the drinking age were to lower to eighteen, this would not change the actions of young partiers. “Alcohol should be forbidden to 18- to 20-year-olds precisely because they have a propensity to binge drink whether the stuff is illegal or not—especially males” (Main). Drinking alcohol usually leads to other illegal substances. “Youths who report drinking prior to the age of 15 are more likely to develop substance abuse problems, to engage in risky sexual behavior, and to experience other negative consequences in comparison to those who begin at a later time” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).
Alcohol addiction, or alcoholism, is a big problem amongst many drinkers. Many persons who are now alcoholics started drinking before the current drinking age, making them there slave, drink after drink. Lowering the drinking age would only increase the number of clinical alcoholics and further damage the families and people who don’t drink. But drinking addiction is not the worst thing alcohol will do to you and your body. A study on the effects of drinking on the minds of young adults and teenagers was recently published in "Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research", showing conclusive evidence that drinking between the ages of 18 and 21 decreased the size and functionality of the pre-frontal cortex, which is the region of the human brain that controls decision making. The same study went to
In this day and age, when it comes to alcohol consumption and laws of alcohol use in countries around the world, many people debate about whether the legal drinking age should be raised, lowered, or stay the same. What about a society where alcohol would be illegal?? Well, when it comes to the sheer number of deaths that occur from drunk driving alone, you’d end up agreeing with it. To add to this, addiction is always a risk to be taken into consideration, because it leads to alcohol poisoning, eventually causing death. All in all, alcohol is something that is just as addictive as any other drug, and should it be treated as an illegal drug as well. The following are just some of the many reasons why this should be so.
Throughout someone’s lifetime, they get lectured about the effects of alcohol and that alcohol is a taboo and that it should be consumed in very limited amounts. Parents tell one’s child that they should vow to never drink because it would destroy their bodies when they grow older. Kids are even put into programs like D.A.R.E and M.A.G.I.C when they are in elementary school, that teaches them why one should not drink alcohol and expresses how alcohol affects your health. The overuse of alcohol/alcohol abuse can affect one’s weight and the function of one’s organs throughout someone’s lifetime.