Underage Drinking

Unsupervised and driven underground, underage drinking has gained widespread popularity in America’s youth, even claiming victims such as the former President Bush’s 19 year-old daughter. At 18 years of age, a citizen can purchase a gun and tobacco, enlist in the military, get married, vote, and be tried as an adult in court but yet as an “adult” they still do not possess the right to purchase nor consume alcohol legally. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 years of age because adults should be able to make their own decisions, it is safer for the youth in America, and with alcohol education classes instilled in schools at a young age, the younger citizens will be exposed to responsible drinking habits so it reduces the enticement factor

I am Brian Reed, an undergraduate student at the University of West Georgia. I’m writing to you regarding my concerns on underage drinking in the United States and ways that I believe would help prevent such a jeopardizing act. There is a bill that provides assistance to my concerns and reasoning called the “H.R. 1717: Sober truth on preventing underage drinking reauthorization act.” According to Congress, this bill was created to provide for programs and activities with respect to the prevention of underage drinking. I strongly agree with the idea of this bill because the programs will influence citizens under the age of 21 to realize how dangerous drinking alcohol can be, which can possibly bring this illegal act an end.

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

Episode 4 "Underage Drinking; A National Concern" of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia addresses underage drinking through politically incorrect satire while still focusing on the seriousness of the subject matter. It is widely known and accepted that alcohol abuse by teenagers is not only a crime; it is also a sorrowful situation when it involves ruining lives and it can even result in death. The cast of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia presents a new and obviously demented view point to the subject. The friends portrayed in the show understand teenage drinking is unacceptable and in the opening scenes of this particular episode the cast shares some personal youthful experiences while sitting together in the

Underage drinking was, is, and always will be a problem. No matter the drinking age, teenagers will find a way to score some alcohol somewhere. Many college students actually invest in fake ID’s. This is a common way for people underage to acquire alcohol. The maturity level of teenagers is not great enough to withstand the power to buy alcohol. Teenagers are less responsible and there are studies that show it. A study commenced by “dui.drivinglaws.org” recorded that seventeen percent of fatal accidents happen from underage drunk drivers. If the law was lowered it would be medically irresponsible. The brain of young adults is nowhere near fully developed as a teenager.

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.

Furthermore, if parents taught teens how to drink properly and respectfully , accidents would surely decrease. The minimum legal drinking age of 21 is ineffective because many 18- 20 year olds consume alcohol. High schoolers still drink even though they know it is illegal. At highschool parties, teens are unsupervised and can even commit crimes while intoxicated. They say and do things they will regret

The drinking age has been a controversial issue for many years. Each democratic country has imposed a certain legal drinking age. The government of the United States of America has an uncompromising and conclusive prospect on the matter; they insist the legal drinking age be 21. As set laws are typically imposed to serve a specific demographic, there will constantly be certain minorities or groups who possess conflicting views. Teenagers exploit the system in many ways by buying alcohol with fake identification cards, drinking illegally, and going into bars. There are multiple factors for the reason that the legal drinking age should be changed to 18. One of the most obvious reasons for changing the drinking age would the amount of people who

Underage drinking has been occurring since laws were set in place for age qualifications, but it is better serving American society by continuing it because we can’t accept lowering the national age? Ruth C. Engs, a professor for Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University, finds that the mandated drinking age should be lowered to 18 or 19. If young adults were legally allowed to drink in controlled environments, then responsible drinking methods could be taught, resulting in mature behavior when consuming alcohol (Engs, 1). By keeping the drinking age so high, students or young adults are forced to hide drinking and more often than not, turn to binge drinking, an unhealthy, addictive, and extremely dangerous form of drinking that often results in blackouts and alcohol poisoning. Engs states, “For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers.” This is not the only issue that arises from underage drinking. Newsweek writer, Jeffrey A. Tucker, sees that this law is only causing “over-indulgence, anti-social behavior, disrespect for the law, secrecy and sneaking and a massive diversion of human energy.” To diminish these issues, people are turning towards the examples of other nations that have managed to maintain low drinking age laws, with low risk results. In other countries, alcohol is seen as a cultural norm and are taught at young age how to responsibly consume. However, it is treated the opposite in America, instead, it is seen as how Wil Fulton from the Huffington Post sees it, “forbidden fruit”. Fulton states through a claim made by the World Health Organization, that while Europeans tend to consume more alcohol, Americans still die from more alcohol-related causes. In efforts to change this law and hopefully encourage safe and responsible drinking, many are turning towards the Amethyst Initiative, a movement created by John

An obvious outcome of underage drinking is drunk driving, which we know kills thousands every year. But an effect of lowering the drinking age that escapes the minds of many is the easy access that younger teens and tweens will have to alcohol when their senior friends are allowed to partake of alcohol freely. When 18 year olds are still in high school, they can have legal alcohol at their social events and house parties. There’s no doubt that underclassmen will be allowed in to these events to enjoy the privilege of the older peers. The danger in young drinking makes itself clear in a CDC Fact Sheet: “About 2 in 3 high school students who drink do so to the point of intoxication, that is, they binge drink (defined as having five or more drinks in a row), typically on multiple occasions.”

In 1984, the legal drinking age was changed to twenty-one years of age. This change was made after the Prohibition. Studies during this time found that as the minimum legal drink age (MLDA) was lowered, there was an increase in youth traffic accidents. A study done after the legal drinking age was raised to twenty-one showed reduced youth drinking, youth drunk-driving, and accidents related to alcohol. The change of the minimum legal drinking age proved to be beneficial during this time period.

A serious epidemic is overtaking this country. Underage drinking is spreading like a virus. It is not just teenagers in college that are drinking; there are numerous kids in high school, middle school, and even elementary school! How have we let it get this far? There is no excuse to be oblivious anymore. Underage drinking is right in front of our faces. It is killing our children. The good news is that this is a problem that can be fixed. There is no way of completely eliminating underage drinking, but it can be greatly reduced. With efforts from the government, parents, and the media, we can diminish underage drinking a great deal. We need to start educating our children that alcohol is a dangerous drug. We need to start setting better

A To begin with the law of 21 or over for alcohol consumption is very ineffective “According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage drinking accounts for 17.5% ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol in the United States. In 2006, 72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives.”

Underage alcohol drinking can have devastating effects on teenagers. It can affect teens' grades, health and many other things as well. The reasons why teenagers consume alcohol are pretty clear. What aren’t clear are the solutions to eliminating, or at least reducing the number of underage drinkers. It is vital that we do something to at least suppress this problem. By taking action, we can greatly reduce the number of underage drinkers and it could also save not only their lives, but also someone else's life as well. Underage drinking can cause many health problems as well as educational problems in a teen’s life; therefore our country needs to decrease the number of underage drinkers by increasing both the price of alcohol as well as the legal drinking age.

     Some alternatives to this high and strict minimum drinking age could be to give all students a state funded alcohol awareness program while in high school. If students are taught about the risks and dangers of excessive drinking, they will be more likely to refrain from doing it. Nowadays, the courses concerning alcohol awareness are more