Essay On Why The Drinking Age Should Be 18

The first and most used of the three arguments is that it could reduce or even eliminate unsafe drinking activities. One of the most dangerous times for drinking in the United States is between the ages of 18 - 20. Once a person reaches the age of 18, he or she gains all of his or her legal adult rights, except the right to drink. By allowing supervised drinking ability for those in the age bracket of 18 - 20, it could reduce or even eliminate risky drinking behaviors that can lead to bad decisions. Besides, it has not stopped teen drinking, and it probably never will. It has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behaviors by teens. If the legal drinking age was lowered, those teens would be able to drink in a more controlled and much more safe environment where they can be monitored and supervised. Then they will be less likely to harm themselves or others. The second argument that is used is that there are fewer drunk driving accidents in countries with lower drinking ages. In quite a few countries around the world, the legal drinking age is already 18. In these countries, there has been a very large downsize of drunk driving accidents, while in the United States, where the legal age is 21, there is a far larger number of these accidents, some of which tend to be fatal. The third

But while it has succeeded in that, it is also believed that tougher rules, such as DUI rules and seatbelt safety rules have also played a part in this decrease. However, this higher drinking age hasn’t reduced drinking, its only “driven it underground,” Gabrielle Glaser states in her NY Times article. It has been driven underground to the riskiest settings, high school parties and frat parties that are unsupervised. This age raise segregates the drinking away from adults that can model moderation in drinking. If an 18-year-old high school senior is shown by his/her parent(s) how to drink responsibly and in moderation, I believe that it would greatly help in reducing the chance of making bad decisions by overdoing it, such as driving while drinking. Teaching children to drink safely starting while they’re 18 and living with their parents will help them develop healthy habits which will stick with them, helping them drink

In the United States, turning 18 is a huge step for people as it marks individuals entering the adult world. At that age they are considered an adult in society. Open to more liberties, these young adults can drive, vote, join the military, and die for their country; however, they cannot possess or purchase alcohol. The current minimum legal drinking age, also known as MLDA, in America is 21. Numerous debates still occur today about the minimum drinking age. A poll taken on July 2014 asked the public opinion of US adults for lowering the US legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Approximately 74% of the people opposed the idea, whereas roughly 25% of the people supported the idea ("Public Opinion" 1). The statistics indicate satisfaction among the majority of the people; however, with the current laws many issues arise that must be addressed concerning alcohol use. For starters, studies show an increase of dangerous drinking habits among young adults (Hall 2). In addition, the enforcement of the drinking laws and education on alcohol is insubstantial (Moyse, Fonder 3). Society places laws to protect individuals. The rise of alcohol abuse raises the question if the minimum legal drinking age of 21 secures protection of the people. With proper enforcement of drinking laws in addition to education about alcohol, the minimum legal drinking age of 18 provides a safer drinking culture.

The pure thought to get caught by the police or your parents is frightening to teens or underage drinkers and that 's why people use binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as excessive amounts of alcohol consumed in a short period of time. Teens do this because when your illegally drinking you don 't particularly have a lot of time to drink so you just do it as fast as you can to use the time you have with your friends to get wasted but to be home before curfew. Many accidents and deaths have happened because of binge drinking, and we could lower the chances of binge drinking by lowering the legal drinking age to 18.

Why the drinking age is set the way that it is? The national drinking age act of 1984 stated that among 18-20 year old in areas where the drinking age had been lowered have more opportunities of having an accident. Some collage contend that by lowering that drinking age college would be able to bring booze out into the campus and educate students on responsible consumption. For a while Louisiana was a safety place for thirsty teens to drink until the state passed a law that made illegal to buy alcohol if you were under 21. Mothers and many other began to protest for a uniform national drinking age of 21 to help eliminate and keep alcohol out of the hands of less immature 18 years old. I would thinking that the problem wouldn’t be really if you should drink at 18 because you could be immature. Any person can be immature at any age. So therefore I am in favor by lowering the drinking age to 18.

Over the years, the legal drinking age in the United States has been heavily debated. Some argue that the legal age to drink should be 18 or 19 because people at that age are recognized as adults; others argue that the drinking age should be 21 because people who are able to drink should be more mature and have their lives better planned out. Although people are legally adults at 18, they are not yet mature adults; in fact, according to NRP, “emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don’t reach full maturity until the age 25” (“Brain”). Before earning the right to legally drink, people should allow their bodies to fully develop and gain a better knowledge of how to organize their lives. The drinking age should remain

One con of lowering the drinking age is that it may interfere with the development of an young individual’s brain. Especially the frontal lobes, emotional regulation, planning, and also organization. When a young adult consumes alcohol it increases the potential of having chronic issues, like greater vulnerability to addiction. It also plays a role in depression, violence, and reduced decision making ability (Ives2008).

For about 40 years ago there have been discrepancies about the drinking age. In the late 60s and early 70s exactly 29 states lowered their drinking age. They did this because they wanted to at least match the enlistment and voting age. Which was and is 18. This resulted in drunk-driving accidents. This cause 16 out of the original 29 states to move their drinking age back to 21 in early 1983. Then, July 17, 1983 President Reagan signed to a “uniform age of 21” for legal

In fact, the law may increase the amount of eighteen to twenty year olds who do drink. It has been shown that, especially in college-age students, there is a tendency to not do what they are told, on the contrary, they will do the exact opposite. The problem with the drinking age being twenty-one is that some students drink purely out of defiance). The number of fatalities is down in all age groups, not just teenagers, and cars driven now are much safer than the cars that were being driven in the early 1980’s, and teenagers are much safer drivers, which can be attributed to the decreased amount of fatalities. Also, in other countries that have lower drinking ages, the number of fatalities has

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed thirty-one years ago in July of 1984. Since then, it has been contested by many that the minimum age should be lowered to eighteen. Arguments ranging from being able to join the military, or courts trying you as an adult at the age of 18 have long been heard. Others will say the United States is too strict with the minimum age with only six percent of countries having a minimum age of twenty-one. This could mean one of two things: either we are too strict, or we are responsible with the laws created to protect young adults from the effects of alcohol.

However, “90% of drunk driving deaths in the United States were found in the over 21 age group” (Gruenewald). For this reason, drunk driving is not directly correlated with the drinking age. In addition, the percent of drunk driving deaths in the United States has reduced at a slower rate than European countries where they have their legal drinking age at eighteen. This suggest that if lowering the drinking age was a success in Europe, it may also be effective here in the United States to diminish the amount of drunk driving deaths. This is because people that become injured due to alcohol or alcohol poisoning are afraid to report their injuries to the hospital or authorities out of fear of illegal consequences for underage drinking. Therefore, lowering the legal drinking age encourages teenagers to assist others from the dangers of drinking and

The national drinking age should not be lowered. The reason the drinking age should not be lowered is because of college students. Accidents and other risks such as mental problems occur. Since the brain is still developing many things occur such as emotional ,behavior, and accidents.

In addition, many people drink illegally because of the age limit 21. After high school, people go to college and they are exposed to alcohol because of others that are age. It should be 18, then it would not be a problem at colleges or anywhere. Many people are exposed

Okay, so let’s say that you’re at a party with your friends and you guys are drinking, then you hear a police car; your first instinct is to run, but you’re too drunk to think or even move. Then the cops come and pick you up and you get in trouble. You know that you got caught drinking because you were underage and because your brain isn’t fully developed, so you couldn’t process as well as you should have, so at that moment you got caught drinking. Aren’t you so smart? So now I ask you, do you really want to be in trouble with the law and everyone see you differently and judge you for one mistake you made? I believe that the drinking age should stay the same. There are many arguments about lowering the drinking age. People believe that if you can live on your own and be “independent” at eighteen, then you should be able to drink at eighteen. Also if you can go and enlist for war at eighteen and do anything as an adult then it should be lowered. But you have to think some of you guys haven’t even matured and you want to be treated as an adult. Like, how about not you can wait till the age of

There is a large debate throughout the country about what the legal drinking age for each state should be. Currently, every state in the United States has a legal drinking age of 21. This has not always been the case. Between 1970-1976, it was made legal for states to choose their own legal drinking age. 30 states lowered their drinking ages ranging from 18-21 but this law was ultimately overruled and the legal nationwide age became 21 with the enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984(18 interesting pro, 2015). Based off of this alone, it is evident that there are pros and cons as to if the age should be younger or kept at 21.