Having the legal drinking age at 21 is actually counterproductive in stopping teenagers and college students from drinking. In fact, it results in underage drinkers consuming even more alcohol. Since they don’t know when’s the next time they can get their hands on alcohol, they are more inclined to binge drink as much alcohol as they can. This massive consumption of alcohol in a short amount of time can lead to a lethal overdose or lethal accident such as drunk driving. If people were not afraid of being denied their alcohol, then they would not take such risks and would rather drink at a moderate pace. We can learn from history that prohibition legislation is not going to control irresponsible drinking problems and in fact will make
The public agrees 72 percent of adults think that lowering the drinking age would make alcohol more accessible to kids, and nearly half think that it would increase binge drinking among teens. Lowering the drinking age would worsen the problems of underage and binge drinking. Advocates often point out that if a young adult is old enough to go to war and vote, he should have the power to imbibe alcoholic beverages. Does society think we should lower or higher the drinking age? Research indicates that when the minimum legal drinking age is 21, people under age 21 drink less overall and continue to do so through their early 20s.
“If the legal age were lowered in the US it would have to come with much more education in this area, not just the shock-value of Every 15 Minutes” said Ulrike Skillman, math teacher at Saugus. Skillman suggests the lowering of the drinking age will have to come with more alcohol education and that is the exact purpose of a “drinking license.” Which would allow 18 year olds to consume alcohol, with strict regulations, then take classes to officially receive a “drinking license” at 21 years old. The license would replicate a driver’s license, but be geared toward consuming alcohol.
There has been many discussions all over the United States is whether they should change the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Most teens will argue that they should change the age because they can go to a store or a gas station and they can buy a pack of cigarettes, a black n mild, play the lottery at the age of eighteen so they will ask so why can they not buy a beer or alcohol at the age of eighteen. Underage drinking has been out of control in the United States because teenager use fake identification cards and they will also try to go to the club with their identification card. As a teenager when I was in high school I have proof that these things happen not only in college but high school it happens more often than college students. What is
The changing of the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 resulted from the false politicization of the very serious and prevalent issue of teenage drunk driving by activist groups such as M.A.D.D.-Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Instead of trying to legislate morality, which is a lost cause, the focus should be put on attempting to create a society which breeds responsible drinking habits. Since there is no significant change developmentally from the age 18 to 21, those three years are, in essence, a state of unfounded prohibition. The drinking age should be changed to 18. One reasoning behind the upping of the age, was the fact that the brain is not yet fully developed at the age of 18, and this can result in not only lapses of judgement (i.e., binge drinking, drunk driving, etc.) but also in alcohol related health issues.
Drinking age being 18 would also open the doors for young adults to drink in safer public places like bars, rather than unsupervised places. Surely people would rather hear of kids sipping beer out if a red solo cup at a well patrolled fraternity party, than drinking shots and popping a vicodin in somebody 's basement off campus. Lowering the drinking age will also help dissolve the need for kids to “pregame” and bring the college fake ID business to a dead stop. It can 't really help reduce the binge drinking, drug overdoses, and sexual assaults (Cary). Unsupervised parties could lead to binge drinking and even young adults being drugged by others at a party.
Alcohol seems to be an important part of daily life for many people. It's a substance associated with having fun amongst friends and family. Fortunately, certain laws help to protect us against the dangers that alcohol potentially brings upon our society. Although a section of the population argues for lowering the drinking age to 18, there have been many benefits with keeping it at 21. The main purpose of setting the Minimum Legal Drinking Age at 21 is to provide safety for the public, which should be the primary responsibility of the government.
To address this drinking age should not be lowered to 19. Many people in families think that drinking can harm their life. It’s people jobs to take care of your health and live a happy life with families and friends. Many parents take care of their children and evidence is that an average family spent $24,164 for paying for college and kids don’t know that. People of this world it is more important that you can be more efficient that you can be of not drinking.
This law changed to 21 because all states would “lose a certain percentage of federal highway dollars” (“Frequently Asked”). Not only that but the rates of excessive drinking went up, along with drunk driving. Driving alone is hard enough, especially if the person is a new driver, but add alcohol and there is a very deadly mix. Being able to legally drink at the age of “21 decreased the number of fatal traffic accidents for 18- to 20-year-olds by 13% and saved approximately 27,052 lives from 1975-2008” (“Should the Drinking Age”). Since there have been less drunk driving accidents when the minimum age for drinking changed to 21, it is a safer environment if the drinking age is left at 21 instead of being
Lowering the drinking age: risky or safe? When teenagers 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 bar for a beer.
Should the legal age for alcohol consumption be lowered? In the United States, The legal drinking age is 21, but in my research, I have found that it is actually allowed, under certain circumstances and situations, to people of even lower age. Though all 50 US states have set their minimum drinking age to 21, exceptions do exist on a state-by-state basis for consumption at home, under adult supervision, for medical necessity, and other reasons. In fact, all but 5 states, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire, and West Virginia, under age drinking is permitted. Parents are allowed to furnish alcohol to minors if they are under proper supervision.
Frat parties, for example, serve booze, often, if not always, without the supervision of a responsible adult (aka an adult over the age of 21). Lowering the drinking age to 18 can be beneficial in that responsible drinking can be taught before the student turns 21. My favorite analogy, by Huffington Post writer, Elizabeth Glass Geltman, says, “We don’t have students teach each other how to drive, why is alcohol different?” In her article on Huffington Post, she talks about her college experience in the 70s and early 80s, where the legal drinking age in the US was 18. She talks about how drinking was legal for most students in her senior year of high school and in college, and that beer was commonly served at dances, proms, graduation events, etc.
If young adults at the age of 18 are old enough to vote and enlist in the army, then why can they not purchase and consume alcohol? Over the years, the set drinking age has been a controversial topic among society. Some people believe the MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age) should stay at the age of 21 because it is safer for their kids. However, lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would change the standards of alcohol as it encourages those of legal adulthood to make responsible decisions as adults, learn to control binge drinking and promote less automobile accidents. To further explain, 18 is the age of majority therefore young adults are mature enough to make their own decisions.
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).
Though people believe it would be good to lower the drinking age, we should look at the death or injury rates where alcohol is the cause, compared to the rates of accidents from people who hadn’t been intoxicated. There has been much data collected over the years showing just how much healthier and safer not only the US is, but many other countries have become since raising the legal drinking age to twenty-one. If nothing else, look at the one third of every twenty-five, thousand people that die every year due to alcohol related crashes where the victim wasn’t even intoxicated. Not only does alcohol have life changing effects on the people drinking it, but also everyone around
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