ipl-logo

Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18

258 Words2 Pages

First reason the drinking age should not be lowered to eighteen is because of the obvious health issues. The brain is still developing in an adolescent which not only makes them more vulnerable to the toxic effects of alcohol but can also cause irreversible brain damage. Neuroscientist Susan Tapert conducted a study and compared the brain scans of adolecesents that drank and the scans that didn’t drink, the drinkers “appeared to have a number of little dings throughout their brains ' white matter, indicating poor quality, and poor quality of the brain 's white matter indicates poor, inefficient communication between brain cells.”(qtd. in Trudeau) Alcohol does the most damage to the frontal lobe which is part of the brain that is responsible for planning, forming ideas, using self control and making decisions. To damage this area before it’s fully grown leaves society with a bunch of brain damaged adults that don’t live their lives to their fullest cognitive potential. exaggerates the alcohols’ effect and lowers the individuals chance of living healthy life. Because an eighteen year old has an underdeveloped sense of self control and decision making skills they are more likely to binge drink and suffer alcohol poisoning. According to the Center of Science as many as “30, 000 college students need medical treatment each year to cope with alcohol poisoning. …show more content…

Fox News reports that 157 college-age individuals (ages 18 to 23) drank themselves to death from 1999 through 2005.”( Niagin) By lowering the drinking age the number of alcohol related hospital visits and deaths would be significantly

Show More
Related

  • Drinking Age Research Paper

    1299 Words  | 6 Pages

    In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act which raised the drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one. Since then, the total number of fatally injured drivers who were under the influence of alcohol has dropped by fifty-seven percent among people between the ages of sixteen and twenty. Despite this, many still believe that the national drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. However, not only does a drinking age of twenty-one save lives, but underage drinking is also linked to both sexual assault and drug use. In addition, scientists say that the human brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty-five and that underage drinkers are much more likely to develop an alcohol-related problem later in life.

    Read More

  • What Is Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

    483 Words  | 2 Pages

    Permitting 18- should 20-year-olds to drink liquor over controlled situations for supervision might diminish hazardous drinking movement. Bringing down the drinking age from 21 to 18 would decrease the excitement of breaking the law to get a drink. The drinking age now stands ineffective for the majority of teens still consume alcohol. Several law enforcement agencies ignore most underage drinking. And lastly, if the drinking age was lowered it would be good for the economy.

    Read More

  • Essay About Lowering The Drinking Age

    1799 Words  | 8 Pages

    There has been a wide debate over whether or not the drinking age should be lowered from the age of twenty one to the age of eighteen, to lower the drinking age, with the hopes that it will prevent binge drinking of college students. Parents and guardians disagree and think lowering the drinking age will just result in a lower age binge drinking in high school students instead. While there are many negative sides to both of this argument, it is important that it be discussed instead of throwing it to the side. There are many solutions that can be made to prevent all of the negative things that could happen if the minimum drinking age was lowered, and if so then we need to start allowing our now considered adults to start to start drinking alcohol legally. There are many reasons as to why many parents and adults are very hesitant when it comes to lowering the drinking age, because they feel as

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Lowering The Drinking Age

    1599 Words  | 7 Pages

    But back to the matter lowering the drinking age would also produce a lot of revenue for the government and local gas stations and beer companies across the globe and it would make all of the young adults across this great country we can call home more mature in the process even though I am very mature. Particularly worrisome among adolescents is the high prevalence of binge drinking... Underage drinkers consume, on average, 4 to 5 drinks per occasion about 5 times a month. By comparison, drinkers age 26 and older consume 2 to 3 drinks per occasion, about 9 times a month. Underage drinking is a leading contributor to death from injuries, which are the main cause of death for people under age 21.

    Read More

  • Drinking Age To 18 Persuasive Speech

    1278 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Drinking Age In Ontario

    495 Words  | 2 Pages

    all dropped to the age 18 or 19 . Thus, alcohol should stay away from young adults. In summary, the drinking age needs to be changed. First of all, health organizations are more involved with raising the drinking age, second of all drunk driving happens more frequently nowadays, and finally young adults and teens should not be drinking under the ages of 21.

    Read More

  • Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

    1070 Words  | 5 Pages

    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. The effects alcohol takes on the brain is the only “downside” to lowering the drinking age, but if used responsibly it 's not that big of a problem.

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Lowering The Drinking Age

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    One main point that is argued is that younger brains are more susceptible to alcohol consumption and by lowering the drinking age, it would be approving the damage that alcohol causes in the developing brain. Emotional development, organization, and planning are all affected by alcohol consumption. Though it’s true that kids will still likely drink, that doesn’t mean society needs to approve of that decision. Another argument that is used is that more people drinking could create more unsafe environments. When people have too much alcohol, their decision-making skills are extensively lowered.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: Lowering Drinking Age

    978 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Why The Drinking Age Should Stay At 21

    603 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

    1294 Words  | 6 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Essay On Why The Drinking Age Should Be 18

    827 Words  | 4 Pages

    People will oppose to this law, but at the age of 18 an adolescent's brain is not fully developed yet. Underage drinking is a common action in today’s society. What kids do not know is the effect that underage drinking has on their brain. Since the brain is not fully developed at the age of 18, drinking

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Drinking Age

    1387 Words  | 6 Pages

    Drugs such as alcohol have an effect on all users, regardless of their age; however, alcohol has an especially harmful effect on teens since their bodies are still developing. Studies have shown that alcohol has numerous negative effects on a teen’s body and mental health; for example, a study conducted by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention stated that “alcohol consumption affects the brain’s frontal lobes, which is essential for functions such as emotional regulations, planning, and organization” (“Age”). Teens already have high emotions and difficulties planning and organizing; alcohol will only enhance teens’ struggle. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention also found that alcohol consumption at a young age can potentially cause chronic problems such as memory loss, depression, suicidal thoughts, and poor decision making (“Age”). Teens have a difficult enough time making decisions and organizing their lives, but adding alcohol to the mix will only make matters worse; their bodies are still developing, and they are still learning to be adults.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Underage Drinking

    1052 Words  | 5 Pages

    Underage drinking occurs daily in America which is controversial topic that has been present since 1984 when all fifty states decided to raise the legal drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one. The stance that people take on this issue varies, normally depending greatly on past personal experience and complex, extensive research. Staring off with a view point that other researchers agree with, is the viewpoint of a retired professor that taught Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University for many years; Dr. Ruth Engs. Her, along with some of her colleagues, did over forty years of research on why the legal drinking age should be lowered to twenty-one in the Unites States of America. Most of her research came from surveys that she would

    Read More

  • Essay On Increasing The Drinking Age

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    young people learn at home from their parents and from other adults how to handle alcohol in a responsible manner, there is societal consensus on what constitutes responsible drinking. The present age point of confinement is OK; yet in this matter an expanded age is superior to a diminished age limit. Youthful grown-ups brains aren't completely created to handle liquor, and liquor isn't an unquestionable requirement in any case. The world could be a superior spot without liquor in any case.

    Read More

More about Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18

Open Document