Alexa
Pearson
Professor
Anthony Nappi
Comp
2
January
30, 2013
Should the drinking age be changed to 18?
The
United States drinking age was raised to twenty-one years old in 1984. All
fifty states were meant to change the law to this age or they were going to get
a ten percent decrease in their highway funding. There was uproar in many
states and colleges around the U.S. that did not agree with this law. Many
students attending colleges their freshman year are eighteen years old. As many
people are aware, drinking alcohol in college happens pretty regularly. By
making the drinking age 21 many students starting college at the age of
eighteen weren’t allowed to drinking alcohol, legally. There is many reasons
why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen instead of it staying at twenty-one.
Turning
eighteen in the United States is a big deal; it means people become legally an
adult. There are many rights and responsibilities that come with becoming an
adult. For example, some things people can do as a legal adult is; get married,
vote and serve on a jury or in the military. It doesn’t make very much sense
that someone can fight for their country and possibly die because of it, but
they can’t drink alcohol.
According
to an article written by The Daily Beast “Americans
aged fifteen and up drink only three forth’s as much alcohol as Europeans do,
but are more likely to get in alcohol related accidents.” Many people think
this is because the drinking age is higher in the United States and teenagers
make more destructive decisions because they have to sneak around to be able to
drink alcohol. This also causes binge drinking to start at an early age. Binge
drinking means that a person consumes usually about four to six drinks back to
back at least twice a week. They drink to the point where they become heavily
intoxicated and have a possibility of blacking out. Binge drinking is on the
rise because more and more underage teenagers are finding it easier to get
alcohol. Also in the United States teen drinking statistics have gone up
because many say it’s easier to get alcohol than it is to get drugs. Many
studies show that children rose around parents or family members have a better
chance of growing up and wanting to try alcohol. Families with history of
alcohol abuse may unintentionally pass this trait on to their children.
Teenagers believe it is okay to consume alcohol because of all the advertising
around them. Television and signs on the side f the road show that drinking
alcohol is a great time and people enjoy others who drink. This entices more
and more minors to want to try alcohol.
Most
European countries have a drinking age of eighteen. They seem to have less
alcohol related injuries and also have teenage drinking under control. Most
American teenagers like the thought of drinking alcohol underage because it is
against the law, that’s what makes it so intriguing. A study done by the
juvenille justice center shows that people under twenty-one years old usually drink
more alcohol when their bodies can handle because they aren’t sure when they
will be able to have alcohol again.
Making
the drinking age eighteen would help prevent underage people from sneaking
around with alcohol. No matter the drinking age there will always be an issue
with alcohol related injuries and deaths. Its unfair to give anyone turning
eighteen all these privileges except legally drinking alcohol. It’s practically
telling people they the government doesn’t trust anyone under the age of
twenty-one to consume it. All other rights are given when children become
adults, but for some reason this is a huge privilege being held back.
Especially
in college there is many pressures to drink. So many college students feel as
though their friends won’t want to hang out with them if they don’t try
alcohol. Peer pressure is a very serious issue regarding many high school and
college students. But it’s okay to walk away from anything that makes a person
uncomfortable. Peers influence people in many ways but alcohol and drugs are
two of the biggest peer pressured issues. Hazing has happened in many situations,
which may lead to underage drinking. If the drinking age were lowered to
eighteen for example, colleges would have an easier time regulating alcohol
consumption so students don’t get overly intoxicated.
Many
people believe that the drinking age should be kept at 21 years old because
people younger than that don’t have a fully developed brain. Researchers
believe that people under the age of 21 can’t make the right decisions, which
is why they believe there are so many accidents involved with teenagers under
the influence. But to argue this case, anyone can make the wrong decision under
the influence. It’s very easy to go with what groups of people are doing
because they are all drunk. Everyone makes bad decisions more than once in
their life; the odds just go up when being intoxicated. When a person drinks
and alcoholic beverage twenty percent of the alcohol is absorbed into the
stomach, and eighty percent is absorbed into the small intestine. How fast the
alcohol is absorbed depends on the type of drink, the concentration of alcohol,
and if the persons stomach is full or empty. Alcohol absorbs faster when there
is no food in the stomach to absorb it. Yes alcohol will change a person’s
behavior, but if that person is careful and knows there limit there is no
excuse for having an alcohol related injury.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=drinking+age+18+vs+21&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Y78RUdG5BIOw2QWQ7oCwDQ&biw=1284&bih=680&sei=Zr8RUZDQB4PT2QXkiIHADg#imgrc=cs9VXQIcsWuV5M%3A%3BZrHbatbYQSMrIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%252F3112%252F2318827747_ab403aa777_o.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.talkleft.com%252Fstory%252F2009%252F1%252F23%252F25436%252F0539%3B362%3B372
In conclusion, the United States drinking
age should be lowered to 18 years old. Many people would lose the excitement to
drink a lot faster if they didn’t have the reason to drink because it is
illegal. If a legal adult can fight for their country, they should be able to
enjoy a drink or two. Everyone might not agree with this law, but over time it
would lower the amount of underage drinking due to the fact that it wont be so
popular.
(Watch 0:40-1:50)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXLSRtsCGQ&list=PLACF09C91B235C8FC
Bibliography
"15 Reasons Why Drinking Age
Should Be 18." Cognaccom. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
Szalavitz, Maia, and Maia Szalavitz.
"College Binge Drinking: How Bad Is the Problem Really? | TIME.com." Time.
Time, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
Sessions, David. "Does the World
Have a Drinking Problem?" The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 18
Feb. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
"Beer Taxes, the Legal Drinking Age, and Youth Motor Vehicle Fatalities." NBER. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2013.
