Lowering The United States Drinking Age To 18
In the 1980's it was legal for eighteen-year-olds to purchase and consume
alcoholic beverages. In 1984, the United States Government pressured the states to raise
the legal age to twenty-one (Rally). Their reasoning--eighteen-year-olds were too
immature and responsible in their partaking of alcohol. Outlawing the consumption of
alcohol by minors does not prevent underage drinking anymore than posting speed limit
signs prevents speeding! Is there something that all of the sudden makes us responsible
drinkers when we turn 21? Many times, we see people under 21 make complete idiots of
themselves while drinking. But can it not be concluded that we see an equal number of
people over the age of 21 engaging in those same activities? Age does not determine
whether or not an individual drinks responsibly.
Remorseless drinking has long been as much a ritual of university life as football,
final exams, and frat-parties! Alcohol abuse goes on quite often on college campuses
regardless of ones age. A great many problems related to alcohol use among college
students is in direct correlation to the national drinking age in this country. A 1996 study
found that eighty-four percent of college students under the age of twenty-one drink
(Jones 64). Although one may not have access to alcohol at a bar, but a student may be
drinking at a party or may just have an older friend buy their alcohol. Studies have
shown that college students who can legally purchase alcohol drink less than those who
can't. This just makes it more exciting for one who is underage to drink because it is
forbidden.
Alcohol consumption does not appear to pose the monumental concern in other...
... middle of paper ...
...rage students view its consumption with
a "forbidden fruit" mentality that almost always end in excess (Jones 21). Lowering the
minimum age back to 18 would require a significant shift in this country, but it is a shift
that is crucial to the alcohol problem many college students and young adults face.
WORKS CITED
Arguments for lowering the drinking age on RALLY (Realistic Alcohol Laws for Legal
Youth). Spring 1995. Syracus University. (http://wwwl.rallyusa.org/)
Jones, N and Barnes, G. Alcohol Misuse Among College Students and Other Young Adults.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998
Mooney, L., Granling, R., and Forsyth, C. Deviant Behavior. New York: Harper & Row,
1987.
According to the SSDP the reason that the drinking age is what its is all around the country right now is because the states were forced into it by the government, The government cut state highway founding by 10% to any state that didn 't play ball. This according to the students took away any chances of state coming up with better methods of preventing alcohol abuse among the younger kids. “campaigns/lowering-drinking-age http:ssdp.org”
According to Center for Disease Control and Protection, about 4,700 people under age twenty one die from injuries involving underage drinking every year. Illegal alcohol consumption has been a major problem with high school students around the nation. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one would result in major consequences for America’s adolescents. By lowering the drinking age, alcohol would be more accessible to those who choose to participate in underage drinking. The desire to drink for teens and young adults between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be caused by peer pressure or an act of rebellion. One beer might not seem like a big deal at the time, but it could lead to a life of addiction and alcoholism.
Balko, Radley. "Let My Students Drink." Reason. (Feb. 2009). Web. 19 Feb. 2016. John McCardell was a former college president who took his experience dealing with underage drinking and decided to develop an organization called Choose Responsibly. The organization supports lower the legal drinking age. He later developed the Amethyst Initiative to help campuses across the U.S. to join together. In the article, Mr. McCardell gives his reasons for starting the growing movement. The purpose of this article is to inform other college delegates and leaders about the organizations they can join they share the same beliefs. It was published in a magazine that discusses rising issues to help promote the initiative. The article is unique due to its interview arrangement which gives it a more personal feel. My thesis is supported by this article because it provides me with
Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make a lot of sense in the world. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make more sense. It would be better for the teens that drink on college campus. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because you can vote at eighteen, buy tobacco, it’ll reduce the thrill of breaking the law, evidence supports that early introduction of drinking is the safest way to reduce juvenile alcohol abuse, and college people that are not 21 drink also.
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
Lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen is a good idea because it will most likely promote responsibility, alcohol consumption will be more controlled, and, if not done so, it is posing as discrimination against the eighteen to twenty age group; however, lowering the legal drinking age back to eighteen can be fatal because the brains of the eighteen to twenty year old age groups are not fully developed, binge drinking and alcohol addiction rates will go up, and the drinking and driving rates will increase.
were drinking to get drunk than their counterparts a decade earlier, and one recent study reported an increase, just since 1994, in the number of students who drink deliberately to get drunk? (Smith 1). I interviewed my friend Shelly Mitchell who recently turned twenty-one and asked her how she felt about finally being legal to drink. She quoted, ?It is not as exciting to drink anymore, I mean I still like to go out with my friends to bars, but the fun is all over, in high school and college it was so exciting trying to get alcohol by using a fake ID.? All of these factors could be changed by lowering the drinking age to eighteen. In a study done by the Harvard School of Public Health, binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a row for boys and four drinks for girls. And when they did a survey they found that 44% of the students attending Harvard binge drink (Jeffrey Kluger 1).
We knocked on the door of the off-campus apartment, as it opened we were confronted with the heavy stench of alcohol. A young girl was passed out on the living room floor, a pile of empty beer cans filled the kitchen sink, and the deafening music rattled the window panes. A group of girls managed to stumble past us. They waved goodbye to the host, who was handing drinks to me and my sister. It was not my first time drinking. In fact, everyone there was quite experienced – after all, it’s college. Half of the guests were completely drunk, and I had no problem with it. That is, until later that night when my sister locked herself in a room with a guy she had met only a week before. This prompted me to seriously consider the effects of alcohol. Would my sister have been able to see the danger of the situation had she been sober? Would the absence of alcohol have prevented the events of that night from occurring? These questions, along with the vivid memory of that night, fueled my examination of the complex social problem of underage drinking.
In some cultures, there are situations that involves drinking. These include: birthday parties, New Year’s festivities, graduations, weddings receptions, Fourth of July, Christmas and Mardi Gras. In these holidays, people usually drink in excess to have a good time and celebrate. Different countries specialize in different types of alcohol, such as: the Italian have really good wine, Mexico is known for beer and tequila, Ireland is famous for beer and whiskey, Japan has their own beverage called Sake, and the United States is known for beer, wine, and whiskey. In these cultures, drinking alcohol is an acceptable type of celebration that teenagers even participate in. Not all alcohol consumed is in celebration. Therefore, “the top 20 percent of drinkers consume approximately 30 percent of all alcohol drunk over a 12-month period” (Grant 290).
"Young People's Drinking." International Center for Alcohol Policies Meetings & News Press Releases Welcome to ICAP. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. .
The drinking age of twenty-one is a paradox of age eighteen as the age of consent. “The age of consent is defined to be the age at which the person becomes able to make responsible decisions” (“Why the US Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to 18”). The government needs to start genuinely treating eighteen year-olds like the adults the U.S. constitution says they are (Barnes). The United States entrusts eighteen year-old citizens with ...
Overuse of alcohol is becoming a large problem across the United States of America. Drinking is always considered a problem if it is not being done responsibly or in moderation. Teenagers that choose to drink illegally usually drink as much as they can hold; in result, parts of their memory can disappear. Teenagers do not drink in moderation; as a result, they drink much more than they can handle just to be “cool” in front of their friends. Drinking can be a problem in all ages, but the most problems arise in the younger generation. Teenagers drinking are not only harming themselves but also the surrounding lives. Lowering the drinking age would cause a significant increase in school drop-outs and even deaths. Teenagers do not think about how
There has always been controversy as to whether the drinking age should be lower from 21 to a younger age, like 18. Though there are drawbacks to lowering the drinking age such as, one It may cost for use of illicit drugs. two Its easier to access other drugs, and alcohol. tree it may decrease unsafe drinking activity’s. The benefits would be that it would one get rid of feelings increasing , two people should have freedom of choice and tree, it is wrong to drink at such a young age.
According to a national survey conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “almost 60 percent of college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month, 1 and almost 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe” (NIH). Binge drinking culture refers to the recent rise and normalization of college age students drinking excessively. The CDC describes binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol level to 0.08grams within two hours” (CDC). For many young adults, college is one of the first times they will experience complete freedom. This freedom often leads to partying, which goes hand in hand with the consumption of alcohol. However, since the age at which
Unsupervised, underage drinking has become an epidemic throughout the world, but in the Americas more than anywhere else. Even the president’s 19-year-old daughter has been arrested for underage drinking. America has the highest legal drinking age in the world. In fact, only four countries in the world have a legalized drinking age of 18. When we turn 18 in America we are supposed to be adults, but then what is the 21 age mark it is like we get an adult trial version for three years without some freedom but with all the consequences.