Pros And Cons Of The Legal Drinking Age

No one can argue with the fact that underage drinking is a huge problem in our society today. Nonetheless, there are ways to decrease these problems. The current drinking age, twenty-one, is not beneficial to our country anymore. Lowering the age to eighteen with a license will impact our country in a positive way, by decreasing the numbers of drunk driving incidents, and alcohol poisoning due to minors drinking in secret Those who oppose lowering the drinking age say that lowering it will cause less underage age drunk driving accidents. They also say that the 18-20-year-old brain is not developed enough to safely consume alcohol.

Changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 years old will take the thrill that teens get from breaking the law while drinking, will no longer give them the idea that drinking is the final stage of adulthood and full maturity, and will no longer force teenagers to drink in unsupervised areas. A major reason behind teenagers drinking is because of the thrills that it entails. Not only does it give teenagers the feeling of being drunk, but it also give them the thrill of breaking the law. According to Ruth Engs, drinking by teenagers is seen as a “forbidden fruit, a badge of rebellion against authority and a symbol of adulthood.” (Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered) ProCon.org says that if America changed the drinking age back to 18, then drinking for these youths would become more of a normal activity. They wouldn’t hide it from their parents or law officers, so they would be less prone to injuries or deaths.

With all of the alcohol problems with underage drinking should the drinking age be lowered just to offset the problem. Studies prove that those who drink before age 21 have considerably more alcoholic problems at work, with family, and with police (Lyons 18). If we lower the age too soon without enforcing the punishments way more than we do now then we will just of lowered the age at which kids start drinking. There has to be an off set something that will stop teens from drinking illegally. Therefore it would not be smart to lower the drinking age until the punishment will match the crime.

To fix this problem, some people believe that the United States should lower the drinking age because the wait until the magical twenty- first birthday to drink is absurd and contributes to the reason why the U.S. contains a plethora of underage drinkers. Others argue that drinking at any age under twenty-one harms an individual’s health and the law must stay at its current level. Yet, several others believe that twenty-one is too low of an age for the consumption of alcohol, and thus the age ought to increase. In my opinion, the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen since society accepts that age for adulthood, and introducing teens to alcohol while they still go to high school would be beneficial for both society and their health. At age eighteen society expects citizens to act like adults and hence should be given the right to drink.

Even though, the reduction of the drinking age would get rid of the taboo that surrounds alcohol which would result in fewer teens drinking just to be accepted by their peers, young adolescents now have a harder time getting access to alcohol due to the minimum legal drinking age resulting in less alcohol-affiliated problems and a decrease in damage to their bodies. Teens and alcohol are not a good mix so citizens of the United States should keep them separated as best as they can. By having a minimum age limit of twenty-one, that is a great way to do it.

Proponents of lowering the legal drinking age from 21 argue that it has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed more illegal underage drinking. On the other hand, however, Opponents of lowering the legal drink age argue that teens have not yet reached an age where they can handle alcohol responsibly. The legal drink age should stay at twenty-one because people tend to be more mature and responsible at 21 than at 18. 18-year-olds are typically entering a new phase of independence from their parents through college or the workforce, and are more susceptible to binge drinking, risky sexual activity, and other irresponsible behavior due to lack of maturity. Even though there are only a couple of years between these two ages I feel that a lot of growing and maturing happens in those years.

This world will be a much safer place if people understand that the consequences of drinking are harsh. If everyone were able to follow the rules of MLDA, there could be a lot less deaths each year. Everyone should realize the underage drinking is horrible for people and should be taught to not drink until the age of 21.

I believe the drinking age should be lowered from twenty one to eighteen. If a person is old enough to vote, then the person is mature enough to help decide who should run the country, and then he or she should have the privilege to be able to drink alcohol in moderation. The other premise is when we are eighteen we are able to lay our life down in the service of our country, but we our still not able to sit down with our friends and family and consume alcohol legally. By making drinking illegal until your twenty one only makes it more desirable, which leads to young adults’ being irresponsible about drinking. It is more common for young adults to binge drink in the United States that in most countries that allow underage drinking.

I agree with Voas statement because we should not lower the drinking age to 18 because drinking at underage harm brain development, leads to binge drinking, and increases fatal accidents. First of all, lowering the drinking age will harm teen’s brains development. Many teenagers are still developing their brain at the age of 18 and are not able to make the right decisions. The human brain is like a sponge, which absorbs all the knowledge that we learn. Furthermore; alcohol interferes with our brain and have long lasting effects on the int... ... middle of paper ... ...was responsible for the death of the women and boy.

No one should even drink without knowing the consequences, specially drinking unsupervised. Drinking while being supervised is way better than binge drinking illegally. Nothing is going to stop college students from drinking, even if they can’t legally buy it. If the limit age of 21 stays the same, then I think that the option to go to war should also be raised to 21. They are responsible enough to make their own decisions.