Nearly 25 percent of teens drink alcohol because they think it is fun; however the problems it may bring are not so fun (Hyde 22). There over six times more teen deaths per year from alcohol than any other drug (O’Malley 30). Alcohol affects the body of teens as well as all of the developmental processes. A major issue of teens drinking is that it increases the chance of becoming an alcoholic in the future; which leads to lowered self-control, impaired judgment, and lowered inhibition (Heath 12). Alcohol can completely change the life of a teen from the time they start drinking till death.
Web. 8 Apr. 2014. "Alcohol Dependence (Alcoholism)." Guide: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Options.
National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism. N.p.. Web. 24 Feb 2014. "Underage Drinking Statistics."
Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988.
Web. 07 Feb. 2014. "Missouri." APIS - State Profiles of Underage Drinking Laws. Alcohol Information Policy System.
Nevertheless, lowering the age to drink alcohol will increase traffic accidents, increase health risks among citizens and create a dangerous environment for society. Traffic accidents will increase if the age of drinking is lowered. After the drinking age law was intended to twenty-one, instantaneous decline in alcohol-related accidents within young-adults (Drinking Age Law). Alcohol-related accidents occur frequently among young adult ages eighteen and twenty because they are immature and have a low alcohol tolerance. According to Washington Accident Book, before the age to drink was twenty-one, there were many fatal car accidents among young adults age eighteen to twenty.
This has increased the chance of teenage lives to became endangered. Lowering the drinking age would cause an increase in drunk driving, health problems, and violent behavior. Washington Accident Books states that twenty percent of the two thousand children that have been killed in fatal car accidents, were accidents caused by drivers “legally intoxicated”. This shows that even people of a legal age cannot handle drinking responsibly. If a twenty-one year old cannot handle the responsibility of drinking, what makes any rightly minded person assume an eighteen year old could possibly be more responsible?
So, why do teenagers take so many risks with their health and behind the wheel? The answer is simple teen drivers tend to think they are invincible and more needs to be done to educate teens on the dangers of drinking and driving. Through out the years teenagers have been driving without a license. In this century teenagers are decreasing to get their license (Teens getting their driver license. (n.d.).
6 December 2013. Web 25 March 2014 Heffernan, T, et al. "Does Binge Drinking in Teenagers Affect Their Everyday Prospective Memory?" Drug and Alcohol Dependence 109.1 (2010): 73 - 78. Print Kemp, Jeff.