The wedding announcer proclaims that the couple is officially man and wife, the newlyweds are excited to finally be married and enjoy their reception. Champagne is passed out to the guests for a toast, but none to the bride; she is twenty years old and can not be apart of her own wedding toast. She smiles and watches as all the guests cheer to an enjoyable lifelong marriage; is it right to constrict a bride from participating in the toast of her own wedding? The legal age that restricts citizens from doing specific actions fluctuates from the ages of seventeen to twenty one. These laws range from going to rated R movies to drinking alcohol. Although some underaged citizens are willing to wait to use their privileges such as drinking alcohol, the majority of them do not. …show more content…
This was not always the case, during the early to mid seventies about “ ...thirty states lowered their Minimum Legal Drinking Age from 21 to 18, 19, or 20”(ProCon.org). This shows that the legal drinking age was less than that of today’s, however, due to the amount of accidents the age was raised back to twenty one for the safety of the public. Even though the amount of drunk driving accidents have gone down, this is not necessarily linked to the rise of the drinking age because of the amount of underage drinking. One can argue that the age of twenty one needs to stay as the legal drinking age to minimize the amount of underage drinking but, in contrast, the law is ineffective because of the amount of underage drinkers is only on the rise. Eighteen is the age at which someone in the United States is considered an adult, as such, the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen because doing so will give adults the right to make enjoyable choices regarding the responsibility to consume alcohol and become aware of making responsible choices while under the
The legal drinking age is the age which one has to attain to be protected by the law when purchasing or drinking alcohol in the given country. The national minimum drinking age act of 1984 raised the legal drinking age from the previous 18 years to 21 years (Carpenter & Carlos). The enactment of the law saw the United States get into a group of four states in the world where the legal drinking age is above 18 years with the other three countries being Japan, South Korea, and Iceland. In the recent
Lowering the Legal Drinking Age From 21 to 18 In the United States the legal drinking age, with a few exceptions, is 21; this should be changed from 21 to the age of 18. This would help high schoolers and college students who generally commit the act of underage drinking anyways to avoid long lasting legal repercussions. This would also remove the excitement that many underage drinkers feel since for many, it would now be legal. This would help to lessen temptation and encourage today’s youth
Legal drinking age is a controversial topic all over the world. In many countries the legal age to drink alcohol is 18 or lower. The United States is one of the only countries that says a person must be 21 before they are allowed to drink. Why is the U.S. Drinking age so much higher than other countries? Some people believe that the age should be lowered to 18, arguing that at the age of 18, a United States citizen is a legal adult and allowed to make their own decisions. If a mature teenager wants
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age in the United States Bob Marley once said, “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” This is the case when it comes to teens and alcohol. In America, the National Minimum Legal Drinking Age is a topic of great debate and controversy. Many people argue that the age restriction provides a safe environment for all citizens; whereas others disagree that the law creates an untrustworthy aura among teens. If the minimum legal drinking age were to be lowered
Although the United States conflicts with other countries in many ways, one of the most controversial is the legal drinking age. Over the years, there have been many arguments on whether the age should be raised or lowered. Some citizens feel that twenty-one is not mature enough to handle the effects of alcohol, while others feel that twenty-one is too long to wait. Should the legal drinking age of the United States be raised to try and ensure more responsibility and maturity? One could think that
The Legal Drinking Age In 1984, Congress passed the National Drinking Age Act, which required states to raise their legal drinking from 18 years old to 21 (Trex). It was raised because some studies show that alcohol has negative effects on the brain, and the brain is more developed at 21 than at 18. Studies have also shown that the younger someone gets into drinking, more likely he is to binge drink and have alcohol problems later on. While those are solid points, it is important to remember that
has not been an isolated incident, as more and more young adults succumb to the effects of binge drinking. (Murphy 1)Underage drinking has become a deadly practice for young adults that may be attributed to the limitations placed on legal drinking for eighteen to twenty-one year olds. Background information: Drinking too much alcohol is indisputably a problem everywhere in the world. In the United States, concerned citizens fought to control alcohol consumption and succeeded in the initiation of Prohibition
greatest debates of the world is the legal drinking age of adolescents. In some counties there is no legal age, however in others the, legal drinking age is extremely high. Because the age restriction is different all around the world, it leads to an immense debacle. In today’s society, it is necessary that the United States government lowers the drinking age from 21 to 18. The world nowadays is enormously different from when they first changed it, causing the age to not correlate with today’s society
Underage drinking is a serious issue. Many youth and young adults loose their lives due to reckless drinking. The law of legal drinking has been passed to protect minors of the dangers of alcohol. The law prohibiting drinking should remain in effect and never change. Although many may disagree with the minimum age drinking age law should remain in the United States, this law benefits the country. The number of accidents caused due to binge drinking is higher. To remove the U.S. minimal drinking law of
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
minimum legal drinking age in the United States or not. Many Americans forbid the idea of legalizing the drinking age so that it would be profitable to the businesses. Likewise, there have been many advantages and disadvantages of why should the government allow young adults drink under the age of 21. To prevent this issue, many Americans have provided reasoning that will support the idea of keeping the minimum legal drinking age where it is now. The government should maintain the minimum legal drinking
minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of The United States is twenty-one and it is ineffective; therefore it should be lowered to eighteen. The minimum legal drinking age does not prevent underage consumption of alcohol. Lowering the age of consumption can possibly reduce the number of injuries do to underage drinking. The legal age of adulthood in the United States is eighteen, so all adults should be able to make their own decision to drink or not. “Although many believe that anyone under the age of 21
Why must the United States have an age limit to control a citizen’s right to consume alcohol? Is there a logical reasoning behind these restrictions? During the Prohibition movement in the late 18th and early 19th century, the increase in alcohol related incidents in the United States brought grave and serious concerns to the nation. The consequences that resulted from drinking was damaging the American society and population. As a result, Congress enacted the 21st amendment, where alcohol was not
National Minimum Age Drinking Act was signed into law on July 17, 1984. This law was carried out at the federal level and forced all states to raise the minimum drinking to 21 or face cuts in federal-aid cuts in their highway funding. I believe this law must be repelled and that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. We must decriminalize the notion of underage drinking because why must 18 through 20 year olds be treated like children but charged as adults? The United States has the highest binge
When it comes to the subject of drinking and teenagers, what is the first thing that comes to mind? To me it's the legal age limit of when teens should be able to drink. Having it lowered is controversial because according to prior experiences, data shows that younger age drinking is well known for its fatalities. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), "on one of the most popular prom nights in 1999, as many as 62 percent of the traffic deaths were alcohol-related" (). The most important