There are many people that enjoy the occasional alcoholic refreshment to wind down from a tough day. Young adults seem to be the age group that uses a glass of wine or a beer after work to transition from work to home life. Among these young adults trying to relax their ever racing, hectic lives, there are a vast amount of the legal adult age of 18, but just not old enough to legally consume alcohol. Whether those under the age of 21 agree with the fact or not, the minimum legal drinking age should remain at the age of 21 for the health, safety, and well-being of our younger generations. Alcoholic beverages make their appearance in many places other than the local bar or liquor store. These drinks have been known to be consumed at social …show more content…
I will say that the research was not surprising to me and my initial thoughts were for the argument of changing the legal drinking age to 18 due to the fact that as a legal adult we are able to “vote, smoke cigarettes, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and join the military” (“Should the Drinking Age”) and if an 18 year old can decide my fate in a court room, why can they not decide whether they want a drink or not? As I did more reading and really let my mind absorb both sides of the story, it became clear to me that the freedoms were not so that a young adult can enjoy life, but moreover the fact that they could be potentially responsible for their own well-being and the lives of the people around them. Those facts made me ask myself if I would have wanted my 18-year-old self responsible for those around me while consuming alcohol and was I even responsible enough for myself to only consume an acceptable amount? The answer was obviously no. My opinion turned at that point and I continued to research the opposing position and found more realities that although 18 is of adulthood, it may not be at full maturity on certain matter. I came across a very interesting statement made in the list of pros and cons from ProCon.org, “A person cannot legally purchase a handgun, gamble in a casino (in most states), or adopt a child until age 21, rent a car (for most companies) at age 25, or run for President until age 35. Drinking should be similarly restricted due to the responsibility required to self and others” (“Should the Drinking Age”). That alone can open a whole new door when it comes to the age of maximum responsibility, but it also means 21 is not as high as it can go. Luckily statistics show that healthy minds
Ziskind, Jeremy. “Pro & Con Arguments: "Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a
There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen, I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is that too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one.
A political problem that has been argued over since prohibition is the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). This is a controversial subject because many believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 years old. “In the 1970’s the 26th amendment was passed which lowered the legal voting age, this caused 30 US states to lower their MLDA to 18, 19, or 20 which left 14 states with a MLDA of 21 by 1982” (Minimal Legal Drinking Age, 1). But reports later showed an increase in teenage car accidents in states with a lower MLDA; these states soon changed the MLDA back to 21.
Lawmakers should not consider lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Despite the deep value this country places on freedom, personal liberties, and personal responsibilities, the data shows that public safety is greatly at risk if the drinking age were to be lowered to twenty-one. A variety of groups believe that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen deeming that the twenty-one law is unconstitutional. On the opposing side, people agree that the law helps to protect our young people and the communities where they live.
The controversy on the proper drinking age is one that has been repeatedly discussed and researched over the years. Its common to hear the argument “If someone is old enough to take a bullet for their country, they should be allowed to drink alcohol.” But is that enough justification? Some would say no. “According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) it is estimated that in 2004 there were more than 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 696,000 assaults annually associated with excessive drinking” (Fennell 247). Given these numbers, would lowering the drinking age really be the best thing for America’s youth?
Briar Clay Mrs. Bauch 05-16-16 Persuasive Speech Lowering the Drinking Age to 18 How many of you would like the chance to purchase an alcoholic beverage by the time you turn 18? Today I am going to go over some pros and cons of lowering the drinking age to 18. This is something I believe should be done in Iowa, or even the whole nation. Upon researching this topic I learned that ever since the drinking age was increased to 21 years of age more people have died from drug overdose. Another fact about drug overdose is that it has increased 102% since the increase in the drinking age.
All 50 states have set the minimum legal drinking age to 21, although some states have made exceptions. Raising the drinking age to 21 in order to avoid teenage drinking has instead created excessive drinking in private places, therefore producing more danger (“Minimum”). The national drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 in 1984; it was not until 1988 that all 50 states had a minimum legal drinking age of 21 (Wechsler and Nelson 986). Drinking underage is permitted in certain circumstances in 45 of the states; 29 states allow it on private property under parental consent, 25 states allow it for religious purposes, and 11 for educational purposes (“Minimum”). Lowering the minimum drinking age is ineffective and would benefit the economy, it
Drinking alcohol habits among adults has been a part of life but for all young people, this could not be right. In my own experience and in the environment I grow up with, I don’t remember that there was a strict age limit for drinking. It’s the parent’s responsibility to guide their children and educate them about bad alcohol drinking habit, since more bad things happen after people getting drunk because of irresponsibility and negligence. It believes that responsibility goes with the age. It also believed that the older your age, the mature you get but in my own opinion it doesn’t apply to all people though. Still, there are some who can’t limit their drinking which led them to terrible drinking problem, accidents and worst jailing time. I think this topic should be explored more since there are lots of lives involve in this case. Even innocent people are victims of alcohol abuse done by other reckless people. So setting an age limit should lessen the devastating effect of too much alcohol drinking. It might not totally help or completely stop the crime brought by alcohol abuse but having a law will discipline all civilians.
The legal drinking age has been a highly controversial topic since the prohibition. After the prohibition in 1933 the legal drinking age was either set or lowered to the age of 18 in states such as North Carolina, New York, Florida and a few others. There are both pros and cons to lowering the legal drinking age. There are many cons to lowering the drinking age, such as; medical studies have shown in young adults that the consumption of alcohol may interfere with the development of the individual’s brain but more specifically the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe handles the functions of the brain; such as organization, and planning, and even emotional regulation. “When alcohol consumption interferes with this early adult brain development, the
Many say that allowing legalizing alcohol towards 18 year olds would be dangerous because of their over consumption and binge drinking. People are afraid that if the legal age is lowered there would be little to no control on young adults and no limitation on their consumption of alcohol, or what they might do while they are intoxicated. There is no way of keepi...
Despite the problems that would arise, many people are beginning to feel that the drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. Studies have been made; however, no hard evidence suggesting lowering the minimum drinking age would help have surfaced. Although there are countless studies of how alcohol has many harmful effects on teenagers, there is a great deal of negative criticism about what if the drinking age is lowered. Some would say the morally right decision is to not allow teens the chance to hurt themselves. Everyone is entitled to having his or her own opinions and beliefs. However, the overall health of the youth of our country seems a little more important than some personal belief. The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact drunk driving, juvenile delinquency, and alcohol-related medical issues related to teens will increase.
Based on last week debate on issue with should drinking age be lowered to 18, I have a very strong opinion on the cons side of the topic. I disagree that the drinking age should be lowered because the culture here is not suitable for it. It is understandable that we often compared other country drinking age with united states, but we never compare the drinking culture of one country to the other. Culture is an important aspect of every rules regulated in a country and i really think that drinking culture in United States is not suitable for under 21 of age because in United States, drink is always associated of being drunk and being wild all night long at a party while for some European country, drinking is depicted as being matured and independent.
Did you know that underage excessive drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among the teen youth each year? That is about 10 fatalities per day. Imagine you driving back home from a party and had a little too much to drink. Next thing you know, you're whole world is upside down. You're conscious, but can't process anything in. You just see strangers running towards your upside down car, panicked, with phones tight to their ears. Imagine the face on your loved ones when the police show up to their door, with most terrible news a person can give and receive. You didn't know any better. You're an adolescent. Adolescents don't know the risks of drinking and what it can do to their health. The U.S should not lower the drinking age to 18 because it would decrease the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents, it would give teenagers easier access to it, and it would cause damage to the adolescent’s developing brain.
The drinking age debate has been going on for a vast number of years. The drinking age debate is not something new that has been argued, 190 countries all over the world have tried to lower or higher the minimum drinking age. The United States minimum drinking age is 21,but there's a lot of different countries some have at 15,18 and others have no minimum drinking age. Statistics show that 75-80% of people involved in felony crimes or in serious misdemeanors where under the influence. The minimum drinking in Iceland, Japan, Paraguay, Thailand, Uzbekistan is 20. In Antigua, Barbuda, and Central African Republic the minimum drinking age is 10-15. In 116 countries such as Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Brazil the minimum
This opinion piece by Alexis Aguirre opens with the point that at the age of 18 years and older are considered to be adults and that they should be treated like they are an adult by being given the right to purchase and consume alcohol. Aguirre then goes on to talk about how even though the drinking age is 21, a high percentage of teenagers underage are still purchasing alcohol. She also states that 90 percent of underage drinking is done so by binge drinking. Later in her argument she goes on and states her