Lowering the Drinking Age to 18
It’s your 18th birthday and your finally a legal adult. Immediately you can smoke cigarettes, vote, be a jury member, even join the military and fight for your country. But don’t think about a having a beer at your going away party the night before you depart for the Middle East. No, you will have to wait until your 21. As an American citizens we are given many responsibilities at the age of 18. One of them not being the ability to consume alcohol. So I believe that at the age of 18 should come the responsibility of legally partaking of alcohol.
If we are considered adults and expected to act like one at the age of 18, it isn’t right to restrict us to a drinking age of 21. At 18 you can get married, vote, pay taxes, take out loans or risk your life as a member of the U. S. military. But the law in our country says that no alcoholic beverages may be sold to anyone until the age of 21. Who says that 21 is the magical age that makes one intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol. Sure some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be able to drink responsibly.
While 21 may be the legal drinking age in the U. S. no scientific evidence exists proving this is the age at which young people can safely begin drinking alcohol. (Bryan Knowles). By lowering the drinking age it would take away some of the temptation involved with alcohol. It’s not as much fun when its allowed! The most common reason for underage drinking is because alcohol is seen as “the forbidden fruit. In a study by Dr. Engs, professor of applied health and science, found that by increasing the legal drinking age, young people tend to abuse alcohol more. In actuality raising the drinking age was much worse than doing nothing.
Drinking is more exciting when it is illegal. So many people go out and get drunk simply because they know that it’s illegal (Dr Engs). If we do away with this concept then we are left we people partaking in less booze filled nights. Leaving the decision of alcohol mostly to the family is the best scheme if the aim is to reduce underage drinking. We should also focus on safe drinking instead of age restrictions. Educating on the power of alcohol instead of just telling them not to drink it would create a better understanding for our young ones Other countries like France, have a much lower rate of alcohol abuse.
This comes from educated and gradual drinking. American teens have not learned to drink gradually or in moderation. We need to focus on educating our young people on safe drinking and as a social activity, instead of a type of escape. Why is there still a problem if alcohol education currently exists? Because current alcohol education in high school and college teaches the following: This is how you drink responsibly, now don’t drink because you are too young. How does anyone expect students to listen to a teacher when this gibberish is coming from their mouth?
First you need to properly educate young adults. Second, you need trust them. If you treat young adults like children they will act like children. If you treat young adults as responsible adults they will act maturely. While most parents agree that serving alcohol to groups of minors should be prohibited, many also reserve the right to introduce their teenage children to alcohol. Supervised, moderate exposure to alcohol in the home with family lays the foundation for a healthy respect for alcohol and its associated responsibilities. Bryan Knowles) In conclusion, is 21 really the prestigious age we all can’t wait to reach. At 21, does all the maturity and intelligence we need to navigate this earth finally dawn on us! Well, our country seem to think so. So at the end of the day when you are deployed to Iraq to serve your country, don’t even think about having an adult beverage. Because you’re not an adult until 21, you must wait three more years. But look on the bright side, there will always be a beer waiting for you when you are of age.
