Preview

Limiting The Drinking Age Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
916 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Limiting The Drinking Age Essay
Fewer than one percent of people who are exposed to alcohol in the U.S have required medical attention due to consumption. Some people argue that strict laws on alcohol are needed to prevent people from endangering themselves or others, however if we taught moderation and responsibility at an early age we could still enjoy the benefits of drinking in a more controlled environment. The laws that focus on drinking need to be formed to include all of the teaching moments and benefits that go along with a privilege like moderate alcohol consumption. In the United States 47 of the 50 states have their age of majority at 18, and turning 18 comes with the rights and responsibilities of being an adult. At the age of 18 you can join the military. If you can risk your life to fight for your country day in and day out, but can't have a drink in a bar you're already sitting in? How can you risk your life, but can't even purchase a beer? At the age of 18 you can contribute to the future of the country by voting for presidents and many other things, which is a basic right of an 18 year old. So why should drinking alcohol be any different? Drinking alcohol should be a basic right for any adult and should not be …show more content…
If somebody wants to drink alcohol they will find a way to drink, a drinking age isn't going to stop them. There is no evidence to show that age 21 drinking laws help protect youth.Allowing people to drink at a young age, would teach the younger generation moderation and how to drink responsibly. Drinking responsibly is very important and it could potentially save lives. The truth about the MLDA is it doesn't stop underage drinking so why have a law that doesn't

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    It’s there for a reason and is not the only law that prevents 18 year olds from legally doing something. For example you can’t legally buy a hand gun, gamble at a casino, or adopt a child until 21 years of age. All of which is due to responsibility and the safety of self and others. Meaning the drinking age now is completely reasonable and appropriate when considering the consequences of it being otherwise. Everyone had to wait till 18 to be considered a legal adult, what’s three more years? It’s better to be safe now and not sorry later. Wait till you 21 to drink for your sake and…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Synthesis Essay

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the “Tempest in a Bottle”, by Shari Roan, explains that more college students signed a petition calling for a debate for whether the legal drinking should be lowered to 18 instead of 21. But each side has statistics to support its position on the age limit but most of the healthy and safety evidence falls on the age limit of 21. And statics on fatalities prove that the law works by setting the minimum legal drinking age to 21 by that the traffic fatalities of drivers 18 to 20 have dropped an estimated 13% for underage drinking and driving. It states that each additional year drinking under the age of 21 can have a greater odds on the body for develop alcohol dependence. Also a study showed that in 2003 in many other countries with a lower drinking age, they are less likely to become intoxicated compared to teens in the U.S.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No matter what the law states there are people that will break it. This especially includes teenagers who are going through a rebellious phase and trying to find their identity. “In 2006, 72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives” (procon.org). The law that twenty-one is the legal drinking age is clearly not being abided and is no longer relevant in today’s society. Drinking is very common and included at most gatherings, as a way to have fun and enjoy the night. However, with drinking being illegal for those under twenty-one, drinking tends to happen in some sketchy places and surrounded by unfamiliar people. It is in these situations where drinking becomes unsafe. Therefore, lowering the drinking age will drop unsafe drinking rates throughout the United States (procon.org). Allowing people to purchase and drink alcohol in the comfort of their own home. Instead of drinking it illegally and needing to worry about unsafe…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The percentage of deaths caused by alcohol only is 25 percent. Alcohol is already proven as a fatality for persons aged 21 and up, imagine if there was the 18-year-old age group added to the rate of those fatalities all over the country. The rate would be dramatically increased because younger people drink more. 10.1 million people are underage drinkers in America. The drinking age should stay at 21 years because the brain is not fully developed yet which can cause problematics to the brain through the final stage of its completion due to alcohol use. Alcohol violence comes in the shape of family, friends, loved ones, and associates when they are under the influence of alcohol. No matter how nice a person is, when they are under the influence, they are not the same person as they are when sober. The drinking age needs to stay at 21 for health and well-being…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People argue on lowering the drinking age to eighteen whether it is a good idea. Some teenagers start experiencing drinking in high school. Many teenagers think there is nothing wrong with a drink every now or again at a party. In fact, many teenagers see drinking alcohol as an important stage in becoming an adult. For this reason, teenagers are more temped to consume alcohol. The legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because eighteen is considered to be a legal adult, it will help with economy, and help teenagers have a safer environment.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    There is a giant debate on what the legal minimum drinking age should be in the United States. Many people think that it should remain at 21 years old and others believe that it should be lowered to 18. While both have their own various reasons, this has been an important topic in our country for a long time. President Ronald Reagan signed and passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Law in 1984 which obligated states to raise their legal drinking age to 21 or suffer reductions in Federal highway funds. The highway funds and drinking age was linked together by the young lives lost on our highways. Even though this was a satisfactory reason to raise the drinking age there are still more reasons to why it should be 18. Despite what most people…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In their pamphlet and website, the National Youth Rights Association claims that United States should lower the drinking age from 21 to a younger age. They claim that at the age of 18, youth are able vote, serve their country and fly airplane. Therefore, they should be able to drink as well, since it is has less responsibility associated with it.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Human beings have been making alcoholic beverages for as long as they have had sedentary agriculture, and the right to drink this beverage has been in question for just as long. For many, the right to drink beer or vodka is a right of passage into adulthood, and for others it is a sign of strong friendship in ceremonies. The history of drinking in the U.S.A. is lengthy and complimated, but it starts with the American Revolution. Freedom is a good beer after a long day, and many men, women, and children drank beer in the 1700s because it was safer than the potentially infected water than ran through the city. This trend continued until 1920, when the 18th amendment was passed in Congress. This amendment mandated that there shall be no more consumption, manufacturing, or distribution of alcoholic beverages in the United States; however, many Americans disregarded this law and illegally made “moonshine” drinks to sell and drink.…

    • 1744 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The legal drinking age has been a controversial topic for the past few decades. Many may argue that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 since you are already treated and considered like an adult by that age. Others may argue to raise the drinking age to 25 to prevent more accidents that are harming innocent citizens. Thinking that the older you get the more mature you are. And others just say to keep the legal drinking age at 21 since this system has been working fine for the time being. What exactly is the perfect age? The perfect age may never be found but I have some valid points on why the drinking age should not be lowered with anything under the age of 21. We can all recognize that under age drinking has caused many problems in…

    • 2611 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Drinking underage is a serious problem that the U.S is facing. There is a lot of problems with the drinking age 21, but if you lower or upper the drinking age not much difference will happen. The human brain isn’t fully developed until the age 21. Teenagers don’t know enough to make informed, smart decisions relating to alcohol. The drinking age shouldn't be lowered because of three very real risks like: drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and violent and/or destructive behavior. We have research reasons from three articles that could convince you to keep the average age to drinking 21.…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the United States, Many different thoughts and explanations have been recorded to determine the legal drinking age. Florida as well as most of the United States has set the law to age twenty-one. This age determination has been causing controversial issues evident throughout the country for decades.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Drinking Age Essay

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Should the legal age for the consumption of alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, and liquor be lowered? In America, any person that is twenty-one years of age is considered ‘old enough’ to consume such beverages and allowed to socially drink. Even though any person of eighteen years or older is considered an adult in the view of the the United States.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alcohol is the most broadly abused substance among America's childhood. Immature liquor use is not an adequate transitional experience, but rather a genuine risk to juvenile advancement and wellbeing. “In 2014, more than 1.6 million people between the ages of 12 and 20 reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year. This accounts for almost 4.4% of people between these ages” (lynson). In March 2007, the Acting Surgeon General of the United States issued a Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. In that report, the Surgeon General tended to the requirement for a far reaching way to deal with counteractive action that incorporates support from folks, families, schools, universities, groups, the human services framework, and all levels of government.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, in 2010 underage drinkers from ages 15-20 were responsible for 48.8% of alcohol purchases. The minimum legal drinking age(MLDA) in the United States was 18 years old until 1984, when all fifty states raised their legal drinking age to 21 or older. The drinking age should be lowered from 21 years old to 18 years old because at that age one legally becomes an adult, it would reduce the amount of unsafe drinking activity, and there are fewer drunk driving car accidents in many other countries with a drinking age of 18.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has been a popular debate for many years, and as reported by Toomey, Rosenfeld, and Wagenaar in “The Minimum Legal Drinking Age”, it is imperative to keep the age of 21. Alcohol is the main source of numerous problems for teenagers, which would escalate if the MLDA was decreased. The MLDA was lowered between 1970 and 1975 by 29 states, resulting in an increase in dilemmas such as “traffic crashes, drownings, vandalism, assaults, homicides, suicides, teenage pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases” (Toomey, Rosenfeld, and Wagenaar 213). When it was raised back to 21, the number of alcohol induced traffic deaths was reduced significantly. Some may argue that introducing alcohol to children at a younger age will help it become less of a toy for teenagers, which is false and subsequently leads to more health problems and dangers for everyone. If the MLDA was to be lowered again, it would make alcohol more accessible to high school and college…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays