Should Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18?

Words: 1123
Pages: 5
Open Document
Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to 18
The big eighteen is something every single teenager looks forward too. In America, 18 is looked as adulthood. People place high standards on these new adults who have new freedoms and hold them to their new weighty responsibilities. However, the one right 18 year olds lack is the ability to legally acquire and drink alcohol. Why should America give every other right to 18 year olds, but not give them the right to use alcohol in a responsible manner? This subject has much controversy and rightly so. Many other countries allow 18 year olds to drink, and they are functioning just as fine, if not better, as the United States. Is this law prohibiting eighteen year olds from drinking actually more harm than good in America? America should lower the drinking age to eighteen because it will lower the rate of binge drinking, decrease crime, and come as a rite of passage.
Opposing Viewpoints
Critics say lowering the drinking age will only increase the number of alcohol related accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states the law setting the drinking age at 21 has decreased traffic fatalities by 13 percent, or a tremendous 19,121 lives, between 18 to 20 year olds (as cited in …show more content…
Underage drinking cites a 2009 study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Health, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stating “72 percent of graduating high school seniors had already consumed alcohol” (Scherer, 2013 pp. 20). This number clearly illustrates how much of an epidemic teenage drinking is. Not to mention the excessive amount of drinking done at college campus during parties and in the closure of the students dorm rooms. Since it is illegal for people under the age of 21 to drink, teenagers associate their drinking with rebellion. Therefore, teenagers are more likely to drink and behave irresponsibly. For example, Cary (2014)
Show More

Related Documents: Should Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18?

Argumentative Essay: Lowering The Drinking Age

So here’s the thing, lowering the drinking age would be a horrendous decision. Thirty years ago, Congress passed a bill that raised the drinking age to 21. Despite these efforts, most developed countries allow young people to legally drink at 18 (Griggs). Many people want the legal drinking age to be lowered but if it is lower then it will encourage more teens to drink and it will raise the death rate because of drinking and driving and alcohol poisoning. This topic is important to me because I like…

Words 747 - Pages 3

Lowering the Drinking Age in the Unted States Essay

Lowering the Drinking Age in the United States Lisa Hornef Instructor Waltman HUM200 A06 Argosy University September 8, 2013 In generating reasons for and against lowering the legal drinking age in the United States I brainstormed for a few minutes (Missimer, 2005). I then winnowed out what I thought were the most convincing reasons for factors in favor of and factors against (Missimer, 2005). In my opinion, the greatest factors in support of lowering the drinking age will be reported…

Words 899 - Pages 4

Essay On Lowering The Legal Drinking Age

Lowering the Legal Drinking Age What if the legal drinking age was lowered to 18 again, what would happen to those who drink underage and keep it a secret? Lowering the legal drinking age to 18 would allow young adults to drink in public as multiple websites have said about being in favor of young adults drinking in public without keeping it a secret. Lowering the legal drinking age to 18 “Can be poisonous to the nerve cells and can cause the Hippocampus to be damaged or destroyed,” drinking as a teen can…

Words 744 - Pages 3

Aggumentation And Persuation Essay

Pre-Writing Should the drinking age be lowered are say the same? I personally think the drinking age should be lowered Teens find a thrill in doing things they aren’t supposed to, so by decreasing the drinking age be are decreasing the amount of alcohol they will probably consume Odds are teens would not want to drink as much if it was legal. Many teens also drink because of peer pressure 87% of high school seniors have used alcohol. That means that a large quantity of teens under the age of seventeen…

Words 2221 - Pages 9

The Pros And Cons Of Lower The Drinking Age

Drinking age should not be lowered, the current law is you're legal to drink in Arizona at the age of 21. I’m all for the drinking age to be where it is at today, I don’t think it should be lowered due to drunk driving, binge drinking and alcohol poisoning, and alcohol associated violent behavior. Drunk driving continues to be the most important public safety issue, an average of 17000 individuals die each year in a drunk driving related death. Although the numbers have gone down the highest drunk…

Words 427 - Pages 2

Lowering the Drinking Age Essay

We’re Adults Too! By: Claudia Smith In a recent episode, 60 Minutes told the story of 18-year-old Gordy, a former college student at University of Colorado at Boulder. Gordy and 26 other pledges were told they had to go to a mountain and drink 10 gallons of hard alcohol in 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes were over the members of the fraternity had come to get Gordy and the other pledges, but Gordy was incapacitated, having drunk approximately 20 shots of alcohol. His fraternity brothers just…

Words 771 - Pages 4

Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age To 18

America should lower the drinking age to 18 years old. Changing the age would make the United States fair, and reasonable. America’s legal adulthood age is 18, other countries legal drinking age is 18, and lowering the age can lower dangerous drinking activities. Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. Legally, in America a boy or girl becomes an adult at the age of 18. When they turn 18, many rules and restrictions change such as being allowed to vote. Most punishments with the law change. New…

Words 563 - Pages 3

Drinking Age Should Be Lowered

The drinking age has had quite a bit of controversy lately about whether or not the US should lower it. Many colleges have done studies on the pros and cons about it but the main worry for lowering the legal age is with the parents. The parents are mostly worried about if their kid/s will be smart enough not to get behind the wheel and a parent can only hope that he/she is smart enough to know. But when they are under the influence one can't be too sure. On the other hand most college students would…

Words 836 - Pages 4

Afghan government Essay

Jonathan Malvar Period 1, Expository Writing 2 Mrs. Cary December 18, 2013 "Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 To A Younger Age" Drinking is a tradition in nearly every country. Across Europe, Latin America, South America, Africa, and Asia the drinking age is typically between sixteen to eighteen years old. In United States of America, lowering the minimum legal drinking age(MLDA) from 21 has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed teenagers to drink in private and less-controlled…

Words 439 - Pages 2

Drinking Age Debate

Gallos English III Honors 18 April 2016 How Young is too Young? It is a key issue: what should the drinking age be? Everyone has their own opinion. Many advocates of raising the drinking age to 25 agree that the brain has not fully matured until that age. They believe that drinking before the brain is fully mature can cause health and psychological problems. Advocates of lowering the drinking age believe that if one is eligible to vote and serve in the military, then one should be allowed to purchase…

Words 1474 - Pages 6