Consequences Of Lowering The Drinking Age

The ongoing debate about the drinking age is a close one. Some say that lowering it will bring disastrous consequences; others say keeping it the same is not doing any good. Yet, most of these opinions are from much older adults that have no idea the way the younger adults perceive things. It is important for the opinions of these younger voices to be heard as well, seeming as they will be most affected. As I am apart of such a generation, I must say that I am for lowering the drinking age.

I must state that I come from a strict Latin- American family. My father, who does not drink, ever done drugs, or ever smoked in his life, has always warned us about the dangers and about the consequences our actions may bring. My mother as well has imparted

Undeniably, it may be the unpopular opinion. However, when thinking about future generations and considering other countries, it may be a way of improvement. When the drinking age is changed to perhaps a moderate age of 19 it allows valuable time for teachers, as well as parents, to educate students about alcohol consumption. Not only this, but it also makes college living, in a sense, more secure. As one article stated,” a drinking age of 21 has put colleges and universities in the difficult position of having to police a population of drinkers, half of whom are legally permitted to drink, and half of whom are not. This leads to an enormous amount of illegal drinking on campus. In the end, I favor lowering the drinking age to 19, which would help solve the problem of illegal drinking on campus while still making it illegal for high school students to drink, thereby limiting the flow of legally (and easily) purchased alcohol into younger adolescents’ social networks,” (Steinberg, 5). Many may argue the amount of D.U.I related accidents this may bring forth ; However, the Health Research Fund states that in many countries around the world where they have a lower legal drinking age,” they have seen a greater reduction of drunken driving accidents than the United States, where the legal age is 21.” (“Pros and Cons of Lowering the Drinking Age”) This also states that many of those accidents are related to “thrill” drinking due to the fact that it is somewhat “thrilling” to break the law. Perhaps if the age was lowered we would see a dramatic change in