Drinking Age 21

The drinking age in the State of Texas should remain at the federally mandated age of 21. The idea of this age was put in place to assist in keeping those younger individuals safe from the harmful effects of alcohol, and 21 is still the point when an individual should begin consuming such beverages. To continue to keep the public safe, the drinking age should be kept at 21 because the brain is still developing, lowering the age would give younger individuals easier access to alcohol, and lowering the age would be more dangerous on and off the road. Before the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, people thought the brain fully developed by age 18. With this understanding of the brain, it makes sense to allow those 18 and older to consume

It is also no secret that younger teens will try to access alcohol in some way to look “cool”. One problem with lowering the drinking age, is it will allow alcohol to find its way onto school campuses faster than it does now. When younger students in high school and middle school see 18-year-olds drinking alcohol more frequently and openly because it is legal, the younger students will want to resemble the “mature” seniors and drink more as well. Since many times seniors are friends with younger students, they would be more willing to provide them with alcohol off campus. This would lead to a trickledown effect of younger and younger student consuming alcohol. As students are introduce to alcohol at a younger age, it opens the pathway to other abusive substances such as illegal and prescription drugs. All the substances will begin to hurt the students brain and body as it is trying to develop during these crucial years. Even though underage teens consume alcohol on occasion, lowering the drinking age would give them the ability to consume it more frequently and greater

However, there is still work needing to be done to help improve the current system. One of the key items needing to be added is education. Schools, as well as parents, are not educating young students about the dangers of alcohol. If education of these dangers is increased, students will have a better understanding of what they are getting into when they do drink. This will help decrease the abuse of alcohol at an early age, and teach responsibility when they do drink to keep themselves and everyone around them