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Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

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Statistically “50 percent of motor vehicle accidents…are caused by drunk drivers,” (Koshland). The United States should do more to lower that number. Many of those accidents are caused by underage drinkers, who are not allowed to drink so the have to sneak around and drive while intoxicated. Even though there are several laws to prevent the type of crime, they do not work. Most people are unable to understand the importance of treating drunk drivers, instead of just letting them slip through the cracks of the judicial system.
The drinking age in the United States in the United States is 21 years old. Although the majority of teenagers pick up a drink at the age of 18 or even earlier. So when students begin college they continue to drink and …show more content…

A former president of Middlebury College states that the twenty one year old age limit is no longer efficient, it has led to a rise in dangerous binge-drinking on college campuses, (Sanghavi). Another argument is that alcoholic beverages are off limits until you’re 21 but when you’re 18 you can join the military, vote and buy cigarettes. College students who binge drink have a greater chance to get in car crashes and to hurt themselves and/or someone else. College presidents continue to “believe that lowering the legal drinking age can promote more responsible alcohol use,” for example having a friend who is completely sober to drive them home, (Sanghavi). The institution presidents are requesting for a reopening of the deliberation about the drinking age, however “in truth, the higher drinking age saves lives and has little relation to college binging,” (Sanghavi). Alcohol education is also a proven to be beneficial to the students by making them gain some much needed information about drinking, (Sanghavi). At the University of Washington an educational seminar helped to reduce long-term binging in high risk students, (Sanghavi). The college universities could provide some background information about

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You stated, "Most college students attending a 4 year university are under the age of 21." That alone is a good enough reason to lower the drinking age. Most students graduate high school at 17/18 and then go off to a 4 year University. You think it 's okay to not be able to drink until your sophomore/senior year of college? I just do not think it 's reasonable nor realistic.

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859 Words | 4 Pages

This issue needs to be addressed immediately before more lives are lost and more mistakes are made; especially since alcohol is the third-leading cause of preventable deaths in the Unites States (Alcohol Facts and Statistics, par. 7). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, found that since the rise of the drinking age 30 years prior, 12 to 20 year olds used 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States, and more than 90% of that alcohol is consumed during binge drinking (Cary, par. 6). Furthermore, the significance of a changed education system about the safety of drugs including alcohol is supported by the fact that in 2010, the CDC established that drug overdoses claim more lives than vehicle crashes annually (Cary, par. 6). Moreover, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reported that annually, “1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries” (College Drinking, par. 4). For the same age group, 696,000 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking and 97,000 students report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape each year (College Drinking, par.

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered Alcohol consumption in the United States is a prominent phenomenon that it has sparked the debate on the age limitations regarding its use. In more than fifty states in the United States, the legal drinking age is twenty-one years which is comparably high relative to countries such as Germany, Belgium and Denmark that allow even sixteen year olds to purchase wine and beer. There are several reasons that necessitate the drinking age to be lowered from twenty-one years to eighteen years in the United States. These reasons are not only leveraged on following trends between countries but also on creating moral responsibility among teenagers. To this end, this essay seeks to analyse the reasons why drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years in the United States.

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If more students knew the consequences of drinking, they would be safer and acknowledge the fact that there are far better things to do than what they may have in mind. Being safe with drinking is something every human being should take seriously. Often, parents let it happen at home because they fear the consequences of their child going out and drinking whether they’re at a party or even out on the highways. Having a designated driver could also be a way to take precaution when going out with your peers. Experiencing liquor or beer for the first time is better when you are at home instead of being in college with new people where you may not be as safe.

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Underage drinking is a gigantic problem in the world we live in today, especially in the age range of 17-20 year olds. It is caused by teens wanting to be “cool” and have a sense of “freedom”. But lowering the drinking age would destroy a MLDA ( Minimum Legal Drinking Age) age that has been set at the age of 21 that since 1933. As a consequence, reports from 1970 show that there were more teenage car accidents due to setting the MLDA lower than 21. So not only would lowering the MLDA destroy the MLDA that has been since 1933 but also cause tragedies all over the USA.

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1387 Words | 6 Pages

For quite some time now, there has been numerous concerns to whether or not the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to a younger age such as 18 or 16. The minimum drinking age law in the United States has been established for over 20 years and is still gaining both supporters and detractors. Surprisingly, the United States has set the highest drinking age of 21 years old through the use of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, sharing that title with Indonesia, Mongolia and Palau. However, the majority of the world sets the minimum drinking age at 17 or younger. In our society today, young teenagers in high school and incoming college students are drinking illegally without any supervision of responsible adults.

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750 Words | 3 Pages

Some countries chose a lower age, such as 18, the age at which many teenagers gain the responsibilities of full citizenship. Places like the US opt to follow traditional English Common Law in which people don’t officially become an adult until 21. The United States, in fact, has one of the highest drinking ages in the world. According to the Foundation for Economic Education, “Countries that compare in severity are only a few, including Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan” (Tucker “Lower the Drinking Age!”). Most of the rest of the world settles at 16 for beer and 18 for liquor.

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1086 Words | 5 Pages

While the legal drinking age is 21, that does not stop underage drinking in the United States. On July 17, 1984, President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This was a law that required states to raise the drinking age to 21 or face a 10 percent cut to their federal highway funding. All of the states fulfilled the requirement and accepted the higher drinking age(Tietjen). One of the biggest that contributes to underage drinking is mainly because it is “off limits.”

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785 Words | 4 Pages

Because of this, people want to see the drinking age lowered to 18 years old. This way college students would be allowed to go to a bar and have a few drinks in a public and supervised space. They would be less inclined to binge drink at private parties as they could legally obtain alcohol whenever they liked and therefore would end up being safer. In a public environment, such as a restaurant or bar, the pressure and need to drink a lot is much less and therefore college students wouldn’t end up drinking themselves to death. Overall, the idea is that if college students can’t be stopped from drinking alcohol, they should at least be allowed and encouraged to engage in this drinking in a safer environment; in these places they can better learn to drink alcohol responsibly without the risk of killing

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537 Words | 3 Pages

The legal age of consuming alcohol in the US is 21 and has been since the 1980’s. Students that graduate high school to go on to college turn the legal age of adulthood within those few years. Many researchers claim that lives are saved by the drinking age being so high, but then the number is much higher for lives lost when an adult turns the legal age, the fatalities have been postponed not saved. Having the legal

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1090 Words | 5 Pages

Drinking has long been an activity to anticipate when you go to college. A lot of students want to experience the parties and other social events that the college may have. Some students drink before parties in order for them to be more relaxed or in a better mood for partying. Drinking has not only become a trend, but for some, it has become a basic daily routine.

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1751 Words | 8 Pages

According to the Alcohol Policy Information System, the legal drinking age used vary from 18 to 21 depending on the state until President Ronald Reagan enacted the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Wil Fulton at the Huff Post talks about his parents experience before the

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With binge drinking being one of the more popular alcohol events that young adults/college students pursue during parties or pre-games. It isn't hard to understand why there are college kids chugging beer or drinking shots after shots, when the very activity they do is illegal for them. The excitement with the added unavailability of the product will definitely catch the eyes of young adults or college students. Yet this only applies in American Universities. In Canadian Universities, though this study is out of date, an 1998-1999 study by the Department of Social Health and Behavior stated that though Canadian students have a higher report of alcohol use, American students have a 12% higher usage of heavy alcohol use.

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1693 Words | 7 Pages

In the United States, turning 18 is a huge step for people as it marks individuals entering the adult world. At that age they are considered an adult in society. Open to more liberties, these young adults can drive, vote, join the military, and die for their country; however, they cannot possess or purchase alcohol. The current minimum legal drinking age, also known as MLDA, in America is 21. Numerous debates still occur today about the minimum drinking age.

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By the time they are high school seniors, seventy-two percent teenagers say they have already consumed alcohol. Proper education at younger ages is needed for our country’s youth to learn the proper use of alcohol through experimentation with their own limits in safe environments.

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