ipl-logo

Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

1336 Words6 Pages

Drinking age - Lower it? The minimum legal drinking age(MLDA) has been perhaps the single most studied alcohol-control policy. Since 1984, the National minimum legal drinking age in the United States has been 21 years. However, Alex was only 18 years old the night he died in a fatal car crash. He had his whole life ahead of him, star of the football team and top of his graduating class. One lousy decision ended it all. He was at a party consuming alcohol and decided to drive home under the influence. While driving home, he hit a tree and went straight off a bridge. Now think, is this what you want to see happen to your children? Lowering the MLDA to 18 years old will affect the future of our generation in a negative way. It will cause an …show more content…

Allowing 18 year olds to legally drink alcohol will give middle schoolers and high schoolers easier access to alcohol. This is because many high schoolers are 18 years old their senior year. The seniors will then buy alcohol for their friends and/or siblings that are not of legal age. Studies have shown that college students ages 18-20 years old are less likely to engage in binge drinking than those of legal drinking age. Although this may be true, it is also a proven fact that “the heaviest-drinking college students are more likely to have been heavy drinkers in high school”(Wechsler, Henry, and Toben F. Nelson). If the MLDA is lowered to 18 years old then the amount of heavy drinkers in high school will increase leading to heavy drinking among college students. Many health and social consequences are brought along with an increase in alcohol consumption. For example, if you have a job or attend school and consume alcohol, it can have an impact on your performance and preparedness. Another social consequence of drinking alcohol is an increase in vandalism and homicide. Alcohol has many behavioral side effects on a person. It can cause someone to have sudden outbursts of anger and aggression. The anger then leads to physical abuse, vandalism, or even homicide. Drinking alcohol also increases the risk of health issues such as alcohol poisoning and sexually transmitted

Show More
Related

Lowering The Drinking Age Research Paper

1001 Words | 5 Pages

In addition, if lawmakers consider lowering the drinking age because it would lead to more violent and destructive behavior such as academic failure. Alcohol interferes with many ways of

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Drinking Age Laws

1610 Words | 7 Pages

Since 1984, high school drinking has declined substantially due to the law and penalties (Lessing 3). This is another example of how the 21 drinking law is effective and has been effective for many years. If a state or many states lowered their minimum drinking age to 18, then this would decrease highway funding from congress (Belford 2). Lowering the drinking age law would only put the states’ interests first instead of the thousands of lives that could be negatively affected if the law was changed. Apart from the harmful effects that alcohol can have on the maturing brain of young adults, health risks associated with alcohol are also a

Read More

Essay On Lowering The Legal Drinking Age

1304 Words | 6 Pages

Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) laws specify the age of when a person can buy or publicly drink alcohol legally. In 1984, the minimum legal drinking age was raised to twenty-one. Many college students attend parties where alcohol is present. They should be allowed to consume the alcoholic beverages with their classmates without having to worry about getting in trouble. Eighteen year olds are adults and should be able to make their own decision on whether or not they want to drink.

Read More

Why The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered To 18

765 Words | 4 Pages

Drinking should be similarly restricted due to the responsibility required to self and others. MLDA 21 reduces traffic accidents and fatalities. 100 of the 102 analyses(98%) in a 2002 meta-study of the legal drinking ages associated with lower rates of traffic accidents (procon.org). The national highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated the MLDA 21 decreased the number of fatal traffic accidents for 18 to 20 year old by 13% and saved approximately 27,052 lives from 1875-2000

Read More

Legal Drinking Age

1830 Words | 8 Pages

According to William Dejong of Boston University, there is a trickle-down effect that will cause even younger kids to drink if the drinking age is lowered to 18. It is a common thing to have 15-17-year-olds being friends with 18-20-year-olds. If those 18-20-year-olds can legally purchase alcohol, they will be drinking with and around their younger friends that are still under the legal age. Right now, this is happening with 21+-year-olds giving alcohol to 18-20-year-olds. If the drinking age is lowered, it will just increase the amount of illegal and unsupervised drinking going on in the nation.

Read More

Essay On Minimum Legal Drinking Age

1257 Words | 6 Pages

To conclude, alcohol usage before the age of 21 has a variety of negative effects on adolescents, since their body handles it differently leading to a destructive behavior and a higher risk of accidents with fatalities. It is simply irresponsible. Furthermore it lowers one’s academic performance which is of utmost importance for an adolescent. Taking everything from above into account the United States of America should not lower the current Minimum Legal Drinking Age to

Read More

Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

1317 Words | 6 Pages

Prohibiting this age group from drinking in licensed locations influences them to drink in unsupervised places. Individuals will often drink in locations such as fraternities and/or parties where there are higher tendencies to participate in unsafe behavior. Despite increasing MLDA to 21 in 1984, the number of traffic accidents and fatalities that occurred within the 80s decreased less than that of countries whose legal drinking ages are already below 21 (Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?). In numerous European countries, teenagers at the age of 18 are allowed to drink in restaurants and other public places, under the supervision of trusted authority figures (Anderson). In the US, contrarily, teenagers at the age of 18 are not eligible to consume or purchase alcohol, and participate in these acts in risky areas where they are not under any supervision (Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?).

Read More

Minimum Legal Drinking Age

959 Words | 4 Pages

“Students in states that had a MLDA of 18 had a 13 times greater chance of dropping out of high school compared to states with an MLDA of 21”. As previously mentioned high schoolers are less likely to drop out of school because they are less likely to become addicted to alcoholic beverages. Additionally students who do not consume alcohol are more focus on school than students who drink even when it is only once in awhile. Also, by graduating from high school students are more likely to continue their educational career and to be successful in their future. It is not like students who drink con not do this but just a few of them would be capable of achieving this before getting carried away with alcohol.

Read More

Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

595 Words | 3 Pages

To continue, a law that is working for us in this country shouldn’t be changed. Drinking should stay a higher age since the MLDA 21 has reduced alcohol consumption by younger drinkers in the U.S. as well as younger kids in general don’t have as easy access to alcohol with the drinking age higher (Procon). Finally, alcohol consumption can cause serious health problems on kids of all ages, who drink it. If there is a kid who drinks alcohol before the body is fully developed, it can cause serious damage to many parts of the body, and is in general not a very healthy choice for someone's health in general (NYLN). It’s simple to say that with these facts, lowering the drinking age is a dangerous choice.

Read More

Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

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.”

Read More

Persuasive Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

588 Words | 3 Pages

The United States has one of the highest drinking ages in the world, yet more than 70 percent of teens have consumed alcohol at least once in their life. There are more and more fatalities from alcohol and many believe this problem has to do with the legal drinking age. In a way it is kind of strange that at eighteen years old a person can join the military and be trusted to defend our country and take a bullet, yet they cannot be trusted to drink alcohol. At eighteen years old that is the age where a child becomes an adult; they can vote, purchase tobacco, and join the military not to mention other things. Alcohol is always going to have the same effects on people, no matter what age after a person is intoxicated they are not the same.

Read More

Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

1357 Words | 6 Pages

June 15, 2013- “the night that would change the lives of 10 parents for the rest of eternity. Troubled teen, Ethan Couch, speeding down the road drunk at excessive speeds over 70 mph, struck a vehicle pulled off to the side of the road, fatally taking the lives of four teenagers”(Valiente). If the United States Government had permitted the consumption of alcoholic beverages at a lesser age such as age 18, students would have more of an idea of the effects of drinking, allowing them to navigate through the hardships embedded with drinking alcoholic beverages at a lesser age, rather than binge drinking, risking their health problems, to prove their “coolness” or “toughness” to their peers. Underage drinking is a major problem within the United

Read More

Persuasive Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age To 18

1834 Words | 8 Pages

It can cause depression and he or she can develop criminal behavior which can lead to death. It has been shown that when the drinking age is lowered teens increase drinking. When Arizona lowered their age to nineteen, teenage drinking increased by thirty-five percent. Car accidents have been known to come from alcohol and research has proven that with the age being twenty-one, suicides, DUIS, and crime rate have decreased

Read More

Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

1070 Words | 5 Pages

Lowering the drinking age: risky or safe? When teenagers turn 18, they are told that they are adults and are sent into the world. They go to college, get a job, marry or join the military. They do grown-up things like vote, pay taxes and become parents, but they can 't go to the bar for a beer.

Read More

Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

903 Words | 4 Pages

In fact, the law may increase the amount of eighteen to twenty year olds who do drink. It has been shown that, especially in college-age students, there is a tendency to not do what they are told, on the contrary, they will do the exact opposite. The problem with the drinking age being twenty-one is that some students drink purely out of defiance). The number of fatalities is down in all age groups, not just teenagers, and cars driven now are much safer than the cars that were being driven in the early 1980’s, and teenagers are much safer drivers, which can be attributed to the decreased amount of fatalities. Also, in other countries that have lower drinking ages, the number of fatalities has

Read More

More about Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

Related Topics

Open Document