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Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

1317 Words6 Pages

Eighteen is the age of adulthood within the United States, the age in which individuals become eligible to participate in several life-altering decisions such as getting married or voting for public officials - despite this, individuals of this age are not permitted to buy or consume alcohol. Restricting the drinking age to residents at and above the age of twenty-one has been an abysmal failure. Elevating the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to twenty-one years old in the 1980s has influenced a dangerous culture of reckless behavior among young adults, including unsupervised extreme and binge drinking. While this law may have reduced the amount of highway deaths, it may also be contributing to an increase in off-highway deaths. In the United …show more content…

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?). Underage drinking in the US has been relevant for decades and regardless of a change in legislature. Despite any law created by the US government, there will always be people who do not follow the law, including underage adults that will continue to consume

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“There’s No Benefit to Lowering the Drinking Age” explains, on average about eleven teens die daily as a result of drunk driving (Voas 464). When teens throw a party, alcohol is usually involved. Then once the party is over the kids have to get home somehow and they often drive themselves. When an alcoholic drink is placed in an eighteen-year-old hand decisions are made that harm them and others

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722 Words | 3 Pages

Traffic crash rates have been inversely related with the minimum legal drinking age since the 1970’s. Studies conducted since the 1980’s analyzed how the change in the MLDA affected the outcome of total traffic crashes for youth, drinking-driving convictions, single-vehicle nighttime crash fatalities, and alcohol problems among youth. The MLDA needs to be at 21, because 67% of the studies completed have concluded that there was a significant decrease in traffic crashes and crash fatalities when the drinking age was higher. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that in 1987 alone, 1,071 traffic crashes were prevented because of the MLDA of 21 (NHTSA 1989). Lower rates of death caused by vehicle crashes were found in states with higher MLDA’s throughout these various studies, and a 16% decrease in vandalism rates were observed in 4 states that raised their MLDA.

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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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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

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386 Words | 2 Pages

Advocates believe that lowering MLDA 21 promotes teen rebellion and increasing the risks of early health conditions, including effecting the cognitive functions of the brain’s frontal lobe, obstructing the individual’s emotional development for teenagers and young adults. While also increasing the likelihood of traffic fatalities under the influence of alcohol. Adversaries believe that young adults are of age and have their own rights and responsibilities to make their own decisions to consume alcohol. As lowering the MLDA from 21 to 18, individuals are less likely to oppose the law and making the consumption of alcohol for young adults less

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603 Words | 3 Pages

However, “90% of drunk driving deaths in the United States were found in the over 21 age group” (Gruenewald). For this reason, drunk driving is not directly correlated with the drinking age. In addition, the percent of drunk driving deaths in the United States has reduced at a slower rate than European countries where they have their legal drinking age at eighteen. This suggest that if lowering the drinking age was a success in Europe, it may also be effective here in the United States to diminish the amount of drunk driving deaths. This is because people that become injured due to alcohol or alcohol poisoning are afraid to report their injuries to the hospital or authorities out of fear of illegal consequences for underage drinking.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

Admonishable Alcohol Change is good- Sometimes it may take a while to adjust. Sometimes not everyone will have the same opinion; however, in order to keep moving forward and to keep policies current and effectively functioning, change must take place. One change that should happen in modern U.S society is the legal drinking age. Right now, it is sitting at the age of twenty-one, which simply does not match the other age restricted freedoms in our country.

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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.

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1336 Words | 6 Pages

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).

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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

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943 Words | 4 Pages

In these past few years more and more people are leaning towards lowering the drinking age, yet there are still many that disagree and want the age of twenty one to remain the legal age to consume alcohol. In 1984 the United States Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act that changed the drinking age from eighteen to twenty one. Many of the states did not agree with this act and planned on keeping their legal drinking age at 18, until congress passed the Federal Aid Highway act, which states that if the drinking age in that state was under twenty one, they would lose almost 10 percent of their funding for highway public transportation. Throughout the United States thousands of citizens consume alcohol. Even if the legal drinking age is 21, minors will still consume it illegally.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

In the book called “Teenage and Alcohol,” Torr mentioned that since it is prohibited, teenagers sneak out and end up drinking irresponsibly. Students ignore both the law and the police. In 2015, James C. Fell, Michael Scherer, and Robert Voas found that alcohol consumption was increased to 16.1%. However, they also mentioned that higher alcohol consumption and higher deadly car accidents among teenage driver are positively correlated. From this fact, one can see that lowering the drinking age because of weak rules and regulations is not a right

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827 Words | 4 Pages

In some countries, like in Europe the drinking age is set at 18. Even though people in the US think this is insane, this set age has more positive effects than people think it would. It is known that binge drinking is a problem in the US since it has the highest rate in the world for binge drinking. In Europe, teenagers get their license at age 18, and some drinking ages are lower than that, they figure out how to control their drinking before the drive. Unlike in the US, kids drink and then drive because they either have to be home by curfew or they are too scared to call their parents for a ride, and admit they had been under the

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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

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1681 Words | 7 Pages

Young adults are most likely to have car accidents than older adults. This also shows that young adults are more likely to lose their life in a car accident due to drinking, than any other situation. As a result, people don’t think of the huge mistake they are getting into by being behind the wheel while under the influence. Overuse of drinking can lead to violence and any other situation, because people are not aware of what

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