Having the legal drinking age set to 21 has not stopped teens from drinking. Although adults drink more often than people under twenty one, when underage drinkers do drink they drink a lot more than adults. This is because it is harder for people under twenty one to obtain alcohol. The United States government should consider lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Teenagers in the United States are no strangers to irresponsible drinking. Mainly because American teens aren’t educated on how to drink alcohol responsibly. Abigail R. Hall an assistant professor of economics at the University of Tampa “They “pregame” – that is, drink – before going out, knowing they won’t be served alcohol later. This behavior, encouraged by the drinking …show more content…
At 18 year olds are allowed to vote and enlist in our country's armed forces, but not able to drink a beer. Elizabeth M. Whelan of Harvard School of Public Health states “At 18, they're considered adults. Yet when they want to enjoy a drink like other adults, they are, as they put it, "disenfranchised." (Whelan). Treating alcohol as a forbidden fruit will only worsen the situation because they will not have the education of what consuming alcohol is really like. “They feel "liberated" when they arrive on campus. With no parents to stop them, they have a "let's make up for lost time" attitude. The result: binge drinking.” (Whelan) Said Elizabeth M. Whelan of Harvard School of Public Health. By educating youth on how they should consume alcohol and the effects of alcohol it will definitely help turn them into responsible drinkers. Ralph DiMatteo a certified alcohol awareness trainer stated “If young adults are treated as mature people they will behave as such. Instead of solving the problem of binge drinking and drunk driving, the legal drinking age of twenty-one denies people who are old enough to get married, drive, and vote, the opportunity to learn how to drink responsibly.”