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Lowering The Drinking Age To 18 Essay

1751 Words8 Pages

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.”

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Teen drinking is a problem definitely to high school students who believe they need to drink because of their stressful lives. making the drinking age to Twenty-five might not diminish teen drinking but it might reduce it, a teen might still think since the age was risen that there might be a bigger consequence for under age drinkers. At this time there is someone in the United States becoming intoxicated To some people alcohol is like a drug and people who drink as a teenager are more likely to try actual drugs like marijuana or cocaine. " In some parts of Europe there is not a drinking age, why can't the US be like Europe.

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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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Although alcohol at an early age can teach a teen to be more responsible. Changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 might have a positive influence on teens, for example, there are many countries that have a lower age limit to drink alcohol. There are countries like Canada, Mexico, and many more that have a drinking age of 18-19 years old. Many people believe that 18 is the age of adulthood so, it is ok for a teen to drink and make their own decisions. People argue that, why is the age limit to buy cigarettes is 18 and to buy alcohol is 21.

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In recent studies it has been proven that binge drinking in teens leads to slowing down the rate of which your brain develops. Since the 1990’s little progress has been made on lowering the limit of binge drinking teen’s. Even though colleges and communities could do a number of things to help they haven't and probably never will. Binge drinking has caused many deaths to college students. “ Binge drinkers consume a reported 91% of all alcohol used among the college population and frequent binge drinkers consume 68% of this amount with half of these frequent binge drinkers reporting 5 or more different alcohol-related problems”.

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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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Though some people mature faster and take on responsibilities at different ages, in all cases except drinking, you are no longer considered a child by 18. The age a person can be married and start a family varies from state to state, but all are under 18. At 18, a person is old enough to join the military and risk their lives for the country. The most important responsibility given to young adults at 18 is the right to vote. If a person can determine the fate of the country, fight for the country and take on the responsibilities of raising a family they should be permitted to make their own decision about drinking

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People are considered adults at the age 18 but do not get all the benefits, and lowering the legal drinking age can result in making it safer in the long run. Men are forced to sign up for the draft at age 18 to go risk their lives in battle for this country and women have the ability to choose to go into service for our country, but cannot get an alcoholic drink. Under current

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Megan Abba, Editor in chief at Chapman University, says that “40 percent of all college students binge drink” (Abba). She talks about how college students under 21 would drink before they leave and if college students could buy alcohol it would lessen the pressure to drink before leaving the house. Drinking before leaving the house causes some college students to black out and have alcohol poisoning because of the amount of alcohol consumed. Megan also says that “in European countries where the drinking age is mainly 18, one in 10 drinking occasions result in intoxications” (Abba). Lowering the drinking age would promote safer drinking habits, However, evidence supports alcohol should not be readily available for teens and young adults.

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I also would like to know why the age 21 has to be the legal age of drinking why can’t it be age 25. People don’t understand that at the age of 25 they understand more of alcohol. Having a clear understanding of how to drink and what you cannot do to be a drunk driver after consuming so much alcohol. College students as well as young people engage themselves in heavy drinking than

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Next, you will become more mature at the age of 25 then when you are younger and also learn more about being responsible with drinking. If we put the age down or stayed at 21 the more people there is to cause trouble with the law about drinking. Drinking and driving is also a big problem in our society. Many kids are driving after being drunk because they don’t care or think about the situations that could

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The consumption of alcohol has always been a controversial topic all over the world. The legal age to drink any alcoholic beverages has been causing conflict for centuries. In many nations, the legal age to drink is 18 and many of the times even lower than 18. As a result, many adolescents have the tendency to get drunk because they view harmful products to be pleasing. They don’t realize that drinking from a young age can cause them to have detrimental damages within themselves.

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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.

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When a child turns 18, they open to many more responsibilities than any other teenage birthday. When a child is 18, they are not considered a kid anymore, they are adults. One of the many perks of being 18 is kids can vote and they can enlist in the army. In 1984, President Reagan had signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, and this required all states to set the drinking age to 21. If an 18 year old can enlist in the army, and put their life at risk they should be able to drink alcohol at 18.

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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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One of the most contraversal topics talked about among teenages and young adults in the United States is the drinking age. At 18 years old you can sign a contract, vote, get married, pay bills and join the army. You can achieve all this but can’t have a beer to celebrate your accomplishments. Individuals ages from 12-20 years old drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United

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