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The legal drinking age research proposals
The legal drinking age research proposals
The legal drinking age research proposals
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When the government decided to lower their drinking age from 20 to 18 years old in 1999, they correctly predicted that there would not be an increase in alcohol abuse because many teenagers already drank alcohol they obtained illegally from adults (ICAP, 2002.) This supports the philosophy that it is better and healthier to allow young people to drink at a lower age so that their habits can be controlled, and that this can be done without increasing dangerous behavior. Statistics from around the world also suggest that a decreased legal drinking age creates healthier drinkers in the long run. A study on the percentage of people older than 15 years old with an alcohol use disorder reveals that 5.48% of Americans are affected, compared to 1.07% of people in Spain and 0.5% of people in Italy (WHO, 2004). Analyzing this data shows that the rate of alcoholism is significantly lower in countries including Spain and Italy where the drinking age is lower, likely because citizens drink responsibly throughout their entire lives.
Many studies have been able to provide evidence as to why these inaccuracies
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.
Mentioned earlier, several young adults are entering college at this point in their lives. John McCardell Jr, former president of Middlebury College, founded Choose Responsibly, a non-profit organization that promotes awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking and reckless alcohol consumption by young adults. His main goal is to lower the minimum drinking age by spreading awareness to the public (McCardell). He understands that the pressure to drink in college is very prevalent, and when we restrict eighteen to twenty year olds from drinking, it then creates the risk of an unsafe environment. This group is not allowed to drink in bars, restaurants, and other licensed locations, but this doesn’t stop them from drinking.
But while it has succeeded in that, it is also believed that tougher rules, such as DUI rules and seatbelt safety rules have also played a part in this decrease. However, this higher drinking age hasn’t reduced drinking, its only “driven it underground,” Gabrielle Glaser states in her NY Times article. It has been driven underground to the riskiest settings, high school parties and frat parties that are unsupervised. This age raise segregates the drinking away from adults that can model moderation in drinking. If an 18-year-old high school senior is shown by his/her parent(s) how to drink responsibly and in moderation, I believe that it would greatly help in reducing the chance of making bad decisions by overdoing it, such as driving while drinking.
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.
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism seems like an issue that keeps getting increasingly worse each year in the United States. According to USA Today and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both say that approximately 6 people die from alcohol poisoning, caused from binge drinking, each day, which amounts to roughly 2,200 people each year. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that “In 2013 an estimated 697,000 adolescents ages 12–17 (2.8 percent of this age group) had an [alcohol use disorder]” (“Alcohol Facts”). Something has to stop and something has to change from preventing this more because 6 people dying each day from binge drinking alone is a lot, not to mention that 12-17 year olds are having alcohol problems at such a young age. Lowering the drinking age will enforce this act even more, promoting more drinking in fact.
Excessive drinking is in charge of more than 4,300 passings among underage drinkers throughout the years. Bringing down the drinking age from 21 to 18 is something I am against in view of these reasons. A few teenagers drink when they are under the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA), particularly on school grounds and at secondary schools. Some of them have motivations to why they drink.
Abstract This research paper discusses how the legal age for drinking may affect maturity, binge drinking, and sexual assaults; and how greatly age plays into it. The articles vary in what they bring to the paper. The New York Times article discusses whether or not the drinking age should be lowered. An article that was featured in News Week talks about how lowering the drinking age may curb binge drinking in college students.
Could you imagine a 45 year old alcoholic and gang leader sitting alongside a fresh 18 year old at a bar? Today, it may seem ludicrous but soon this situation may become reality due to the support for lowering the legal age of recreational alcohol consumption from 21 to 18. At 18 years old, teens are hardly able to manage a grocery list and safely control vehicles such as cars, motorcycles etc. Therefore, expecting them to limit their consumption to what is considered appropriate while abiding by laws previously implemented, such as the policy of not drinking and driving is prone to be a precursor to a life of alcoholism and perpetual failure to meet requirements. Medical professionals can validate that drinking at 18 has a much more profound impact on an individual compared to drinking at the age of 21, both physically and mentally.
With how the college system is set up, there will always be funding of alcohol from seniors to freshman. My proposal isn't to change the college system or put a heavier penalty on underage drinking, rather I believe that setting up an pro-visionary program that oversees the educating of proper alcohol knowledge and wisdom towards young adults at the age of 18. With the supervision of adults who've experience with alcohol, they will educate young adults on the benefits of drinking but also the consequences that may also come if one abuses it. This research proposal's theme is to mainly discuss about my plans to research further in the benefits that come with legalizing or setting up an pro-visionary program that allows the legal drinking age to be dropped to the age of 18. The decision to select this subject was mainly because of my personal experience.
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
Over the years, the legal drinking age in the United States has been heavily debated. Some argue that the legal age to drink should be 18 or 19 because people at that age are recognized as adults; others argue that the drinking age should be 21 because people who are able to drink should be more mature and have their lives better planned out. Although people are legally adults at 18, they are not yet mature adults; in fact, according to NRP, “emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don’t reach full maturity until the age 25” (“Brain”). Before earning the right to legally drink, people should allow their bodies to fully develop and gain a better knowledge of how to organize their lives. The drinking age should remain
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
Today in the United States about 4,358 people under the age of 21 years old die each year from alcohol-related car crashes, homicides, suicides, alcohol poisoning, and other injuries such as falls, burns, and even drowning. More than 190,000 people under the age of 21 visited an emergency room for alcohol related reasons in 2008 alone. Alcohol related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and non-fatally injure someone every two minutes. That’s a lot of people gone because they wanted to go out and party and not think about the consequences ahead. In this essay I’m gonna give you information to why Underage Drinking is very very bad for you.
