...Why the drinking age should be lowered When people in the United States reach the age of eighteen, they are no longer considered juvenile. They have the right to choose their political leaders, purchase certain firearms, and even enlist in the military. They are considered legally independent adults. However, they are denied a very simple right: the right to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages. A twenty-year-old man can go legally kill a man or be killed for his country, but he would be denied the right to have a beer with his dinner. An eighteen year old in the US has the right to vote, and serve in the military. If that individual can make the decision of who the next potential leader of our country should be, while at the same time...
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...Why the Drinking Age should be lowered Why the drinking age should be lowered It is a Friday night, after a grueling week of studying, students are excited to go downtown and have a good time with their friends at the bar. One person gets to the bar and the bouncer sees his ID, takes a long look at him and says he can’t let him in. This situation happens to millions of college students all over the United States! The drinking age in the United States is 21 and it is somewhat of a controversy for many people. The drinking age should be lowered because people will engage in more responsible drinking, people in their teens will get in less trouble with the law and most importantly it will be the last step towards fully making 18 year olds a part of the adult community. It is well known that college students like to drink. It is no secret, but where they buy and consume their alcohol is a secret. The president of Middlebury College, John Mcardell says, “kids find ways to get around the 21 year old limit. This law has been an abysmal failure. It hasn't reduced or eliminated drinking. It has simply driven it underground, behind closed doors, into the most risky and least manageable of settings." Since most college freshmen and sophomores are under the legal drinking age they are not able to buy their own alcohol and much less go into a bar and have a drink. In a survey I made out of my class all 11 students said that they have consumed an alcoholic beverage...
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...You're known as an adult in the big wide vast world but cannot enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage? The legal age of drinking in the U.S should be lowered to 18. This is an ongoing topic throughout law enforcement and very debatable if it should stay, be raised, or even lowered which is what should happen. As civilians are allowed to enlist in the military and fight for our country but cannot have alcohol? As Americans turn 18 they are known as adults but cannot drink. If underage drinking is very common and not often stopped by authorities, why will it not be lowered? There are also many reasons to not lower it and even raise it. Having the ability to enlist into the military and risking the lives of many Americans as they fight for our country but yet, these fellow...
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...Drink up, or drink down? People 18 years and older are considered adults and should be treated as such by being allowed to legally purchase and consume alcohol. The United States is one of the few countries that maintains a relatively high minimum legal drinking age of 21. Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18? Well, in a way the drinking age should be lowered to 18, because we have persons that go into the armed forces at the age of 18. We also have the buying of tobacco products, by 18-year-olds. 18 -year-olds are also allowed to make decisions and vote for leaders of our local, state, and federal governments. So why are they not allowed to drink? The drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because 18 year olds are responsible adults that are part of society and are mature enough to handle alcohol consumption. To begin with, the definition of an adult is a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law. In the USA, that age is 18, and with every American's 18th birthday comes all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of becoming an adult. When becoming an adult you are given more freedom in life; such as applying for a credit card, being legally married without parental consent, filing for divorce, paying rent/mortgage, making purchases, signing a binding contract, voting, serving on a jury and serving in the military. If charged with a crime, the 18-year-old is no longer tried in juvenile court; he's tried as an adult. In overall, an...
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...minimum legal drinking age of twenty one is almost a perfect example of a policy with unrealistic expectations and serious unintended consequences. Although many people are not so popular with the drinking age being eighteen, I think why shouldn’t it be? One reason I think it should be lowered to eighteen is because even before eighteen or twenty one people still drink. So if people are still going to decide to drink although they are not of age, why shouldn’t they be allowed? Secondly, there would be a lot less arrests to be made because of under age drinking, the reason i say this is because they wouldn’t have to be rebellious about it. Another great reason is there would be less problems in general, statistics show that in the countries that lowered it there were less problems with drinking. Lastly, I personally feel as though less laws would be broken, because again they wouldn’t have to be rebellious about sneaking around to drink. For kids nowadays it’s really not that hard for us to get alcohol. The reason I say this is because if we have the money and older friends, that older friend can just buy it for us. The second reason is we can have parents that thinks drinking is ok and basically say it’s ok to drink just as long as your home....
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...As a whole the United States set the legal minimum drinking age at 21, but expectation such as drinking for medical reasons, consumption at home, under adult supervision, and many other reasons do exits depending on the state. In an article called "Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 To a Younger Age?" argues the legal drinking age for Americans should be lowered because, "Turning 18 entails receiving the rights and responsibilities of adulthood to vote, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, join the military--which includes taking on the responsibilities of life and death--and be prosecuted as adults. Adults from the age of 18 should therefore also be trusted to make decisions about alcohol consumption"("Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 To A Younger Age?", n.d.). In this rebuttal using valid arguments, supporting data, analyzing the reliability, credibility, and validity of the data used by the author, and identifying any logical fallacies in the argument it will be explained why the minimum drinking age should not be lowered. The legal minimum drinking age was not always 21 for the United States. At one point in time different states had the legal minimum drinking age set to age 20, 19, even 18. The main reason the legal age for drinking should not be lowered is safety." Federal transportation authority's viewed this hodge-podge of state laws as a real highway traffic safety problem. Alcohol-related traffic injuries and fatalities were increasing...
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...The drinking age should be lowered in the US By ashley_white11, Auburn, NY More by this author Email me when ashley_white11 contributes work The drinking age should be lowered in the US Image Credit: John W., Evergreen, CO The author's comments: Quotes This was my English essay and I was told to publish it on here. Quotes The drinking age should be lowered back to the age of 18. I feel that for many reasons including that people are adults at that age and should be able to make their own decisions. Setting the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) to 21 is unconstitutional and setting the drinking age to 21 sent the wrong message to teens in the US. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 years old because people are considered adults at that age. When you are 18 you receive the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. When you are that age you can vote, drive a vehicle, get married and even join the military. So why not be able to consume alcohol? When you are 18 you should be able to make your own decisions about alcohol consumption. This includes taking the responsibilities of life or death. Another reason is that when the US lowered the drinking age it sent the wrong message about alcohol consumption to people under the age of 21. In this case it seemed like they raised the drinking age to 21 because people where more mature at 21 years old than they are at 18. So teens want to consume alcohol to appear more mature. If the drinking age were lowered it would...
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...Drinking Age to Eighteen Seventy six percent of seniors in the United States admitted to drinking before the end of their senior year in high school. The legal drinking age in all fifty states in the United States is twenty one years old. The legal drinking age did not always used to be twenty one. Up until nineteen eighty four the drinking age was eighteen (“The Debate on Lowering the Drinking Age”). Today, seventy four percent of Americans favor the drinking age being lowered to eighteen (“Drinking Age”). The drinking age should be lowered from twenty one to eighteen because at the age of eighteen one legally becomes an adult, it would reduce the amount of unsafe drinking activity, and statistics show countries with lower drinking age laws...
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...argumentation paper I plan on discussing the drinking limit and why I feel it should be lowered to 18 instead on 21. There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to 18, like most of the world, or if it should stay at 21. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years; yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen, I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to 18. The most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are 21. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. My opinion along with a growing number of people across the country is questioning the reason of the 21 legal drinking ages. Throughout history, people have always wanted what they can’t have. Today, many teenagers experience different things in the world. Teens are always eager to try something different or new. One of the things that teenagers try is drinking alcohol. Around the 1980s many states changed the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. The theory behind this was, that if you increase the drinking age, people will drink more responsibly, because with age comes responsibility. Unfortunately, the people...
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...Lowering the Drinking Age It’s a fact that most kids try alcohol before they are around 16. In Europe the drinking age is around 16-18 years old. The legal drinking age really hasn’t stopped young teens before. It’s talked a lot about in schools and other states of why it should be lowered. Lowering the drinking age will give these teens the responsibility that some of them are looking for. The drinking age within the United States should be lowered to allow people to begin legally consuming alcohol at the age of 18 as a measure to combat binge drinking, to boost the economy, and to be more reflective of an 18 year old person's status as an adult. Lowering the drinking age to 18 years old can diminish the thrill of breaking the law by underage drinking. There is a lot of excitement that some kids feel knowing they are breaking the law and most likely not going to get caught. Not wanting to admit to drinking “…Which can make rebellious teenagers sneak off to basements and backwoods to binge drink far from adult supervision” (CNN). A lot of teens feel the thrill of breaking the law and having their parents not know. Knowing that they shouldn’t be drinking is that “rebellious” side of the teens. If...
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...21 or 18? When states raised the drinking age to 21 in 1984 one study showed that more than 50% of drunk driving has decreased since (Newspaper Source plus). The drinking age has the been the topic of many debates and people are still torn. The drinking age should not be lowered because it is life saving. The drinking should stay at 21 because it has and will save lives. According to Chris Konschak, executive director of MADD in Virginia, said that with the drinking age at 21 it has saved over 1,000 lives a year in just the U.S. (Newspaper Source plus). Others may say that if 18-year-olds can drive, vote, drive planes, pay taxes, and enroll in the army why can’t they drink (Whelan)? But studies show that when other counties lowered their drinking age it caused a big increase of teen going into poverty, having life threatening health problems, and even dying...
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...Period Drinking Age In all of the articles and political cartoon there are many examples of ethos, pathos and logos. However, some of them are more effective than others. Each of these documents discuss the drinking age in the united states and why it should be either be lowered to 18 or stay at 21. The first source is the least effective out of the three because it does not explain what age the drinking age should be at. On the other hand, the third source, “Lower the Drinking Age Back to 18” is a very affective article because of the facts that it has and the experience that he had growing up in a world were colleges taught you how to drink responsibly In the first source you see a cartoon. This Cartoon shows the drinking age at 21 and what the drinking age would look like at 18 years old. However, both of these cartoons look exactly alike. The repetition of the same image with different captions emphasizes in what happens if the drinking age changes … nothing. Ethos is created because there are less females than males and statistically speaking more men drink binge drink. The symbolism in the shorts "OSU" and a fraternity are all zeugmas for drinking. This cartoon also establishes pathos by showing the emotion each person has in there face. All of the “adults” in this cartoon are very happy and look like they are ready to have fun. On the other hand, it does not show the repercussions of drinking irresponsibly. To improve this cartoon, I feel that it should show the after...
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...she should never get anywhere near alcohol drops out of said college after only one years worth of attendance. Why did this happen? Because to the law an 18 year-old is an adult, but is not seen responsible enough to drink. She was never exposed to alcohol and because of that went absolutely crazy in college because of the taboo allure paired with peer pressure from other students that may not know the effects of alcohol. Alcohol should be entrusted to all adults, and as the law sees the age 18 as “adult” then that should be the cut off mark. This would have brought attention to the colleges that drinking may happen on...
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...The legal drinking age should be lowered in the United States. This makes the most sense because kids legally become an adult at the age of 18 where they are granted other rights as well, such as the ability to enlist in the army. If we are legally an adult and trusted to protect our country we should be trusted with a couple of drinks. Lowering the drinking age also decreases unsafe drinking in regulated environments and less drunk driving accidents. With regulated drinking kids become more aware with their alcohol tolerance and get used to it in a safe environment without doing it illegally. This creates a safer environment for everyone. With kids more aware of their intake of alcohol less accidents such as drunk driving will happen. The is why the drinking age should be lowered to the age of when you actually become an adult. Kids legally become an adult at the age of 18. At this time in your life you receive the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. Some examples of the choices that you might or can make are enlisting in the army, voting for president, buying lottery tickets...
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...The drinking age in the U.S. is a widely debated topic. People everywhere think it should be lowered while other people think it should stay the same. In this report I will explain both sides of the story and all of the pros and cons of lowering the official age, and then explain to you my view on the topic. Why we should lower the drinking age. 18 is the age of adulthood in The United States, and adults have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol consumption. By lowering the drinking age, allowing 18-20 year olds to drink in regulated environments would decrease unsafe drinking activities. Also there are fewer drunk driving accidents and fatalities in many countries with the MLDA of 18. Lowering the MLDA from 21 to 18 would...
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