Lowering Drinking Age Essay - 1090 Words

Society normally views teenagers as rebellious kids with an impulse to live new experiences. These experiences range from going to their first party to having their first alcoholic drink, and are sometimes as drastic as trying their first drug. Drinking alcoholic beverages is something that involves a lot of responsibility and can bring a plethora of negative consequences. This is the main reason why the United States has established a legal drinking age that I consider to be relatively high. With the legal drinking age being so high, while intending to avoid harmful situations, brings many repercussions that are equally as harmful. By human nature, whatever is prohibited to us is what we want the most. Teenagers are denied drinking and†¦show more content†¦Of course, alcoholic beverages are offered there and as a consequence, entrance is denied to those less than twenty-one years old. Most people would assume that this dismisses the opportunity for college students to illeg ally drink alcohol. However, this only makes it less apparent. Students are becoming increasingly involved with Greek life and attend what they call frat parties where beer is offered to anyone, regardless of their age. A CBS News report with words from former Middlebury College president John McCardell stated that It hasnt reduced or eliminated drinking. It has simply driven it underground, behind closed doors, into the most risky and least manageable of settings. College students in fraternity parties are known for getting extremely drunk, sometimes to the point of intoxication. This is partly due to the fact that drinking is something new for college students in the United States. These students are without parental supervision for probably the first time in their lives and they take extreme advantage of it. This leads to excessive consumptions of alcohol that are harmful to the teenagers. If the legal drinking age would be lowered to eighteen, teenagers would be able to experien ce these things at younger ages and with their parents or guardians within a reachable distance. Whenever a teenager is intoxicated, other people are afraid of seeking medical attention for the person because of the legal consequences it mightShow MoreRelatedLowering the Drinking Age1523 Words   |  7 Pages According to Andrew Herman, â€Å"Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders† (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice asRead MoreNot Lowering The Drinking Age989 Words   |  4 PagesNot Lowering the Drinking Age There are many different views on drinking alcohol, especially underage drinking. Everyone has different views on the drinking age. Some think it should be lowered and others believe that it should be raised. Then some believe that it should remain the same at the age of twenty-one years old. Keeping the alcohol consumption age at twenty-one limits the dangers of not only those under twenty-one, but other people in the community. Lowering the drinking age will causeRead MoreLowering the Drinking Age1223 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"What we’re doing now to prevent underage drinking isn’t working; it’s time to try something else.† Although many people argue that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1964, which lowed the drinking age from eighteen to twenty one, was a good idea. David J Hanson a professor in the State University of New York believed that something needs to be done to make the United States a safer place to live. Is it fair that people in the United States can serve in the military, vote in elections, serveRead MoreLowering The Legal Drinking Age857 Words   |  4 PagesAs we know, the United States has the highest drinking age in the world. By 1988 the entire U.S had adopted the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, which set the drinking age to twenty-one. However, in 1920 the United States banned the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcohol. This era known as the Prohibition sparked the popularity of hidden underground bars and events. The Prohibition Era is a prime example of how people did anything to intake alcohol and eventually this ledRead MoreLowering The Alcohol Drinking Age1602 Words   |  7 Pages Lowering The Alcohol Drinking Age Now a day’s teens that are under the age of twenty-one are out in trouble and drinking. They know that they are not old enough to drink and that is what makes them want to drink even more. Teens drink when they are not suppose to, but they know that when they drink, they must stay out of trouble. Lowering the alcohol drinking age will keep a bunch of teens out of trouble. If teens can stay safe while drinking then they should allow eighteen year olds to drinkRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age Act Essay2580 Words   |  11 PagesLowering drinking age California Passed the drinking age act in 1984 for all consumers of alcohol had to be 21 years of age to buy and consume. Was this a good idea? Is this making young teens stay away from alcohol, and making our cities safe? Age limit should be lowered to 18 years of age because there should be no reason why try to keep teens away from something that they are going to get one way or another. Many teens get alcohol from older siblings, seeing parents, and being influenced by otherRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age Of The Age981 Words   |  4 PagesHowever, there are those who remain persistent in their requests to drop the drinking age to a slightly lower option. Opposition to the legal drinking age of twenty-one has shown to have some support from mostly younger groups of people, without much validation as to why a lowered drinking age would be beneficial to our country as a whole. Yet, there are still some interesting arguments for those in favor of dropping the age at which it is l egal to drink to eighteen. Consider how many young adults chooseRead MoreThe Argument For Lowering The Drinking Age Essay2153 Words   |  9 PagesAlcohol has been a large part of society for many years. Currently out of the 190 countries in the world, 61% of them have drinking ages of 18 or 19. While 12 other countries have their drinking ages set at 21. In those 12 countries is the United States, who after 1984 raised their national minimum drinking age when Congress passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act. The drinking age in recent years has became a topic of controversy with people arguing that it showed be lowered back to 18 or 19. TheirRead MoreEssay on Lowering the Drinking Age 1011 Words   |  5 Pagesare facing the consequences of irresponsible drinking. Because of the issues caused by irresponsible drinking, the US government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 which raised the minimum drinking age to twenty-one to prevent drinking-related accidents and violence. Despite the int ent of its passing, it was a counterproductive decision. Because of the higher age restriction, high school upperclassmen and college underclassmen see drinking as an exciting, rebellious act. ConsequentiallyRead MoreLowering The Legal Drinking Age1933 Words   |  8 PagesLowering of the Legal Drinking Age Research Paper Adults under 21 are able to vote, sign contracts, serve on juries, and enlist in the military, but are told that they are not mature enough to have a beer?, said Ruth C. Engs, a professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University (Engs). No matter what is done, teenagers and young adults all over America are going to drink if they want to. The question is, why can t they start legally drinking when they enter adulthood? An alternative to