Preview

Legalizing the Drinking Age to 18

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1624 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Legalizing the Drinking Age to 18
Legalizing the Drinking Age to 18 When people turn to the age of eighteen, they are finally considered an adult. They can join the army, have the right to vote, buy cigarettes or tobacco products, get a tattoo and even die for our country, but they aren’t allowed to buy alcohol? A person can be responsible enough to live on his or her own, make money, pay bills, and yet they are not old enough to purchase or consume any type of alcohol. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years. Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As being a teenager, these things are going on not only in college, but also in high school. There are a lot of factors as to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Turning the drinking age to 18, entails receiving the rights and responsibilities of adulthood to vote, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, joining the military, which includes taking on the responsibilities of life and death, and be prosecuted as adults. Once someone turn 18, life opens up and they achieve multiple obligations and privileges. Adults from the age of 18 should be trusted to make decisions about alcohol consumption. If an 18 year old can make up their mind as to which the potential leader of the country should be and take a bullet for their country, they should have every right to purchase and drink alcohol. At age 18, citizen is also inclined to jury duty. 18- year- old males are forced to join the selective service, for possible drafting. This means some 18 year olds males can go to war. If you are legal to get married at the age of 18 and end up getting married, you aren’t even allowed to drink at your own wedding. So many of these things don’t make sense and just enhance as to why the drinking age should be lowered. People ignore the proven medical fact that

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Young adults, who are between the ages of 18 and 19, have the right to fight and die for their country, yet they do not have the privilege to sit down and enjoy a beer with his or her family or friends legally. This is one of the most popular arguments spoken about when lowering the drinking age back to eighteen is brought up. In Dr. Ruth C. Engs essay “Why the drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research,” she brings about very strong arguments that most people would not usually think of. Engs says that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 or 19.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Eighteen is the age of adulthood in the U.S and adults then have the right to make their own decisions so why not about alcohol consumption? Turning 18 gives us the right and responsibility of adulthood. Being eighteen gives us the right to vote, smoke cigarettes, serves on juries, get married, sign contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and even join the military which includes risking our lives.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1987 the United States passed a law mandating all states to have a twenty-one year old alcohol purchase age. This means over half of college students are not legal to buy alcohol. College kids are college kids though, and one way or another they are going to get their alcohol. Many people, myself included, believe that the legal drinking age should be changed from twenty-one to eighteen. “An 18-year-old is afforded, among other things, the right to vote, the right to marry, and the ability to serve in the military” (Engs, Heath, Levine, Smith). In the United States an eighteen year old is considered an adult, yet eighteen year olds are not completely treated like adults. They should be able to make their own choices at this age, and buying and consuming alcohol is one of these choices. Even with all the arguments, the legal…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The drinking age law is a law that is greatly debated. There are many pros and con to the drinking age being lowered. At the age of 18 you are considered an adult in the eyes of the public. Many think a young adult is not mature enough to have a sip of beer but somehow is old enough to fight for our country. The drinking age should be lowered because an individual is considered an adult at the age of 18, laws about drinking can be more harmful the good, and if you are able to all these adult things at 18 than you should be able to have a sip of a drink.…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the U.S. the age of adulthood is 18. And with that comes many responsibilities and decisions that can now be made without consents. But there is still one thing a now young adult can’t decide on their own and that is if they will consume alcohol. The legal drinking age is not until you are 21 years of age. People argue that it should be lowered for it is an individual decision and 18 is old enough to make that decision. The legal drinking age should remain as is because the brain of a young adult is not fully developed till the age of 21.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are many pros and cons to lowering the national drinking age from 21 years of age to 19 years of age. I believe the drinking age should stay at 21 even though many of my peers feel otherwise. People under the age of 21 are drinking whether it is legal or not. They may have a fake identification or have someone purchase alcohol for them, the fact is they are drinking. When I talk with others about this topic, comments are always made such as: when a person turns 12, they can get a hunting license and carry a gun, at 16, they can get a driver’s license and quit school, at 18 they have the right to vote, serve in the military and are considered an adult. They can have a baby and get married but can’t have a glass of champagne to celebrate. I understand these thoughts and sometimes wish it was 19 but when you look at the research, it is better for everyone that every state to set the legal drinking age 21.…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teenagers are not mature enough for the drinking age to be lowered to eighteen years old. Being able to drink at an early age can lead to alcoholism at more quickly. When teenagers consume alcohol it is more easily for them to drink and drive because they believe nothing can or will happen to them. All fifty states minimum age to drink is twenty-one, but in some states it is okay for people under that age to drink under adult supervision. Having to drink in front of adults brings…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In college, kids have to take out massive loans leaving them in debt that can lead to bankruptcy and have them financially unstable but the can not purchase a drink. (pros and cons of lowering the drinking age to 18) You can also adopt kid, enroll in the army, buy cigarettes and get married but can not enjoy a drink (pros and cons of lowering the drinking age to 18). Allowing 18 to 20 year old to drink alcohol in regulated and monitored environments with supervision would decrease unsafe drinking activity (The drinking age…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most children are very excited about turning 18 because it means adulthood, running off to college, and gaining freedom. When turning this age, you are allowed to join the military, get married and receive all the rights and responsibilities of an adult. However, having a wedding at this age means that during the celebration, one is not allowed to share a glass of Champaign during the toasts because the drinking age is 21. The United States is one of the few countries in the world to have such a high legal drinking age. Therefore the drinking age should be lowered to 18 because you are able to sign your life away and go to war, young adults in other countries are able to handle the responsibilities, and the different age limits do not coordinate with the responsibilities.…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Now people say that the drinking age should stay the same but the legal adulthood age is 18 so why can’t the drinking age be lowered to 18? At the age of 18 you have the right to vote, to get married, join the army, and on top of that you could have contracts, so the drinking age should be lowered to 18 as well.(drinking age procon.org) Once you are 18 you should be able to have the rights to make your own decisions to buy a drink you want a drink.(newsweek.com)…

    • 92 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The first reason that the legal drinking age should not be lowered is because of the negative medical effects it has on the the mind and body. A large number of people and docpers even say that 18 years old compared to 21 is not much of a difference at all. This may be true to a point. Yes, physically that are very similar but the mindset and maturity is very different if look at carefully. First off, A quote from Dr. Williams Graf who is a professor at Yale states “There's no magic that happens physically to someone when they are 21 as compared to age 18. This is what men a woman say about teen drinking from a medical standpoint. Yes, a good majority of 18 year old are physically…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to “Why Do Adolescents Drink” internet source teens believe drinking is the way to avoid the real world. They tend to think that it avoids stress related problems and peer pressure from others. Yet some people feel they are well old enough, and should be treated as an adult when it comes to drinking or lowering the drinking age to eighteen. Standing up going against lowering the drinking age is the way to stand because it is the wrong proposal to agree on for lowering it. The current drinking age should stay at twenty-one because eighteen year olds are not mature enough to consume alcohol and be able to be responsible for what happens.…

    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    America allows its young adults of the age of eighteen to vote for whom they want to lead their country. This is a big responsibility. They are also allowed to join the military, train, and be shipped off to faraway lands to fight their nation’s battles. We are asking quite a bit of our young adults putting them into harm’s way and asking them to make life altering decisions. They are seen fit to make the calls with their life, so why can they not consume alcohol legally. If we lower the age of drinking to eighteen, there is reason to believe that there will be less issues and problems with this age group and alcohol. Anyone who is under the age of twenty one feels like alcohol is the forbidden fruit. They can’t have it so they want it. They will consume as much as they can due to the fact that they may not know when they will get more. This is the problem. If we lower the legal limit, they can purchase it and they will drink in a more responsible manner. Cary discusses in “Time to Lower the Drinking Age” that when she was in college…

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the reasons why the legal drinking age should be lowered is because it would diminish the thrill of breaking the law to get a drink. According to Ruth C. Engs, Pofessor, Applied Health Sciences, “Although the legal purchase age is 21 years of age, a majority of college students under this age consume alcohol but in an irresponsible manner. This is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing "forbidden fruit," a "badge of rebellion against authority" and a symbol of adulthood." This implies, students and people under the age of 21 will drink in an irresponsible manner because of peer pressure or just wanting to show adults that they don’t have to listen to them anymore. This also shows, if legal drinking age was lowered then most students and people under the age of 21 would learn that they don’t need to rebel to get a drink or break laws and since 18 year olds get a lot of responsibility like voting, this would add to it and show that they can be trusted with not over drinking.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alcohol in the hands of an irresponsible under aged person, can be deadly. Furthermore, for anyone to consider lowering the legal drinking age from 21, to 18, in my opinion is simply ludicrous. John Bowersox reports, “Since Colonial times, drinking alcohol has been part of American culture and its use by young people has been accepted by many as part of growing up. In fact, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, many States lowered the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Following this change, the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities among young people increased. In response to these acute consequences, beginning in the early 1980s individual States increased the drinking age to 21. In 1984, Congress passed legislation that would…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays