Persuasive Essay: Lowering The Drinking Age

Lowering the Drinking Age Since the drinking age has been raised to twenty-one in 1984, there has been alarming evidence that illegal drinking still occurs between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four, more prominently on college campuses. Although there are a plethora of reasons as to why the drinking age has been raised, there are extensively fundamental reasons as to why the drinking age needs to be lowered in an effort to halt the rising illegal drinking rate. These reasons include teaching responsibility, diminishing the rebellious aspect of drinking, and the lack of enforcement of the law to stop underage drinking. First and foremost, the lowering of the drinking age has the extremely high potential of teaching greater responsibility
to people at a younger age. Allowing people to drink at a younger age, such as eighteen years old, can teach young adults how to drink in a controlled environment and be accountable for their actions. If young adults were legally allowed to drink at dinner with family at a restaurant or at a bar with friends and “experience the effects of alcohol, they would be less inclined to binge later” (Harsanyi). Along with being less inclined to binge drink, the young adults would learn how to behave as well as how to handle themselves more appropriately in controlled situations while intoxicated around other people.
Although many people are not advocates of lowering the drinking age, the changing of this law would further “encourage society to educate teens about alcohol rather than sweeping it under the rug”, and by doing so young adults would be more cognizant of their actions and the ramifications
that come along with drinking (Gilchrist). From first hand experience, being exposed to drinking and being made aware of the consequences personally taught me safe drinking skills and how to take accountability for all decisions made while intoxicated. There are not many adults who are tolerant of their children partaking in underage drinking; however, from experience at high school parties and even college parties, this kind of sheltering results in a person who does not fully comprehend the possibly fatal decisions that come along with intoxication, such as drinking and driving, which I have seen happen countless times. Hand in hand with responsibility concerning alcohol, is the appeal that alcohol has as “the forbidden fruit” (Engs).
Teens and young adults see alcohol as a symbol of rebellion and adulthood, thus they treat drinking alcohol irresponsibly because they do not fully understand its aftermath. Because alcohol has a rebellious and adult-like appeal(Engs), a large amount of people under the age of twenty-one regularly consume alcohol for these various reasons, thus if the drinking age was lowered, the people participating in underage drinking to conduct an act of rebellion, would have no reason to do so anymore. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “about 8.7 million people ages 12-20 reported drinking alcohol in the past month” (NIH), signifying that a staggering amount of people under the age of 21 are regularly consuming alcohol. This number shows that illegal drinking is happening regardless of the law, due to many different circumstances. If the age limit for drinking was not a factor, less people would feel the need to drink in order to indulge on the “forbidden fruit”
(Engs). Statistics clearly show that illegal and underage drinking is occurring quite frequently; however, law enforcement is highly aware of the issue at hand and don’t always enact the law. Living on a college campus, I witness various accounts of underage drinking, and police who do nothing to enforce the underage drinking law. The young adults who are intoxicated are either 18 or 19, and receive absolutely no type of punishment from law enforcement due to their intoxication unless they are being belligerent or they are in some type of dangerous situation. The reason that the police ever come to a party is to close it down due to a noise complaint, never to stop the drinking or enforce the law in respect to underage drinking. Instead of physically enacting the law and stopping young adults from illegally drinking, the police are using their power to intimidate rather than to act. If thousands of young adults at San Diego State and several other universities are breaking the law with the knowledge of law enforcement, then why is the law in place at all? Some people may argue that the brain does not fully develop until age twenty-five, thus lowering the drinking age would be extremely detrimental and medically irresponsible (FTC). However, eighteen is legally the age of adulthood in the United States, thus an eighteen year old adult has the right to drink. A person of 18 years old can fight for their country, buy a lottery ticket, purchase a home, get married, buy cigarettes, and vote for the leader of the country but cannot legally have a sip of alcohol (Gilchrist). These types of responsibilities require maturity that should allow for an young adult of eighteen years or older to legally have an alcoholic drink and handle the responsibilities that come along with it. Although the legal drinking age was raised to 21 years old in 1984, significant evidence proves that the drinking age should be lowered to the respectable and responsible age of 18 in an effort to lower the current high rate of underage drinking, and to teach maturity, responsibility, and accountability.