Speech
Now, I’m sure you’re all very curious as to why I have summoned you here today.
You’re here to bear witness to the solution to a great travesty that has been occurring in this
great nation for upwards of 30 years. It is certainly an issue that I hold very near and dear to
my heart, because I feel for all of those affected by this gross injustice. Young men and women
from Sea to shining Sea have been stripped of a liberty that they so much deserve, and why I
ask you, why are they being stripped of this right? This right, this freedom, has been pried
away from young Americans because of a lack of education and awareness. Rather than
attempt to inform young men and women of the dangers of this liberty, they are made to wait
to obtain it. The people do not want this law; it is the second most broken law in the country.
This injustice that I speak of is the age at which one is legally able to indulge in alcoholic
beverages.
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, an act passed by the United States
Congress on July 17th 1984. The bill pushed the nationally accepted drinking age from 18 to 21,
Any State that refused to pass the bill would lose 10% of its funding for federal highways, talk
about strong arming.
Now I’m sure you’re thinking, with the United States being the global leader that it is,
many countries would have followed the U.S.A’s magnificent footsteps in this endeavor of
raising the drinking age. This is not the case though, a majority of the world has their legal
drinking age set at 18. Only four, count them, four, other nations in the world share the 21 year
old drinking age, these nations being Fiji, Pakistan, Palau, and Sri Lanka, hardly superpowers.
Age 18, the age of adulthood as recognized by the state, an age where one is handed
great responsibility. At age 18, for the first time, a citizen is able to vote. A citizen can have a
say in who advocates and makes decisions for them on the local, state, and national level, but
can’t have a glass of wine. At age 18, for the first time in their young lives, citizens are able to
sit on a jury of their peers. They have a hand in deciding a man or woman’s fate in the United
State’s court system, but can’t have a taste of scotch once the difficult day has ended. At age
18, a citizen can enter the binding contract of marriage, but can’t celebrate the occasion with
champagne. . Then finally, at age 18, citizens are first able to enlist in our armed services, and
protect this great nation. These 18 year olds are allowed to take a bullet for their country, but
they can’t chug a beer with their compatriots as they reminisce about it.
With the way that the current system works, young people are no longer allowed to
safely indulge in alcoholic beverages within the confines of locations that are trained to handle
the intoxicated. Bars and nightclubs are trained in handling those suffering from alcohol
poisoning, and other medical situations caused by drinking, but young people instead consume
alcohol in fraternity houses, and apartments. The current system has made underage drinking
more dangerous.
Regardless of what the drinking age is, during the first few years of being able to legally
drink, you are more likely to get in a traffic accident or suffer a fatal crash. “In 2009, the 21- to
24-year-old age group had the highest percentage of drivers in fatal crashes with blood-alcohol
concentration (BAC) levels of .08 or higher – 35 percent.(Procon.org)” Whether the drinking
age is 18 or 21, kids have to learn that driving and liquor don’t mix well, and no amount of
chaser is ever going to change that.
Proponents of gay rights are taking a similar course of action to the one that I propose.
In order to get the national drinking age changed, the issue has to be attacked on a state by
state level. A few states will have to sacrifice that 10% highway funding in order to change the
entire nations legal doctrine involving the drinking age. If enough young voters come out and
vote to lower the drinking age, it can be done.
The solution that I propose is this, when I wanted to receive my driver’s license, I had to
take a class in driver’s education. Without that class I wouldn’t have learned to drive, and thus I
would not have received a license, and had the privilege of driving a car.
When I made the decision to attend school at Pennsylvania State University, I had to take an
online course in alcohol education. It’s called PSU Safe. The course, PSU SAFE, stands for
student alcohol feedback & education, as the name implies it’s an alcohol awareness course
that gives students feedback on how they compare to other people in the amount of alcohol
that they consume and educates them on the affects of their actions involving alcohol. It’s a
confidential online program, “The program uses science-based research to educate students
about alcohol and its effects. (Edge.psu)” The program certainly does not endorse underage
drinking by any means, but the administration at Pennsylvania State University understands
that students are going to drink, no matter what policy is implemented. The program allows
students to make informed choices when it comes to dealing with alcohol. The system has 2
parts, to be completed within a month of each other, totaling in about 2 hours of information,
videos, and quizzes.
I propose that we combine those two ideas, drivers’ education and PSU SAFE. In order for an
18 year old to obtain the right to drink, they have to pass an alcohol awareness class. The class
would run the same way as a driver’s education course, but instead the focus would be on
alcohol rather than driving. Citizens who choose not to partake in the course merely have to
wait until age 21 to obtain the right to legally drink alcohol. If the alcohol awareness classes are
state run, the state can make money off of the payments. This is a fair compromise;
proponents of the age remaining the same would support this bill in the polls.
So now, my fellow Americans, I don’t ask much of you, but I do ask this. Keep this plan
in your thoughts. An education system involving alcohol is exactly what this nation needs. The
people can receive a freedom, and the state can reast easy returning it, with the knowledge
that it’s going to a more educated and safe American.