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Divine Wood
WRTG 1310
Professor Debra Moore
November 25, 2012
Drinking Age Should Be Lowered
In today’s world alcohol is always going to be a problem no matter what age. Keeping
the drinking age remain 21 can be a bad idea. It makes teenagers go crazy when they get their
hands on alcohol, not teaching them the maturity you have to have when you drink. If the
drinking age becomes lowered to 18 it will help young adults realize how important alcohol is
and how mature we must become when we are under the influence of alcohol. Every year around
springtime, millions of American kids graduate from high school, throw massive parties and get
drunk. Police end up arresting a lot of these kids, causing them legal trouble for months or even
years. So, every year around this time, there's a new debate about whether we should lower or
even abolish the legal drinking age. The drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, solely
because once a young man turn age of 18 in the United States, he can to register to vote and can
serve their country, fight wars, and get married without the consent from their parents. In the past
our great nation has tried prohibition twice with the National Prohibition of the 1920s and state
prohibition in 1850 (Ruth C. Engs). Each attempt failed quite miserably and in doing so showed
the attitude of our nation. Our country is world famous for our “do whatever we want” mindset.
The recent approval of the recreational use of marijuana in Washington is a perfect example of
this. This way of thinking is especially prominent with our current youth generation and has been
that way throughout our country’s history.
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People use alcohol for numerous reasons; peer pressure, celebration, anxiety, sadness,
boredom, rebellion and insomnia are just a few. Teens fall under the category of “people”. The
legal drinking age is currently twenty-one, but illegally drinking age is as low as zero. Why? Is
the main question asked? I can assure you the underage drinking age percentage would drop if
the age were lowered. Few reasons for teens drinking are: peer pressure, enjoyment, and
breaking the law. But the main reason for doing so is breaking the law. In their eyes it is seen as
"forbidden fruit," a "badge of rebellion against authority" and a symbol of "adulthood" (Ruth C.
Engs). Large quantities of teens under the age of seventeen to eighteen have used alcohol before.
We all know why teens drink; I mean its common since. Just the feel that they get of breaking
the law is huge. Being a rebel and not following the rules is an important role of a teen’s life.
Consequences are the one that change them, but we don’t want them to experience the
consequences of being under the influence of alcohol because we know them and they are fatal.
Dying in a car accident and killing others is a mess that we don’t want to clean. A couple years
ago at the University of Colorado at Boulder a student named Gordie Bailey died tragically. The
eighteen year old had only been there for about a month and was undergoing initiation into the
Chi Psi fraternity. Bailey and the other pledges were told to consume 10 gallons of hard liquor
and wine (CBSNews). According to his stepfather he consumed anywhere from 15 to 20 shots if
they were to measure. When the group got back to the house Bailey was passed out. One witness
said, "His eyes were rolling back in his head and he couldn't walk. This isn't something
somebody who'd just had too much to drink. He was clearly in trauma" (CBSNews). Instead of
calling for help they just threw him on the couch and left him there. They took turns taking his
pulse in intervals and after about 9 hours they finally called for help when they realized he
wasn’t waking up. He died from alcohol poisoning. If the drinking age was 18 one can infer that
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the students would’ve called for help a lot sooner than nine hours. If it wasn’t illegal then the
kids could’ve saved that young mans life. They were too scared to save him due to not wanting
to get in trouble themselves. That tragically sad situation could’ve been avoided if weren’t for
our current drinking laws. We have all heard parents encouraging their kids to join the military
and protect your country. Well, you are telling them that they can legally kill someone at the age
of eighteen, when I sign up with the military and go to war but I can’t have a sip of alcohol. Due
to this none senseless situation, age should be equaled. In other words, if voting and signing up
for the military is at the age of eighteen, then the drinking age should also be eighteen. Besides at
the age of eighteen you are legally an adult. Why can’t we drink then? This just doesn’t add up to
me, I can kill or be killed for my country, but I can’t drink when I feel like it. Drinking age in
Australia is eighteen, and in UK is as low as sixteen in restaurants. Studies have showed that
those teens/adults are perfectly fine. In fact, Dr. Ruth Engs; professor of Applied Health Sciences
at Indiana University in Bloomington, uses this examples to propose the following: “…the
drinking age be lowered to about 18 or 19 and permit those of legal age to consume in socially
controlled environment such as restaurants and official school and university functions” (Ruth C.
Engs). Lowering it would cut down underage drinking and fatalities for youths under the age of
eighteen. It is worth trying it, and if everything goes the opposite then change the law once more
(which is done lots of times, for dumb reasons) and raise the drinking age back to twenty-one.
Changes are always good (most of the times), and I know this one in particular is an excellent
one.
Many Americans are against lowering the drinking age, about 78 percent to be exact
(Alis). Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States,
more than tobacco and illicit drugs. Something that is so widely available and abused will
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certainly have its flaws and consequences. College presidents agree that binge drinking is the
most serious problem on campus.
Research has shown that the earlier that someone begins consuming alcohol they are
more likely to be alcohol dependent and frequent heavy drinkers. The consequences of
drinking have various and crippling effects depending on how severe the drinking is.
Underage drinking can lead to School problems, such as higher absence and poor or
failing grades, social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth
activities, legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while
drunk, physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses, unwanted, unplanned, and
unprotected sexual activity, or the disruption of normal growth and sexual development.
These are just a few of the devastating side effects of underage drinking. While the
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consequences of underage drinking can be severe, this issue isn’t going anywhere
anytime soon. Too much of anything “good” can be a bad thing but by allowing legal 18
year old adults access to alcohol can help lower these statistics. If they were allowed
earlier access to alcohol many of the reasons they do it in the first place will be gone.
This will lead to alcohol as just something else to do instead of the thing to do.
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Works Cited
Alis, Michaela. "Lowering drinking age to 18 benefit young adults." 2 Februrary 2009. The
Daily Collegian. 20 November 2012 <http://www.collegian.psu.edu>.
CBSNews. "The Debate on Lowering the drinking age." 1 March 2010. 60 minutes. 20
November 2012 <http://www.cbsnews.com>.
Glocker, Sabine. No more prohibition: Time to lower drinking age. 16 November 2012. 19
November 2012 <http://trail.pugetsound.edu>.
Ruth C. Engs, Professor. "Why the drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based on
research." 28 March 1998. "Should the drinking age be lowered to 18 or 19". 19 November 2012
<http://www.indiana.edu>.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General's Call to Action to
Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking . Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services; 2007.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use
and Health. Underage Alcohol Use among Full-Time College Students. Issue 31, 2006. Online at
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/college/collegeunderage.htm
Hingson, R.; Heeren, T.; Zakocs, R.; Winter, M.; and Wechsler, H. Age of first intoxication,
heavy drinking, driving after drinking and risk of unintentional injury among U.S. college
students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 64:23–31, 2003.