Intro
 The issue of the legal drinking age has been a topic
that many have been talking about since after
Prohibition in the US. Many think that the age should
be either lowered or raised. Those who wish for it to be
lowered are mostly teens in high school, but there are
many adults and even politicians who think this as
well. The people who think it should be raised or stay
the same are mostly adults and politicians, but even
some teens think this as well. Both sides have their
reasons, some good some bad, but are the reasons
good enough to actually make a change?
Story
 I chose the issue of legal drinking age for many reasons.
One reason is because growing up a lot of my relatives
drank at functions. So as a kid I was always around alcohol.
It never bothered me, but what did bother me was the
older kids always complaining about not being able to
drink. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but for some
reason them saying this stuck with me for a long time. I
never could understand what was so special about alcohol
that would make young people so excited. I honestly
thought it was a waste of money and brain cells, and even
when I got to high school I still thought this. I would hear a
lot of my class mates talking about drinking at parties, and
it was just so surprising to me that they would break the
law over something so stupid and useless.
Story Continued
 Some other events in my life that made me choose this
issue was the numerous alcohol related accidents that
would occur in my area. My neighbor died in an
accident because the diver was drunk, while another
neighbors family was killed because they were hit by a
drunk driver. Those were just two incidents but there
were many more.
Lower It!
 Now I will show one side of this issue. Many people,
mostly teens, think the legal drinking age should be
lowered. While doing some research I found an
interesting article about lowering the age requirement.
A former head of Middlebury College and established
historian John McCardell Jr supports the idea of
lowering the age to 18. One of his main reasons for
wanting to lower it is because there would be less
teens trying to do it secretly, and he thinks this is good
because less binge drinking would occur in colleges.
Cartoon
Cartoon Analysis
 This cartoon is jokingly depicts how a bar would be
like if the legal age was lowered. Although if the age
would be lowered I don’t think it would be lowered
very low. I find this cartoon funny but it proves a
point. If the legal age was lowered teens would start to
act like adults.
Analysis Continued
 They would need to pay for the alcohol so they would
get jobs, doing this they would miss out on fun things
because they are so busy with school and work, all for
what a couple of drinks on the weekend? They would
be like a lot of adults, wasting money at bars and
always working so they could do this.
Statistics
Statistics Continued
 This graph shows the reported tenth graders who were
caught binge drinking. As you can see the percentage
changes each year since 1991, ether lowering or rising.
Now if the legal age was dropped down to the age of a
tenth grader, about 15 or 16, these numbers would go
away because it is legal. But what about alcohol related
car accidents?
Statistics Continued
 At this age teens are getting their drivers licenses, so
they are just learning to drive. If they were allowed to
drink this could really increase the amount alcohol
related accidents .
Video
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKCHUfv6ZU
Video Analysis
 In this video we clearly see both sides on the issue.
Most of the candidates think that the age should not
be lowered. Only a few think it should be lowered and
their reasons are convincing. What was interesting was
that one candidate said the voting age should be
lowered as well. Another interesting thing was that
Obama, who ended up winning the election, had no
say on the subject.
Conclusion
 After doing some more research on the issue of the legal
drinking age, my opinion is still the same. The article that
was about the historian interested me because obviously
not just teens think it should be lowered. The cartoon was
funny but it did bring up a good point about how teens
would act if they were given the right to drink. The
statistics were interesting because it shows how many teens
binge drink and brought up the idea of how those numbers
would change if the legal age was lowered. And finally the
video shows how politicians feel on the subject. I still think
the age should stay the same, and I also think that those
who can drink should do it more responsibly.
Bibliography
 Cloud, John. "Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?" Time
U.S. N.p., June-July 2008. Web. 11 Dec.
2012.http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812397,0
0.html
 "Century Council." Underage Drinking Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web.
11 Dec. 2012. <http://www.centurycouncil.org/underagedrinking/statistics>.
 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKCHUfv6ZU
 Cartoon:http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&biw=1322&bih=650&tb
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