Each year, 4,358 people under the age of twenty-one die from alcohol related car accidents (NIH). The current legal age to consume alcohol is twenty-one years old, but several teens drink anyways, feeling the need to “rebel” against their parents while in highschool and college. Because of teens’ inherent desire to rebel, alcohol is a prominent feature in their lives. Most commonly, teens drink at parties and other social gatherings where alcohol is easily accessible. Universities often accept the social norm of underage drinking instead of enforcing the drinking age laws. Alcohol has several damaging effects to the brain that people often don’t realize. While intoxicated, teens make irresponsible decisions and do fatal things such as drunk
…show more content…
In a study done by Monitoring the Future in 2013, 25.7% tenth graders reported having drank alcohol in the past month (Harding). And that just accounts for people that told the truth when asked if they drank. Teens often refuse to give up their keys and drunk drive, which can be deadly. This is one of the reasons the drinking age was raised to 21 in 1984. As Frances M. Harding states in a study done by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “By 1988, the legal drinking age was raised to 21 years in all states in response to increases in alcohol-related traffic deaths that occurred among people aged 21 years after the lowering of drinking ages in some states prior to 1984” (Harding). The United States Supreme Court saw the data that proved how many deaths underage drinking was causing, and they made a well-informed decision to raise the age to twenty-one. With the law, students have an incentive to not break the law, as Wechsler states in an article in the US National Library of Medicine, “Underage students in states with extensive laws restricting underage and high-volume drinking were less likely to drink and to binge drink” (Wechsler). Some students don’t want to risk going to jail for having one
In a study done by Monitoring the Future in 2013, 25.7% tenth graders reported having drank alcohol in the past month (Harding). And that just accounts for people that told the truth when asked if they drank. Teens often refuse to give up their keys and drunk drive, which can be deadly. This is one of the reasons the drinking age was raised to 21 in 1984. As Frances M. Harding states in a study done by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “By 1988, the legal drinking age was raised to 21 years in all states in response to increases in alcohol-related traffic deaths that occurred among people aged 21 years after the lowering of drinking ages in some states prior to 1984” (Harding). The United States Supreme Court saw the data that proved how many deaths underage drinking was causing, and they made a well-informed decision to raise the age to twenty-one. With the law, students have an incentive to not break the law, as Wechsler states in an article in the US National Library of Medicine, “Underage students in states with extensive laws restricting underage and high-volume drinking were less likely to drink and to binge drink” (Wechsler). Some students don’t want to risk going to jail for having one