Shivani Jindal
Mr. Pring
AP U.S. Government 161
The Proper Drinking Age
Alcohol consumption has been a conflict in the United States since the nineteenth century, where Prohibition was proposed, ratified, and then demolished. This debate was over the production, importation, and transportation of alcohol throughout the country. Now, the country’s issue is when the people have the allowance to drink. An American’s twenty-first birthday is an exhilarating time of exhilaration and pleasure. An identification card now holds true value for this twenty-year old, as he or she reminisces at the bar over legal drinks. The United States is one of just four countries in the world, including Mongolia, Indonesia, and Palau, where the legal drinking age is twenty-one (Tardiff). There is currently an ongoing argument over if the age is fit, or if it should be lowered, mostly by the youth. Majority of countries have the drinking age at eighteen, yet these countries are not involved with a high tendency of drunk driving and extreme alcoholism. Congress has stabilized the age at twenty-one for an appropriate reason, simply being that eighteen year olds cannot handle the responsibility. The United States drinking age must be sustained at twenty-one, for alcohol impairs the brain, any age younger does not hold the capacity to take on the responsibility, and will minimize alcohol related accidents. Brain development is crucial for a properly functioning human, for the brain is classified as the powerhouse of the body. According to Dr. Sandra Aamodt, “brain scans show clearly that the brain is not fully finished developing until about age 25” (npr.org). Therefore, the brain is in a fragile and vital state that should be protected from dangers or harm. The consequence of alcohol consumption with a developing brain is more than a hangover. Neuroscientist Susan Tapert has also compared brain scans, however she was differentiating between alcohol drinkers versus non-drinkers. Her team found nerve and tissue damage with teenage drinkers, which defects attention spans, memory, and comprehension (npr.org). Dr. Susan Tapert agrees with Dr. Sandra’s statement, saying that “the adolescent brain is still undergoing several maturational processes that render it more vulnerable to some of the effects of substances”. Even though eighteen year olds are considered adults by law, their brains are considered adolescent, resulting them being unfit to drink alcohol. Ron Dahl, a pediatrician and brain researcher from the University of Pittsburgh, declares that teenagers who experiment with alcohol are “more likely to start negative pathways” (npr.org). Lowering the drinking age would increase brain damage and the likeliness of alcoholism in adolescents, therefore the current age restriction is suitable for the benefit of the youth. The drinking age is mandated to twenty-one year olds for suitable and just reasons. …show more content…
The younger a person is when he or she begins to drink, the more likely he or she develops an abuse of alcohol (medecinenet.com). The effects of alcohol are difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, and impaired memory (pubs.niaaa.nih.gov). Lowering the drinking age would increase the pool of alcoholics. Eighteen year olds are either dealing with the graduating high school or beginning a college education. Alcohol will interfere with these momentary milestones of life. The freshman retention rate for United States universities is declining over the past decade. The OECD tracked eighteen countries of college dropouts, and the United States finished last in the percentage of students who graduated college who began college (thinkprocess.org). The United States’ retention rate, forty-six percent, fell behind Japan, eighty-nine percent, Slovakia, sixty-three percent, and Poland, sixty-one percent. Giving a freshman the approval of drinking alcohol will distract the student from academics and will corrupt his priorities in school. The majority of twenty-one year olds are in the junior or senior year of college, a time period of more maturity and responsibility. The drinking age is primarily designed to reduce motor vehicle accidents within the United States. There have been approximately one hundred and fifty empirical evaluations since the 1970’s determining the appropriate age of twenty-one (Kranzler& Korsmeyer). There have been some studies that assessed the ages of driving after drinking, and the final conclusion states that: “ While results vary across studies and
Mr. Pring
AP U.S. Government 161
The Proper Drinking Age
Alcohol consumption has been a conflict in the United States since the nineteenth century, where Prohibition was proposed, ratified, and then demolished. This debate was over the production, importation, and transportation of alcohol throughout the country. Now, the country’s issue is when the people have the allowance to drink. An American’s twenty-first birthday is an exhilarating time of exhilaration and pleasure. An identification card now holds true value for this twenty-year old, as he or she reminisces at the bar over legal drinks. The United States is one of just four countries in the world, including Mongolia, Indonesia, and Palau, where the legal drinking age is twenty-one (Tardiff). There is currently an ongoing argument over if the age is fit, or if it should be lowered, mostly by the youth. Majority of countries have the drinking age at eighteen, yet these countries are not involved with a high tendency of drunk driving and extreme alcoholism. Congress has stabilized the age at twenty-one for an appropriate reason, simply being that eighteen year olds cannot handle the responsibility. The United States drinking age must be sustained at twenty-one, for alcohol impairs the brain, any age younger does not hold the capacity to take on the responsibility, and will minimize alcohol related accidents. Brain development is crucial for a properly functioning human, for the brain is classified as the powerhouse of the body. According to Dr. Sandra Aamodt, “brain scans show clearly that the brain is not fully finished developing until about age 25” (npr.org). Therefore, the brain is in a fragile and vital state that should be protected from dangers or harm. The consequence of alcohol consumption with a developing brain is more than a hangover. Neuroscientist Susan Tapert has also compared brain scans, however she was differentiating between alcohol drinkers versus non-drinkers. Her team found nerve and tissue damage with teenage drinkers, which defects attention spans, memory, and comprehension (npr.org). Dr. Susan Tapert agrees with Dr. Sandra’s statement, saying that “the adolescent brain is still undergoing several maturational processes that render it more vulnerable to some of the effects of substances”. Even though eighteen year olds are considered adults by law, their brains are considered adolescent, resulting them being unfit to drink alcohol. Ron Dahl, a pediatrician and brain researcher from the University of Pittsburgh, declares that teenagers who experiment with alcohol are “more likely to start negative pathways” (npr.org). Lowering the drinking age would increase brain damage and the likeliness of alcoholism in adolescents, therefore the current age restriction is suitable for the benefit of the youth. The drinking age is mandated to twenty-one year olds for suitable and just reasons. …show more content…
The younger a person is when he or she begins to drink, the more likely he or she develops an abuse of alcohol (medecinenet.com). The effects of alcohol are difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, and impaired memory (pubs.niaaa.nih.gov). Lowering the drinking age would increase the pool of alcoholics. Eighteen year olds are either dealing with the graduating high school or beginning a college education. Alcohol will interfere with these momentary milestones of life. The freshman retention rate for United States universities is declining over the past decade. The OECD tracked eighteen countries of college dropouts, and the United States finished last in the percentage of students who graduated college who began college (thinkprocess.org). The United States’ retention rate, forty-six percent, fell behind Japan, eighty-nine percent, Slovakia, sixty-three percent, and Poland, sixty-one percent. Giving a freshman the approval of drinking alcohol will distract the student from academics and will corrupt his priorities in school. The majority of twenty-one year olds are in the junior or senior year of college, a time period of more maturity and responsibility. The drinking age is primarily designed to reduce motor vehicle accidents within the United States. There have been approximately one hundred and fifty empirical evaluations since the 1970’s determining the appropriate age of twenty-one (Kranzler& Korsmeyer). There have been some studies that assessed the ages of driving after drinking, and the final conclusion states that: “ While results vary across studies and