Victoria Valdez
Professor Smith
English 061
02 December 2015
The Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered in the United States Since the 1980s, the drinking age of 21 has been enforced on United States citizens. Within the last three decades, the drinking age has been debated and is still considered being lowered to the age of eighteen. In two thousand and eight, more than one hundred college presidents chose to team up with Choose Responsibility whose plan was to reduce the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen-years old. Even though college campuses are struggling with students who are underage drinking and binge drinking, these colleges still chose to support the group. Even though eighteen year olds are considered adults, the United States …show more content…
Marisa M. Silveri, author of “Adolescent Brain Development and Underage Drinking…,” states “studies…have also suggested that heavy episodic alcohol exposure during adolescence is associated with significant deficits in memory retention, greater cumulative damage than chronic exposure, and long-term changes in cognition” (4). Silveri supports that heavy drinking during ones youth could potentially increase damage in the brain that can harm cognitive abilities. Furthermore, underage drinking can cause affects that follow teens into adulthood and increase the amount of damage in the brain as long as it is done often enough. Lowering the drinking age could allow adolescent brains to suffer from long term illnesses and could cause teens to suffer in the classroom as a result of damage to their cognitive abilities. Moreover, Silveri expresses her support on adolescents with AUDs, or alcohol use disorders. She writes “adolescents with AUDs examined following three weeks of abstinence demonstrate poorer verbal learning and visual reproduction than non-AUD comparison adolescents” (5). Silveri conveys that teens with AUDs showed poor results compared to non-AUDs when learning was applied. Her testimony confirms that those adolescents who drink continuously suffer in the classroom and are unable to match up to their peers. Silveri also proposes that “heightened levels of alcohol consumption… are …show more content…
"A Lower Age Would Be Unsafe." U.S. News & World Report 15 Sept. (2008): 10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
McCardell, John. "Yes, The U.S. Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered." Insights On Law & Society 10.3 (2010): 18-21. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Silveri, Marisa M. "Adolescent Brain Development And Underage Drinking In The United States: Identifying Risks Of Alcohol Use In College Populations." Harvard Review Of Psychiatry 20.4 (2012): 189-200. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov.
Professor Smith
English 061
02 December 2015
The Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered in the United States Since the 1980s, the drinking age of 21 has been enforced on United States citizens. Within the last three decades, the drinking age has been debated and is still considered being lowered to the age of eighteen. In two thousand and eight, more than one hundred college presidents chose to team up with Choose Responsibility whose plan was to reduce the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen-years old. Even though college campuses are struggling with students who are underage drinking and binge drinking, these colleges still chose to support the group. Even though eighteen year olds are considered adults, the United States …show more content…
Marisa M. Silveri, author of “Adolescent Brain Development and Underage Drinking…,” states “studies…have also suggested that heavy episodic alcohol exposure during adolescence is associated with significant deficits in memory retention, greater cumulative damage than chronic exposure, and long-term changes in cognition” (4). Silveri supports that heavy drinking during ones youth could potentially increase damage in the brain that can harm cognitive abilities. Furthermore, underage drinking can cause affects that follow teens into adulthood and increase the amount of damage in the brain as long as it is done often enough. Lowering the drinking age could allow adolescent brains to suffer from long term illnesses and could cause teens to suffer in the classroom as a result of damage to their cognitive abilities. Moreover, Silveri expresses her support on adolescents with AUDs, or alcohol use disorders. She writes “adolescents with AUDs examined following three weeks of abstinence demonstrate poorer verbal learning and visual reproduction than non-AUD comparison adolescents” (5). Silveri conveys that teens with AUDs showed poor results compared to non-AUDs when learning was applied. Her testimony confirms that those adolescents who drink continuously suffer in the classroom and are unable to match up to their peers. Silveri also proposes that “heightened levels of alcohol consumption… are …show more content…
"A Lower Age Would Be Unsafe." U.S. News & World Report 15 Sept. (2008): 10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
McCardell, John. "Yes, The U.S. Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered." Insights On Law & Society 10.3 (2010): 18-21. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Silveri, Marisa M. "Adolescent Brain Development And Underage Drinking In The United States: Identifying Risks Of Alcohol Use In College Populations." Harvard Review Of Psychiatry 20.4 (2012): 189-200. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov.