Alcoholism, death from alcohol poisoning, and drunk driving are problems that exists in today’s world. Most if not all of these problems involve minors and can be linked to drinking underage. Every state in the union has a legal drinking age of twenty-one years old. The purpose of this law is to keep minors out of danger: away from drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and injuring the brain before it is fully developed. Unsafe situations are created by the current laws by it’s ineffectiveness to eliminate underage drinking, driving while drunk, and deaths from alcohol poisoning. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen years old, is an effective way to cease the unsafe situations that the minors are currently facing.
“Either we are a nation of lawbreakers, …show more content…
Think about when you take drivers training. You don’t go from being clueless to getting your license and driving alone. If you did drive outside the rules, you would lose the privilege of a driver’s license. The same thing could be done with the privilege of drinking. As Sarah Baldauf suitably explains, “decriminalizing drinking by kids 18 and older…will bring their alcohol consumption out from hiding to where parents and adults can monitor it and teach responsibility without conflict” (Baldouf, 2007). Allowing eighteen year olds to obtain a license to drink would do a few positive things. First, it would make drinking less “cool” to age’s eighteen-twenty, and would lessen the long wait to be able to drink legally. It would also deter people under age eighteen from drinking because this license could be taken from minors for breaking the rules (Baldouf, 2007). If a minor ever got caught drinking under eighteen or without their license, they would then lose their eligibility to acquire this three-year license. The choice to get this license, or permit, would be the decision of the eighteen year old; not an obligation. McCardell suggests that in order to be eligible to get this license, the teen would have to go through an educational program on the use and risks of alcohol. Hopefully, this would help teens realize that drinking responsibly is important to themselves and people around them. With this program being made …show more content…
Four of the nine deterrents from drinking include some sort of privilege bring taken away from them. This proves that youths react to having things taken from them, and that the idea of the optional drinking license at ages eighteen through twenty would deter youths from participating in illegal drinking. If young people are able to have a privilege, such as a drinking license, they are more likely to respect it, and not take advantage of it. Still, it does not guarantee total
“Either we are a nation of lawbreakers, …show more content…
Think about when you take drivers training. You don’t go from being clueless to getting your license and driving alone. If you did drive outside the rules, you would lose the privilege of a driver’s license. The same thing could be done with the privilege of drinking. As Sarah Baldauf suitably explains, “decriminalizing drinking by kids 18 and older…will bring their alcohol consumption out from hiding to where parents and adults can monitor it and teach responsibility without conflict” (Baldouf, 2007). Allowing eighteen year olds to obtain a license to drink would do a few positive things. First, it would make drinking less “cool” to age’s eighteen-twenty, and would lessen the long wait to be able to drink legally. It would also deter people under age eighteen from drinking because this license could be taken from minors for breaking the rules (Baldouf, 2007). If a minor ever got caught drinking under eighteen or without their license, they would then lose their eligibility to acquire this three-year license. The choice to get this license, or permit, would be the decision of the eighteen year old; not an obligation. McCardell suggests that in order to be eligible to get this license, the teen would have to go through an educational program on the use and risks of alcohol. Hopefully, this would help teens realize that drinking responsibly is important to themselves and people around them. With this program being made …show more content…
Four of the nine deterrents from drinking include some sort of privilege bring taken away from them. This proves that youths react to having things taken from them, and that the idea of the optional drinking license at ages eighteen through twenty would deter youths from participating in illegal drinking. If young people are able to have a privilege, such as a drinking license, they are more likely to respect it, and not take advantage of it. Still, it does not guarantee total