In her article “Lowering the Drinking Age Has Serious Consequences,” Tara Watson, an associate professor of economics and chairwoman of the Program in Public Health at Williams College, argues that if the drinking age were to be lowered, the consequences would be severe and even fatal. Although Watson presents a good argument, there are many flaws that come with it. I disagree with her article, not for the sole purpose of myself being a minor, but because there are legitimate reasons as to why the drinking age should be lowered. Her argument is heavily biased and relies solely on the current negative impacts of underage drinking. Watson argues that “Alcohol consumption by young adults has demonstrable and serious costs: for example, a lower
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Georgia Nugent, a former college president and now the president emerita of Kenyon College and senior fellow of the Council of Independent colleges, argues that raising the drinking age has been a grave mistake for young adults and adolescents. She compares the 1984 Uniform Drinking act to “prohibition on a more limited scale.” Nugent says: “By outlawing moderate use of alcohol in appropriate social contexts and with adult oversight, we have driven more drinking underground, where it has taken the very dangerous form of “pre-gaming.” The “under-age” drinker, no longer permitted the occasional beer during a dance party, is now more likely to chug high-octane alcohol in dangerous quantities before heading off to that party. As a result, alcohol use has become more, not less, dangerous.” Tara Watson doesn’t realize that sending a teen off to college with no experience with alcohol consumption, leaves them at a giant risk to develop very harmful drinking habits, that can later on effect-them in their later years. College is the biggest drinking scene of them all, so not lowering the drinking age would be giving young adults a great deal of harm. Lowering the drinking age would allow adolescents to adjust properly to the effects of drinking before they are off on their own at college. Tara Watson claims: “A lower drinking age leads to higher levels of binge drinking later in life among men.” What Watson fails to realize that if we properly educate young adults and adolescents on the impacts of drinking, there would be less binge drinking, and less harmful drinking habits among young
Georgia Nugent, a former college president and now the president emerita of Kenyon College and senior fellow of the Council of Independent colleges, argues that raising the drinking age has been a grave mistake for young adults and adolescents. She compares the 1984 Uniform Drinking act to “prohibition on a more limited scale.” Nugent says: “By outlawing moderate use of alcohol in appropriate social contexts and with adult oversight, we have driven more drinking underground, where it has taken the very dangerous form of “pre-gaming.” The “under-age” drinker, no longer permitted the occasional beer during a dance party, is now more likely to chug high-octane alcohol in dangerous quantities before heading off to that party. As a result, alcohol use has become more, not less, dangerous.” Tara Watson doesn’t realize that sending a teen off to college with no experience with alcohol consumption, leaves them at a giant risk to develop very harmful drinking habits, that can later on effect-them in their later years. College is the biggest drinking scene of them all, so not lowering the drinking age would be giving young adults a great deal of harm. Lowering the drinking age would allow adolescents to adjust properly to the effects of drinking before they are off on their own at college. Tara Watson claims: “A lower drinking age leads to higher levels of binge drinking later in life among men.” What Watson fails to realize that if we properly educate young adults and adolescents on the impacts of drinking, there would be less binge drinking, and less harmful drinking habits among young