From the Article “Return the Drinking Age to 18, and Enforce It” by Gabrielle Glaser, the author argues that the drinking age should be returned to eighteen, and enforced heavily. In the article, she argues that the current system which only allows people who are twenty-one and older to purchase and drink alcohol is forcing high school and college kids to partake in risky binge drinking behavior. Also, she compares today’s drinking attitude of underage kids to the attitude of people in the prohibition era. In the prohibition era, there were speakeasies. The goal at these places was to drink as much and as soon as possible, because no one ever knew when the police would show up.…
So, what makes someone be considered an adult when they grow up? When they’re 18, 25 or when they’re above 18, but they’re fully mature before the age of 25. So why do people say the age should be 18, even though there are many 18 year olds who are considered an “adult” but still don’t make the right decisions for themselves and can’t even take care of themselves? Same goes for 25, why should that age be considered an adult? Well the most reasonable answer to determine adulthood is when they’re mature…
In 1984 the Minimum Drinking Age Act, also known as MDLA 21, was signed by Ronald Reagan requiring all states to establish a minimum drinking age of 21. The goal of this bill was to reduce the number of drunk driving incidents. Initially traffic fatalities did decline, but those under 21 still continued to drink. This created an “underground” drinking scene where risky and irresponsible decisions occurred that lead to a whole new set of problems. I’m interested in this subject because of the prevalence of underage drinking I am surrounded by in college and how those who choose not to drink are still affected by alcohol.…
Yuzzi 1 Lauren Yuzzi Mrs.Gallos Eng 3 Sec 1 May 15, 2017 The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered The United States government allows 18 years olds to fight and possibly lose their life for their freedom, but they are not allowed to drink alcohol? “18 is the age of adulthood in the United States, and adults should have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol consumption”(ProCon). It is practically unconstitutional for the government to exert the right to send its youth to death, for a country that you can’t even toast to if you are under 18.…
The Legal Drinking Age in the United States There has been a continuing controversy in the United States on whether the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 or kept at 21. In the Persuasive Text “Five Reasons we should keep the drinking age at 21,” Karen Arnold-Burger stated the five reasons why people should keep the legal drinking age at 21 in the United States. Karen Arnold-Burger was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeals on January 6, 2011 in Kansas City, Kansas.…
Age doesn’t make a difference in Drinking Under the Influence (DUI) accidents or fatalities of drinking behind the wheel. In fact, there are absolutely no correlations between the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) being 21 in America versus other places, such as Italy, that have a MLDA of 18 and lower. Furthermore, multiple studies taken everywhere have noted that moving the imbibing age to 18 years does not have an impact of deaths relating to alcohol besides DUI’s, such as Alcohol Poisoning. Concluding that if the MLDA was to be moved down to a lower age, we would gradually start to avail the economy with its debt issues only furthermore due to more people of an age group drinking.…
There has been an ongoing debate in regards to lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years old in The United States. Some suggest if we were to consider lowering the drinking age to 18 this could mean young people would have access to alcohol. It is not uncommon for 21 year olds to provide minors or those under 21 with alcoholic beverages. Reducing the drinking age to 18 could possibly result in younger teenagers, even as young as 13 having access to alcohol. Minors find ways to get around the 21-year-old limit and will continue to do so in the future.…
So the whole package of being an adult at 18 is missing, not being able to drink. Still being treated as if they were a simple- minded teenager.…
Continuing on, the reason why I believe 21 should be the age of responsibility is because not everyone develops at the same rate. The article “ How Old Is Old Enough” by Catherine Rampell states that “ For one, it has shown different people mature at different rates”. Some teens tend to do stupid things like race their cars or drink when they are not supposed to, but when they get older, they realize that they need a source of income in order to survive. Your parents are not going to be there for the rest of your life, so you have the option of going to college to get a good job or you could get a job with average pay. Your house payment, car payment, Health insurance, or electricity bill are not going to pay for themselves.…
Full maturity is not yet reached at 18 years of age, instead, it is more likely to reach its highest at age 25 ("Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years"). Lowering the legal drinking age would only put more young adults at risk knowing that their lack of maturity is not at its highest. Many believe that the legal age for drinking should be set at 18 because that is the age when people are labeled as legal adults. Responsibilities such as the ability to vote, move out of the house, or enlist in the military are all given to 18 year olds, however, drinking alcohol is not one of those freedoms, and there are many reasons as to why that is the case. For example, scientists have proven that the age in which someone’s decision-making skills reach their highest point is not until age 25 or so.…
There are many effects when it comes to lowering the drinking age to eighteen. Since that is the age that teenagers will legally become adults, they should be able to decide whether they want to consume alcohol or not. There would be less underage drinking, and by lowering the age to eighteen would decrease unsafe drinking activity. Traffic accidents and fatalities could also be lowered by lowering the drinking age. Lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen would decrease the thrill of breaking the law to get a drink.…
Alana Picard Mr. Santaella Enc 1101 31 August 2017 Society Changes Robin Henig who wrote “What is it About 20-Somethings?” argues that the twenties are a developmental stage for humans that comes before adulthood. She states that to be an adult, a person must have a degree, be married with children, be financially independent, and have moved out. While in 1960 that may have been the case, in 2017 it is not. The economy is nothing like it was in the 60’s, lifestyles have also changed significantly since then and for a person to move out of their parents house these days is nearly impossible until they have a stable and well paying job. Robin says that “reaching adulthood is happening later than ever” (Henig) which I, personally disagree with.…
When a person sees their friends and others in their same age group, getting married, starting companies or get an advanced degree, etc. they start to measure themselves against these markers. Outside influences can often overwhelm and confuse young people. Laurence Steinberg a professor psychology at Temple University says: “Chronological age is not a particularly good indicator [of maturity], but it’s something we need to do for practical purposes.” In legal terms, people are given certain capabilities based on age, such as voting at age 18 and drinking alcohol at age 21.…
When one is voting, they are trusted to make a mature decision. Eighteen is mature enough to decide who should run the country, but not mature enough to buy and consume alcohol legally. One is trusted to vote, but one is not trusted to have a drink. Chris Busby once stated in his monthly magazine, “If 18-year-olds are considered mature enough to fight in wars, they’re mature enough to drink in bars. To this I would add that if 18-year-olds can vote for the politicians who start wars, they’re old enough to choose the wrong brand of beer, too.”…
Maturity is not a matter of age. A 30-year-old may fail to show aspects of maturity while at the same time an 18-year-old demonstrates aspects of maturity. There are various practices or characteristics…