, Research Paper
Should the Drinking Age be lowered?
Many questions have been posed concerning the drinking age in all fifty states within the United States. Should it be lowered back to eighteen? What will the consequences be? Will there be more fatalities? What will insurance companies think? And, will it actually serve as a barrier to the underage consumers? All of these questions and many more are only the beginning of the controversy surrounding the legal drinking age. There are many valid reasons why the drinking age should be lowered, such as how ineffective it is, the irrelevance of car accidents, and the privileges that are already given to eighteen-year-olds.
However, some pose questions as to the maturity level of teenagers. Their concerns revolve around the death rate due to teen accidents. Yes, there have been numerous accidents due to alcohol use by teenagers, but don t people think that there are other factors that contribute to these accidents. It could have possibly been a result of loud music, a distraction from the road or a passenger, or even default in the automobile. I am sure the alcohol level played a part in many, but it isn t guaranteed. I any car accident, there could have been numerous factors that led to the actual event. I also don t see the difference in a thirty-year old having an alcohol-related accident as opposed to a teenager. Driving under the influence is an unwise decision at any age, but I
don t why it is always stressed on teenagers. An accident is an unfortunate mishap that can occur to people young and old at anytime or anywhere to someone under the influence.
To lawmaker s astonishment, college students, high-school students, and many others are breaking drinking laws all the time. There are fake I.D., people you know, people that don t care, and then just plain slip-ups. Growing up, I was able to get a fake I.D. at the ripe old age of fifteen. It has never been hard to attain one. Also, have you ever heard the saying, It s not what you know, it s who you know? Well, that is right. I have grown up in a college town with an I.D. at age fifteen, and I know many people in this town. Included in these people are many bouncers and bartenders that are always willing to hook a friend up.
The availability to liquor that teens have is remarkable. Not only just knowing people in the right places, but often times liquor-store owners, too. Liquor-store owners are most times just looking for the dollar bills. While breaking the law and risking outrageous fines, storeowners sell to minors repeatedly. For the underage consumers, the law is a tiny obstacle that can and will be bombarded by the determined.
On the other hand, there are numerous consequences to drinking. There is always the risk of getting a DUI. Anyone, who is not coherent enough to make the right decision not to drive, must suffer the consequence. Some cannot make the distinction between intoxicated and non-intoxicated. People often assume one or two beers can t get them in trouble, but what goes around comes around. The risk a drinker takes, when getting
behind the wheel, is their responsibility. Driving under the influence is a choice that only the driver can make.
More results of consuming too much alcohol are diseases, date rape, pregnancy, and even being drugged. Any of the accidents could lead to major altercations in ones life. The risk a drinker takes, when getting intoxicated, is a serious one and is left solely up to the person in charge, regardless the age group.
Though there are many consequences and risks that drinking provides, people are going to drink despite laws, I.D. S, and reprimands. The laws state that you are legally an adult at the age of eighteen and can make your own decisions. They also state, that people are eligible to be drafted into war, make a decision in a court of law upon one s death sentence, and vote on the nations president. Now, you would think that if you could do all that by the age of eighteen, you could buy alcohol.
My argument is, despite all laws, consequences, and statistics, teenagers are going to drink. Though, statistics blame alcohol for teenagers irresponsibility, it is also the adults irresponsibility. The law is only providing a thin barrier to those that are underage. You decide what the legal drinking age should be.