Keep the Legal Drinking Age at 21!
Lowering the drinking age will only cause problems!
Introduction
The drinking age should remain at 21 years old because the legal drinking age would not be in the best interest of the public’s safety, as well as today’s youth. The lower age limit was tried before—and it didn’t work. Teens get drunk twice as fast as adults, but have more trouble knowing when to stop. When teens feel they have their parent’s approval to drink, they do it more. People that are under-aged tend to drink and drive which cause deadly car crashes. Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the National Highway Traffic Safety Board feel higher drinking age saves lives. The drinking age should remain at 21 years old because teens get drunk faster, college students are unsafe, and by keeping the age 21 saves lives. (“Why 21 by MADD source”)
Girl found Dead after Drinking session
Drinking and Dying
Breakingthecycle.com
Underage Drinking
Blood Alchol Levels
Evidence
The first reason the age should remain at 21 years of age is because teens get drunk twice as fast and have problems knowing when to stop drinking. When parents have concreted rules and enforced rules about alcohol, young people drink less. When teens feel they have their parent’s approval the teen drinks more. Before the 21 minimum legal drinking age was implemented by all states, there were twice as many deadly car crashes then there are not. Therefore, teens do not have the self-control to know when and how to drink and the age should stay at 21. (“Why 21 MADD” source)
Another reason why teens should not drink is because college students are 10 times more likely to drive after drinking. About 45% of college students in the United States are binge drinker. Binge drinking is defined by it a man has five dinks in a row and a women has four drinks in a row. There was a survey taken on their drinking habits the survey was about 20 pages long. About 140 college campuses and about 17,592 students filled out the survey. 45 percent of the students surveyed report binge drinking a two week prior to this survey. Only 6% say they have a drinking problem. Binge drinking can cause students a lot of problems with physical assaults and interrupted sleep and study time. Therefore, college students should not be allowed to drink because the teen does not know how to stop drinking and have self-control. (“Nearly have of College Students are Binge drinker” by Today’s Science on file. Jan 1995)
A higher drinking age saves lives. Since the legal age to drink has been 21 underage drinking has dropped. Mothers against Drunk Driving and the National Highway Traffic Safety board and the surgeon general all suppose the higher drinking age. Countries that have a lower drinking age have more harmful consequences of youth drinking. Restricting the promotion of alcohol is very complicated and main states don’t do this. An example requiring registration of kegs sales, restricting happy hour, and regulating advertising like on billboards can help stop the abuse. A higher alcohol tax would prevent kids from drinking too much. (“The Legal Drinking Age May Provide A Safer Environment for Women” by: Alan Mozes from Healthy day, 2013)
Drinking ages should remain at 21 years old. Teen have a hard time knowing when to stop drinking. Therefore, college students tend to binge drink. When tees binge drink they are more likely to drive drunk. There is a greater change that students will fall farther behind in school due to them drinking. By keeping the drinking age at 21, lives will be saved.
Rebuttal
Others would like to argue that the drinking age should be 18 years old because at that age they are done growing and should be responsible to know when to stop drinking. However, at the age 18 these people are still growing physically and internally. The brain is not fully developed, so alcohol will interfere or damage the brain cells. If that happens they will probably fall behind in academics. 18 years old or not responsible adults because research show they get drunk twice as fast as adults. Therefore, they will probably have a hard time to know when to stop and will over drink. As a society, we need to keep the drinking age to 21 years old to help protect our young and community. (“Minimum Drinking Age” from Fact on file news, July 2009)
Alcohol and Acedemic Performance
Conclusion
Easy bib
Daly, Christopher B. "Nearly Half of U.S. College Students Are Binge Drinkers, Study Finds." The Washington Post. N.p., 7 Dec. 1994. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
"UCLA Study: U.S. Women at Greater Risk From Teflon Chemical; Infertility Jumps Dramatically Among Those With High Exposures." Ascribe Higher Education News Service. N.p., 29 Jan. 2009. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.