Beer Pong, Thumper, Flip Cup, Circled of Death: all of these drinking games have come about through the creative minds of teenagers. For teenagers in the United States, drinking alcohol is a thrill. The idea of drinking brings on a mindset of "getting wasted." In other countries however, drinking is seen as a social activity. Teenagers of the United States mindsets have a number of negative consequences. These consequences include alcohol poisoning, fatal injuries, and feelings of regret.
In 1984, the United States enforced the National Minimum Age Drinking Act, which rose the drinking age from 18 to 21. When this act was passed, it sparked a great deal of controversy. Many have argued that since you can fight for your country, vote in elections, and be selected for jury duty at age 18, you should be allowed to consume and posses alcohol at the age of 18. Supporters of a lower drinking age also believe that there would be fewer problems with alcohol if younger adults were allowed to have it.
College universities are strong supporters of a lower drinking age because they conclude that if it were 18, they could regulate alcohol use across campus. This would mean that students would be less apt to becoming overly intoxicated. Since campus officials have accepted the fact that drinking alcohol occurs on a regular basis, they want to show students how to do it in a safe way. But the goal they would most like to achieve is actually lowering the drinking age so that alcohol-related deaths would not be so prevalent.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/youthissues/1092767630.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/AD793/petition.html
About Me
- Jelly Bean
- I am a college student that has the firm belief that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. I feel that at the age of 18 you are considered an adult, so you should be able to make the decision of whether or not to consume alcohol. With this blog, I hope to further investigate the topic in order to convincer readers like you to agree with my opinons.
Alcohol is not really "bad" considering how you actually use it. Drinking alcohol for the purpose of getting drunk, however, is a different case. There is so much hype about drinking age. I have heard of the arguments regarding voting, fighting and jury duty...why is alcohol left out?
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it is that if a restriction is placed on something, then people will want to do it even more. Teenagers wonder why alcohol is prohibited and "experiment" with it to see what's the big deal.
You make a very good point ATD. Since there is a restriction placed on the consumption of alcohol for teenagers 18 and younger, they want to experiment with it even more. They think that since it is illegal for them and not for individuals over the age of 18, that the effect of the alcohol must be more exciting for them. To an extent the effect is different, because many young adults are smaller than the older adults. Alcohol acts quicker on a person with less body weight and increases the negative side effects. Of course, teenagers do not realize this, so they binge on alcohol until the full effects have taken over their body.
ReplyDeleteIf the drinking age were lowered, teenagers would not be so tempted to experiment with alcohol the way they do now. They would already know the side effects, and they would know when to say, "I have had enough."