Self-Analysis Post

I have always thought that the drinking age of 21 should be changed simply because it is not fair. We are considered adults at the age of 18, so we should be able to make the adult decision to drink alcohol. Over the course of my blogging however, I have found many valid reasons as to why the drinking age should indeed be lowered to 18. The issue is not only a matter of how individuals of age 18 are allowed to fight in war, but not allowed to consume alcohol. The issue extends to how at age 18, individuals are given the freedom to choose a college of their choice, head into the workforce, or how they can damage their health by smoking. I have learned a substantial amount of ways to associate the drinking age with different circumstances. This knowledge has made my argument very strong.

The most heard reason to lower the drinking age is that since young adults of age 18 can die for their country, they should be able to enjoy a beer or two. Of course, this was also one of my top reasons for lowering the drinking age at first, but I also found how this age relates to other important subjects like choosing a college. College is a huge step in a young adult’s life because this step decides how their future is going to play out. Many would agree that making this choice requires a more in-depth thought process than choosing to have a drink. I was able to come to this conclusion after a fellow blogger left a comment on my page arguing as to why 18 is the right age for drinking. Others’ comments helped me to broaden my perspective on the debate.

Some may point out the fact that alcohol can give rise to health problems unlike choosing a college, but what about smoking cigarettes? Cigarettes can cause a number of different health problems, but at the age of 18, young adults are allowed to use them. This was something to seriously consider when looking at the issue from a health angle. I have found counter-arguments for almost every opinion that is not in accordance with mine. Learning and researching my blog topic of the drinking age has caused my mind to formulate different reasons as to why others should be in favor of my opinion.

Through researching, I was able to discover a way that the negative effects of alcohol are related to all ages. The problems associated with drinking do not just apply to those that are under 21. Society tends to want to blame the alcohol-related accidents on this age category because they claim that all of these individuals are irresponsible. This generalization is in no way fair because there are problems with alcohol seen in all ages. Society chooses to believe that 18 year-olds make more mistakes than the older population, so they should not be allowed to consume alcohol. However, it does not matter whether the person begins to drink at 18 or 21 because either way, the individual is unsure of how much they can handle until they actually drink. After reading more about this subject I began to see how true it was because if you really think about it, no one has a certain tolerance of alcohol until they consume the substance for the first time. My thoughts on the subject had always only resided in the 18 to 21-year-old range, but my research has given me the chance to further explore other age groups.

As I did research for this blog, I found a statistic that implies that it is in favor of the drinking age of 18. The statistic explains how when the drinking age was raised to 21 in the United States, the rate of traffic fatalities in the 1980s decreased less than the European countries whose drinking age is less than 21. This proves that by increasing the age, there was actually no direct effect on the reduction of traffic fatalities. Those in favor of the current drinking age want to believe that the age of 21 has given rise to a safer driving environment, but in reality, it has had almost no effect. Personally, I had thought that since the drinking age was lowered, the amount of traffic fatalities had decreased. Learning that this generalization was untrue allowed for another strong point in my argument.

Even though my opinion is strictly in favor of the drinking age, I made the effort to research reasons as to why the drinking age should not be lowered. I wanted to do this to make sure that I understood the main points of the other side of the debate. This helped me to construct my arguments in an unbiased manner. By researching groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I was able to understand why they support the current drinking age. The group does present sufficient evidence for their opinion, so I really had to take the time to explore the evidence that was not in favor of lowering the drinking age. Doing so made my argument stronger and pushed my mind to engage in a deeper thought process.

A trend that I noticed in my blog posts was that many of them began with a question. This question made the reader think about the subject of the following post. I feel that the reason I did this was to find a way to connect with the viewer so that they could see how the subject related to them. This tactic made the person more willing to read my blog post and the ones that were soon to follow.

Through the course of my blogging, I have come to notice the ways in which I formulate my thoughts to share with others. My thinking process was straightforward with what I believed about the drinking age, but I knew that I could not simply state my opinion in the blog. I had to transition my tone to a neutral one that would allow others to think about what I had to say. At first this was a difficult task because it is challenging to present an opinion without having bias. In order to present my opinion without bias, I had to reflect on my thoughts and express them with sufficient evidence in my blog posts. Blogging has taught me that it is possible to have an opinion on a subject without being biased.

There is no doubt that blogging has been a learning experience for me. I was able to create a strong opinion as to why the drinking age should be lowered to 18 by providing sufficient evidence, which expanded my knowledge. I was also pushed to develop a thought process that made me think in-depth about counter-arguments. With completion of this blog, I feel that I can say that I have been successful in expressing my thoughts on the drinking age debate.