All around the world the drinking age in each country fluctuates. There are many different views across the world on why it should or shouldn’t be at a certain age. There are even a few countries that do not have a minimum drinking age whatsoever. There are fourteen that require an age of 16 and seven that require the age of 21 for drinking. The high majority of countries across the globe require an age of 18 to have consumption.
Each person has their own personal opinion on what it should be, and their own reasons on why it should be like that. America is 21, and we also have one of the highest binge drinking rates in the whole world. There might be a correlation somewhere in there. Maybe americans binge drink so much due to the fact that we aren’t allowed to drink so we have to get all of out drinking done on those times we actually do drink.
For the countries that have it set at 16, some might say that the age is simply too young because our brains are simply not developed yet. According to news-medical.net, our brains do not stop fully developing until we are into our 20’s. Could too much alcohol hinder the development of the brain before it is completely done? Although people in these countries on average do not seem to have any different brain problems than any other single country. So who is setting the bar at the right height?
In my opinion I think the drinking age should be 18 everywhere in the world. It would cut down on binge drinking in the countries where the legal age is 21 and it would also stop the countries with the age of 16 from possibly effecting their development of their brains. I don’t see the age changing anytime soon, at least in America.
Sources:
http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/LegalDrinkingAge.html#.VBuivUu4mlI
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110923/Human-brain-development-does-not-stop-at-adolescence-Research.aspx
I also believe that the a big part of the reason it is still 21 is because of drunk driving. You are correct about the fact that an 18 year old and a 21 year old could both cause the same drunk driving accident so it shouldn’t really matter. If we can smoke cigarettes at 18 why can we not drink? To me it seems like smoking is more harmful to our bodies anyway
I totally agree. I think what you are talking about is called the red button theory. In a nutshell it pretty much is saying that people will be tempted to push the red button if they are told not to do it. If nobody told them that it was not allowed they would leave it alone, but since they are told not to do it there is a temptation to want to push the button. Humans are naturally rebellious with things that we are told not to do.
I most definitely agree that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. If people can smoke cigarettes, vote for the President, and serve the country at the age of 18, why can’t they drink alcohol? The reason so many underage people drink is for the sole purpose of rebelling against the law. If the drinking age was lowered to 18, people would not feel the desire to drink as much because it would be legal and less exciting. This would lead to less drunk driving and less binge drinking. If the majority of the world has their drinking age set to 18, so should ours.
I think this is a really interesting topic. Every countries all have different age of drinking. I agree with you that the drinking age should be 18 everywhere in the world. Because I feel like that if you not let teenagers drink , they will want it more maybe even they don’t like to drink. So if the drinking age is down to 18, more people will feel like ” oh, everyone can drink, its not a fancy thing to do.” Here is a funny video about shouldn’t we lower the drinking age. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBzVN6-9Qi0
I definitely agree with you in regards to the idea that the drinking age in America should be 18. Over the summer I went to London and Paris and enjoyed having a few drinks with my mother during our meals. Something i definitely picked up on is the lack of stigma around drinking in Europe. Its not necessarily encouraged I would say, but its simply accepted. They seem to understand that the youth are going to drink and the relaxed nature of the laws over there encourage responsible drinking. Sure plenty of young people still get drunk but thats inevitable. In America drinking is so unattainable that when people are presented with the opportunity they feel the pressure to get completely wasted because they may not get the chance to do so again for a while.
I think this is a very interesting article because it is such huge issue in our country. I personally think that the drinking age in America should be 18 too. Teens are going to drink no matter what, partially because knowing it is illegal makes it more fun and dangerous, and could be incentive to drink more or even in the first place. Maybe making it legal to drink 18 will lower the amount of binge drinking because some people could lose interest once it becomes legal. It is an issue with driving, but anyone above the age of 21 can cause a drunk driving accident; I don’t think the drinking age would change this very much. If anything, there could be stricter policies about the consequences of driving if the age was lowered to prevent any problems from occurring.
This is a very interesting article! I think the only reason The United States has a legal drinking age of 21 is because of our access to cars. In Europe most young adults walk or take the bus, therefore they don’t take the risk of drinking and driving. I know drinking at a very young age (like 14 or 15) does have negative effects on brain development, but I’m not sure how big of an impact it makes on an 18 year old. Obviously, binge drinking is dangerous in any situation because it causes Kidney and Liver failure, as well as brain damage. However, I agree that drinking in moderation should not be bad for 18 year olds. Maybe if the United States had developed our railroad system at the turn of the century instead of our motor vehicle industry it would be safe to drink at 18!
I think that this a very interesting, debatable topic. Lowering the drinking age could present a lot of benefits, such as treating legal adults as legal adults. Or that fatal accidents due to drunk driving are most common amongst newly legal 21 year olds. Also, lowering the drinking age would lower the incentive to break the law. But, 18 year olds drinking large amounts would take a serious toll on their health, among many other consequences. You should read more about the pros and conshere
This article caught my eye because I have very strong opinions on this topic. When I graduated high school as an 18 year old I decided to take a gap year before starting here at Penn State. When I did, I moved to Norway, a country where the drinking age is 18. There I was able to legally drink and was treated like an adult right out of high school and was expected to make my own decisions. Experiencing the drinking culture as an 18 year old where I could make the decision to go to the bars was very beneficial. In Norway the drinking age is 18 but 18 year olds are only allowed to buy alcohol with an alcohol percentage lower than 22%. And then when you turn 20 you can get any percentage of alcohol. I think this is a smart way to ease teenagers and young adults into the culture of drinking so they don’t first get to college and just go crazy like they do now. Maybe America should try a system like one that Norway has instead of young adults waiting until they are 21 to finally go crazy and drink legally.