(taken from this site)
Ahhh, the two questions that have sparked such a fire among Americans:
Should the drinking age be lowered? OR…
Should the drinking age be raised?
I finally decided to do some research on our current legal drinking age and why it is twenty one.
There are several people who feel that lowering the drinking age would do more harm than good. Lowering the drinking age would warrant more binge drinking and lead to future alcoholism in young adults. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, between the ages of twelve and twenty are when binge drinking heavily occurs. Just take that in for a second- TWELVE.
So what is it that’s causing this problem? Is it society’s “don’t touch it” attitude about drinking that is pushing the younger generations towards this behavior?
Well, the attraction to the illegality of underage drinking is often considered a reason for kids drinking alcohol. Rebellion is attractive to the young and reckless. Alcohol’s cool image, as advertised by the media, may be what is causing young teens to begin drinking at an early age.
Here’s what we see on TV:
Alcohol is fun. Alcohol brings people together. Alcohol makes you do silly things and goof around with your friends…
Now, for many of us, alcohol may be all it is crapped up to be. But does that mean at age eighteen kids are old enough to drink responsibly?
Before you decide, let’s take a look at the other end of the debate.
On the flip side, there are many people who support a higher drinking age for the following reasons…
College. When you hear that word what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Parties? Drinking? For many of you, these words are probably what came to mind. Penn State, while it is an incredible learning institution, let’s face it,- IT’S ALWAYS A FUN TIME BECAUSE WE KNOW HOW TO PARTY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY. And dang it, WE ARE proud.
The alcohol consumption rate in college is much higher than that of high school teens. Why? Think about it. Freshman year you are away from home for the first time and you are clumped together with kids your age and older. Alcohol is an easy access for pretty much everyone. Going out at night, it is very seldom that you’ll come across a party without alcohol. This is where peer pressure really sets in and binge drinking becomes a weekly occurrence for the majority of students.
According to neuroscientist and author, Sandra Aamodt, the human brain does not fully develop until the age of twenty five. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that controls decision-making and impulse actions. At age twenty one, the prefrontal cortex has still not reached its full growth.
So why is age eighteen considered to be the beginning of someone’s “adult years?” Or, why is the drinking age twenty one? These are questions that spark controversy among Americans, and provide support to the argument that the legal drinking age should be changed to twenty five.
Think about it this way. If people at age twenty one are scientifically more prone to make impulse decisions due to the underdevelopment of their prefrontal cortexes, how does it make sense to add alcohol, a decision impairer, into the mix? That being said, how does it make sense to lower the drinking age or even keep it age twenty one?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s fun here or my own, for that matter. I simply want you to think about both sides. Which side do you find yourself on? Are we old enough yet to be dabbling with this popular drink?
Sources:
https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/adolescent-issues/legal-drinking-age/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141164708
For me , alcohol consumption can be viewed more of how a person mentally acts and how the know their limit. When I lived in Japan, the legal drinking age was 20 instead of 21. However, how drinking is viewed and carried out is different for all cultures and people. In japan it was more seen as a social bonding thing, and that it wasn’t acceptable to get black out drunk, were as he in the USA, it is more associated with just doing it for fun.
Super interesting and relevant blog, especially concerning us college kids. I agree with you when you say that a lot kids drink because they’re told not to – rebellion is awesome, right? Things are so much more fun when you’re not allowed to do them. In my opinion, I do think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 – especially since that is when someone is considered, legally, an adult. I think that lowering it would then make that rebellion kick to it die faster, thus not feeling a need to go black out at every party. I definitely don’t think that it would encourage binge drinking or extra partying. In the end, like with cigarettes, it’s the person’s ultimate choice and he/she is going to do what they want no matter what the government allows.
Super interesting and relevant blog, especially concerning us college kids. I agree with you when you say that a lot kids drink because they’re told not to – rebellion is awesome, right? Things are so much more fun when you’re not allowed to do them. In my opinion, I do think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 – especially since that is when someone is considered, legally, an adult. I think that lowering it would then make that rebellion kick to it die faster, thus not feeling a need to go black out at every party. I definitely don’t think that it would encourage binge drinking or extra partying. In the end, like with cigarettes, it’s the person’s ultimate choice and they’re going to do what they want no matter what the government allows.
I always thought that drinking in general was just not beneficial to your health in the long run. You are essentially poisoning your body. But if the question is if you should do it before your 21 or when you are and if we are responsible enough is a different question. I think that it should stay at the age of 21 simply because it causes a lot of problems. I do think that the penalties for underage drinking should be less severe. I always thought it was important for kids to know their limits before they are able to go and buy as much alcohol as they can… but that’s just me.
I really enjoyed your post and can relate with your research because I also did some research about the legal drinking age for a previous blog of mine. Personally, i think that the drinking age is currently right where it belongs, at 21 years old. As you mentioned in your post, studies have shown that the human brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25. Despite this, i feel that the drinking age doesn’t need to be raised. because a majority of individuals have already experienced a significant amount of nights out partying by the time they reach their 20’s. I don’t feel as if the same can be said about people who are still in their teens, which shows that the current drinking age at least limits how young kids are when they begin drinking. If 12 year old kids are currently drinking when the drinking age is 21, at what age would kids begin drinking if the legal age was 18?
I have similar views on this as I do on marijuana legalization, the government should not be able to tell adults what to do with their body. And the government defines an adult as someone who is 18 years of age or older, so what right does the government have to tell me what I can and can’t drink. The government can educate people about the risks of alcohol, and how alcohol can affect our brain development before the age of 25, and if after that adults choose to drink, its on them. And the idea that a 21 year old drinking age is protecting kids is ridiculous.In most parts of Europe the drinking age is 18, and in some parts it is lower, and they function just fine. England, which has a drinking age of 18, has far less drunk driving incidents than the U.S. and out 21 year drinking age. http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/alcohol/by-country/ , this website shows the number of alcohol related deaths per 100,000 people for different countries in the world. The U.K. has 1.7 deaths while the U.S. has 2.9 deaths. Just another example of why our drinking age is pointless.