Lowering the Drinking Age Essay Example for Free

Lowering the bever season duration EssayThe lawful inebriety progress has been a continuously grappled subject in the United States since its establishment. The field legal tipsiness grow of twenty-one old age old was placed in 1984 and still holds to the present, besides many have begun questioning whether twenty-one is still an appropriate age for our live society. Much of this debate starts with college campuses and binge alcoholism. As a senior in gamy school, and soon-to-be freshman in college, I began question if the inebriation age is still suitable for present times, and if it should be altered. According to University of Michigan, approximately 80% of high school students have tried alcohol before graduating, and 60% have gotten rummy. With these statistics, it seems evident that the legal intoxication age is not efficiently doing its job, and should be reviewed. So the question a elevators Should the legal intoxication age be changed? I started my se arch with Repeal the inebriety Age, by Jeffrey Tucker, Publisher and Executive Editor of Laissez Faire Books, from his own Mises day-by-day blog.In his article, Tucker begins his blog by discussing how most countries legal inebriation ages are xviii, and in the land of the free, the limit is set at twenty-one, even though the domain knows it is not working. Tucker relates the incumbent alcoholism age to Prohibition, stating that the twenty-one age limit is rather liberal, and that jellting restrictions on alcohol, like during Prohibition, that results in bigger problems. He then concludes that the drinking age is based on one everyplacearching contrast driving, where we simply do not want drunken teens on the road.Read AlsoEasy explorative Essay TopicsTucker also states that the data on drunk driving cannot be statistically attributed to the field of study minimum drinking-age law. Tucker concludes by saying if we are unspoilt about a free society, the nation needs to repeal the minimum drinking-age law. When exploring Tuckers article, I have to agree that Prohibition was a terrible attempt by the United States to help fix social issues, but relating the drinking age to Prohibition is a bit of a stretch. I also agree that the decrease in fatalities complex with drunk driving unquestionably cannot be awarded solely to lowering the drinking age.Numerous otherwise sources, such(prenominal) as a better understanding of risks with alcohol through schooling, much safer cars, and an increase in legal punishment, also play a major role in the decrease of drunk driving and fatalities. moreover relating the issue to what our founding fathers would say, and the ruining of a free society by not eliminating the drinking age, seems a little outlandish. Although the article did take the issue a little out of proportion, Tucker take ons a intimately point about the current restriction obviously not working, colleges accepting this fact, and ignoring it.Th e article is a not bad(predicate) base for an cerebration about abolishing the drinking age completely, but I would also like to seek an opinion of simply lowering the drinking age. The next article I read was Why the Drinking Age Should be Lowered, an article in a scholarly journal written by prof Ruth Engs associated with Indiana University. Professor Engs starts her article saying that the legal drinking age should be get down to eighteen or nineteen years old, and that she has come to this conclusion after over twenty years of researching college youth and the history of drinking.Engs continues by stating that people under the age of twenty-one are more presumable to be binge drinkers, consuming over five drinks at least once a week, and that 22% of students under twenty-one are binge drinkers, compared to 18% of legal drinkers. Engs then goes on telling other statistics about an increase in problems related to irresponsible drinking. Such problems include excessive drinking , getting into fights, and lacking class, blaming the issues on underground drinking by underage drinkers.The article is concluded by Engs saying that the drinking age is not working, and is counterproductive, and that the minimum age should be lowered to help teach responsible drinking and decrease alcohol abuse. Professor Engs makes a very compelling argument in her article by not solo discussing why the drinking age should be lowered, but also the issues with having the current age limit. I agree with Professor Engs description of underage drinking as an enticing forbidden fruit, a badge of rebellion against authority, and a symbol of adulthood.These comparisons actually sound realistic and show how underage drinking is a problem in the first place. Engs also uses statistics to support her opinion, proving that underage drinking is a serious problem. In my opinion though, Engs fails to consider the possible issues that could arise from lowering the drinking age. It is difficult to expect eighteen year olds to learn responsible drinking from their parents and peers, when in reality the exact opposite could be calamity from alcoholic parents or irresponsible friends.With this article I learned numerous statistics about binge drinking and problems associated with underage drinking. The source seems very valid, and serves as a great opinion supporting why the drinking age should be lowered. While the article creates a persuasive argument on lowering the drinking age, I would also like to explore ideas behind increasing the drinking age. My final article, Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Raised to 25 to Eliminate Deadly College Partying? is written by Stephenson Billings, an investigative journalist for christwire. com.Billings takes a very strong opinion on the subject of the drinking age, thinking that it should be raise immediately, along with the banning of all alcohol on college campuses. Billings writes of alcohol being a foul liquefied that keeps s tudents from maturing into adulthood, and corrupts their ethics. He also writes about alcohol turning women into lusting wolves, and compares underage drinking to the most extreme of alcoholics who only care about alcohol throughout their lives. The author mentions the problem of legal drinkers buying alcohol for minors, openly allowing them to drink illegally and irresponsibly.Billings ends with the straightforward resolution of ending illegal drinking by raising the drinking age to twenty-five years old and eliminating alcohol from educational premises. Even though the article is put to the extreme, Billings does make a few good points. Billings views on drinking in college are over exaggerated, but are accurate in some cases. Extreme binge drinking does take place among colleges in America, and such colleges need to create strict penalties for such occasions, possibly banning alcohol from certain fraternities or even the college altogether.Billings also makes a good point about o lder students turning younger ones onto the company by buying them alcohol illegally, allowing them to drink irresponsibly. But the rest of Billings article is sent so over the top that I felt almost annoyed by his constant attacking of alcohol in general. A great example, I have driven around town past midnight before, but definitely was not drinking or using drugs. The stereotypes he uses to describe those who drink illegally are mislead and outlandish.The article gave me a totally different aspect on the drinking age and added to my growing opinion that the current drinking age is not quite working. Although the article did create another aspect for me to consider, the extremeness of it make it unlikely for me to base any decisions upon it. As I sum up the research for my exploratory essay, I still have more articles to read, aspects to understand, and statistics to find, but I gestate I have come up with a good conclusion to the drinking age debate.Clearly the twenty-one year old age limit is not effective, and is blatantly being broken. Underage drinking is happening more than ever, while taking place irresponsibly and encouraging binge drinking. With the rise in binge drinking comes the obvious rise of problems associated with it, such as drinking too much, skipping class, and starting fights. Although the drinking age has helped lower the number of fatalities from drunk driving, other factors have also assisted in the decrease.If we as a nation can accentuate alcohol education in our schools, teaching responsible drinking and wise decision making, I believe lowering the drinking age can help save lives, and even increase the maturity of current underage drinkers. A drinking age of nineteen seems more appropriate for teens maturing, hopefully creating safer drinking in college, while keeping it mainly out of high school. Before making any rash decisions though, and agreeing to make an actual constitutional change for the subject, I think I need to do more research and look into more aspects of the topic.