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Should the national drinking age be lowered to 18?
Should the national drinking age be lowered to 18?
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| Yes | 54% | 400 votes | Total: 747 votes | |
| No | 46% | 347 votes |
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Gordon Gee, president of The Ohio State University, "strongly believes that a comprehensive review of public policy related to responsible drinking is needed and that all aspects of our current approach should be thoroughly examined, analyzed and debated." Gee is not alone. People all across the United States disagree with the current federal drinking policy.
The first, and most cited, argument against the federal drinking age stems from a fairness perspective. In six months, I will turn 18, the age of a legal adult in America. Thus, I will be able to vote on issues affecting my community, state, and country. I will register for the military draft, and, if necessary, fight for my country.
If I commit a crime, the consequences will be to the fullest extent of the law. In essence, the United States government designates the age of 18 to represent the end of childhood, and the beginning of responsibility. How, then, is it still illegal to purchase, possess, or consume alcohol? If I am legally considered an adult, a citizen, why are select rights withheld?
If I can influence public policy, die for my country, and go to big-boy prison, why can I not have a beer? It strikes me simply as unfair.
I would argue that the current legal drinking age of 21 influences and facilitates underage drinking. This may seem counterintuitive, however consider a fundamental of humanity: we want what we cannot have. It is seen as early as the biblical story of Adam and Eve; alcohol has become the forbidden fruit to the modern teenager.
If alcohol were made more accessible, teens would not revere it as a symbol of rebellion. In addition, falsification of identity would become obsolete, lowering the rate of identity theft.
I attend a high school in which the consumption of alcohol runs rampant. I will not lie, I myself occasionally drink. I firmly believe all students graduating high school should have some experience with alcohol. Luckily, my parents are fairly open-minded, and have allowed me sufficient freedom in regards to alcohol, the opposite sex, things considered 'adultish'.
I cannot thank them enough for this. For some, attending college represents the ultimate freedom: no parents, no rules. It is kids like this that become the tragic stories we hear about on the news. Bowling Green State University reports that over 1,400 students die each year from alcohol-related causes.
I strongly believe if students have experience with alcohol before attending college, if they know the inherent dangers and risks of drinking, figures such as these will drop dramatically.
It is easy to simply argue this point, but offering a legitimate, reasonable solution is more difficult. I, however, have given this thought, and I believe I have a sound plan. I am not foolish enough to believe hard liquor, that with a proof above 72, should be legally available to college freshman, one can seriously harm oneself drinking hard liquor.
However, beer, wine, and select, lower proof liquor should be legal. In addition, I propose a mandatory Alcohol Safety course for every person turning 18. I also believe stricter enforcement and harsher penalties for alcohol related offenses (drinking and driving, public intoxication, lewd behavior) will be necessary to further deter overconsumption.
I firmly believe the legal age to possess, purchase, and consume alcohol should be 18. Alcohol is not something to be feared, on the contrary, it should be something to be enjoyed responsibly.
Learn more about this author, Mathias Scriptor.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
THREE YEARS OF CONSEQUENCE
During the years, eighteen to twenty, nearly all young men and women crave peer approval, adult independence and youthful freedom. Mix them with a lethal sense of total invincibility and you have a deadly combination. Sadly for some, these three desires and the belief of being invincible, all too frequently come smashing together in a confluence of disaster.
It's a difficult situation because it can be argued that the inappropriate actions of some should not dictate perceived penalties on others. Certainly, not all those in these critical years act irresponsibly. The vast majority of young people are dedicated students and show responsible care in making their decisions. The question is: Where do we draw the line, for it must be drawn somewhere?
Statistics show that alcohol-related teen-aged deaths have gone up when the age was reduced to eighteen and down when the age was returned to the age of twenty-one. This is not an insignificant fact.
She was fifteen years of age and a sophomore in high school. Upon her death, her parents created a perpetual college scholarship fund in her honor. The scholarship specified that a group of students would be selected. One out of that group, chosen by a vote of that year's school seniors as being the most kind and helpful to other students, would be named the scholarship honoree. The only reason I know about the scholarship was that my daughter was the first recipient the honor.
The promising and talented fifteen-year-old, after whom the scholarship was named, was killed by a drunk driver who was 18-years-of-age. It was a tragedy on so many levels, it's hard to comprehend. But the saddest of all, is the fact that drunken teenagers, killing other teenagers, who are not drunk, is so common, that this tragic event hardly rates a mention in our world today. Another sad fact is it doesn't have to be a two-car accident. Single car roll-overs where the teen-aged driver has been drinking, has also taken many lives. It has become so serious, that some states now have laws restricting drivers from ages sixteen to eighteen, must have an adult in the vehicle if a third person is present.
He was eighteen years of age and a freshman at University. He pledged a fraternity. As part of the hazing ritual he was forced to swallow huge quantities of alcoholic drinks. He was later found passed out in the frat house storage closet. He didn't make it to the hospital.
He was a scholarship winning student with academic skills that would make any parent proud and which any university would seek. Sadly, this story too, is all too common. Yet, it does not rise to the level of sufficient concern that stops fraternities and ever sororities, from participating binge drinking or alcoholic hazing.
Peer pressure during these critical years from eighteen to twenty-one is massive. The older fraternity brothers, who themselves were twenty and twenty-one years of age, were not responsible enough to consider the potential consequences of their pressure on their pledges. This is only one of many hazing incidents at fraternities where freshmen have died of alcohol poisoning. The young men involved will spend their college years in jail.
This young man died in his own vomit, with an alcohol level that was toxic. It is so tragically ironic that these young people who are just starting their lives, are so passionate about the environment, but never consider the environment of their own bodies and the consequences of what abusing that inner environment can do.
A drinking standard is required both for society's sake and safety, and to protect against the irresponsibility of some who cannot distinguish between a life threat and what some call frat pranks.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving was formed and operates to combat just this type of problem. All good parents make judgments that dictate safety parameters they feel are necessary and against which children chafe. But, the eighteen, nineteen and twenty-year-olds are not just killing themselves with their choices. If the statistics are accurate, thousands more lives will be saved by keeping the drinking age at twenty-one. It is appropriate and necessary.
Learn more about this author, Rand E Oertle.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
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