FREE ESSAY ON DRINKING AGE

DRINKING AGE

In the United States, it is illegal to consume alcohol until the age of twenty-one. At the
age of eighteen, a person can get married, vote, drive, take out loans, pay taxes, buy
tobacco, and be in the armed forces and die for their country. Yet that person still can
not drink alcohol. In many other countries the drinking age is lower. It is imperative
that the drinking age be lowered to the age of eighteen.
The drinking age must be lowered to the age of eighteen because this age would be
consistent with other responsibilities that the government ____ grants
eighteen-year-olds. For instance, at the age of eighteen, a person is liable to be in the
armed forces. If a person is being trusted to fight or even possibly die for their
country, it seems a lot less crucial to trust them with an alcoholic beverage. To add to
the fact of dying for their country, these people are being counted on to kill other
humans. This seems unreasonable that a person is liable to take on an adult's job, that
involves the future of the country, and still be unable to enjoy an activity that other
adults are allowed to participate in. If one can be expected to kill and die for their
country, then they have the maturity to look at alcohol as a social activity to interact
with peers and adults and not as a way to alter their conscience. In addition, people
fresh out of high school are bombarded by many financial institutions such as Wells Fargo
and Bank of America. These companies are offering them Visa and Master Cards with up to
25% annual percentage rates (APR). How is someone with no credit history and little or no
income supposed to take such huge financial responsibilities? They are expected to be
able to take on this burden, yet they still can not buy a six pack to get their mind off
the fact that they are in serious debt with their new credit card. Most twenty-one year
olds that own credit cards want to get drunk when they realize that they have such
enormous financial burdens, when eighteen-year-olds don't even have this option. An
eighteen-year-old can die for his country while leaving his family to pay the 25% APR
accrued by his quickly accumulated short-lived large debt. Yet he still couldn't drink.
The drinking age must be lowered because in the majority of foreign countries, there is
no distinction between a right and a wrong age to drink. For instance, Amsterdam has no
drinking age, but there are barely any injuries that relate to alcohol by people under
the age of 21. This is because all the young teenagers know that they can drink and this
leaves nothing to rebel against, there is no hype. If something isn't prohibited, it
becomes something of less interest. Professor Craig Reinerman of University California
Santa Cruz has devoted his life to studying alcohol and drug policies in different
countries. He has found that when no boundaries are placed on the use of alcohol, it
becomes part of the normal way of life and there is no final destination to reach if
there is no age limit. In addition, Mexico's drinking age is lower than Americas, which
increases the rate of accidents involving alcohol. The rate of alcohol related accidents
would decrease if the age limit were the same as Mexico's because there would be no need
for teens to travel to Mexico to get drunk. Each year many teens from America travel to
Mexico to take advantage of the young drinking age. In the act of doing this, horrible
things take place, especially rapes and kidnappings of young girls. Going to Mexico and
drinking is much more dangerous for an eighteen year old, than drinking in America for
numerous reasons. Most importantly though, Spanish is the main language that is spoken
there and if a teen is drunk and crosses paths with a policeman, he will go to jail. This
is a very scary thought to think, because it could separate and worry schoolmates of the
whereabouts of their friend. Changing the legal drinking age in America would solve all
these problems, because the curiosity and hype would decrease dramatically.
Life hits a peek of change at the age of eighteen. There are responsibilities flying from
all directions. These responsibilities are all characteristics of adulthood, but alcohol
is considered a mid-adulthood only characteristic. It a restriction of freedom to trust
and expect so much out of a young adolescence and not let them participate in the
activity of drinking. A young adult can be left to die for his country, but still can not
give a toast to celebrate adulthood.