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Changing the Drinking Age
According to Edgar Snyder & Associates, "About 5,000 people under the age of 21 die each year as a result of underage drinking, 1,900 of those deaths are from auto accidents.” (Edgar Snyder & Associates). Drunk driving results in an excessive amount of death every year, although teenagers driving under the influence seem to be the most common. If is also widely known that the drinking age in America is 21 years of age, how then do all of these teenagers gain the title drunk drivers? By illegal consumption of alcohol, teenagers engage in risky activities such as drunk driving, unprotected sex, and binge drinking. Then the final result of drinking becomes numerous teen pregnancies, high intoxication rates, motor vehicle accidents, and deaths. Ironically enough, the victims of these things, wish to lower the drinking age. Lowering the drinking age would be to adulterate the mental and physical health of growing teenagers as well as their future. As it was already stated, the outcome of a lower drinking age would be more harmful than helpful because there would be a flux in drunk driving, teen pregnancy, and other risky behaviors. According to Anindya Sen and May Luong , “Population Health Surveys (NPHS) validate that increased alcohol consumption is correlated with risky sexual practices, and ultimately with an increased likelihood of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD).” This means that not only is teen pregnancy a resulting issue of underage drinking, but STDs are a result as well (Sen, and Luong 1). Both the unborn child and mother could face physical ailments for the rest of their lives. Another issue with changing the drinking age would be that if 18 year olds could legally obtain and consume alcohol, they could share it with those that are younger than 18 more easily.(“Minimum Drinking Age”). The biggest problem with this is that most 18 year olds are still in high school which has students as young as 14. If an 18 year old had a party and invited someone that was 14, it is more than likely that the 14 year old could consume alcohol.. Out of all of them, 16 and 18 year olds could legally be driving. Lowering the drinking age would put more drunk drivers on the street. However, this idea of lowering the drinking age was tested in some states between 1976 and 1983. Unfortunately, the death rate had spiked upward so dramatically in this shot period of time that states had no option but to rise the drinking age again (“Minimum Drinking Age”). Reducing the drinking age did not help the welfare of teenagers of America then, and it will not now.
Young people drinking may result in poor mental health among them. Christina Burke has found that alcohol affects memory, attention, visuospatial skills, and reasoning (Burke). Alcohol certainly does not increase any of those things but instead decreases the efficiency of the brain in those areas. One of the most horrible effects of those is reasoning. After drinking if reasoning is distorted, then things like teen pregnancy and drunk driving become a problem. Also, regular heavy drinkers have slower brain reactions than those how are relatively light drinkers (Burke).This means that binge drinkers would face worse medical conditions opposed to someone that drinks small amounts of alcohol. Although light drinking is better, continual alcohol exposure can increase aggression and likely hood of becoming an alcoholic or drug addict especially in young alcohol consumers (Burke).As stated in “Drinking Age” "the human body does not fully develop until around the age of 21, proponents say; the intake of alcohol can cause grave mental and physical damage to a still-developing body” (“Minimum Drinking Age”). As a young drinker becomes more dependent on alcohol, they have a greater chance of becoming an abuser of another substance as well. These will both result in deterioration in the adolescent’s body and mind. The effects of alcohol aren’t worth the consumption.
Drinking teens are highly susceptible to alcohol dependency and treatment is difficult. Judi Hanson states that "Nine out of 10 teens who get treatment for alcohol abuse will relapse at least once…" (Burke) Also, 1 out of every 10 alcohol dependent adolescents will receive adequate treatment (Burke) As a teenager, kids do things without thinking. If one of them developed a habit of drinking and became an alcoholic, they would have a 1 in 10 chance of being treated to stop the addiction. Again with addictions, a study was tested on rats to see if rats exposed to alcohol at a young age would drink it again at an older age, even if it had made them sick at a young age. The experiment showed that rats who drank when they were younger, drank alcohol again even though it had previously made them ill. The same experiment was run with adult rats. When the rats were exposed to alcohol for a second time, they refused it (Burke). Those who begin drinking as teenagers will have more of a likely hood to become hooked on alcohol young whereas those at an older age have a smaller change of becoming addicted. Lastly, peer pressure can be the downfall of someone in rehab (Burke). If the alcoholic’s peers are encouraging alcohol consumption, then it will be harder for them to quit drinking. If many people are drinking at a younger age, their peers can push alcohol on them and therefore cause them a long lasting addition. Becoming addicted to alcohol isn’t hard for teenagers but it is hard for them to receive proper treatment.
It has been said that the drinking age should be lower because if teenagers weren't worried about being caught drinking, they would be more responsible. Because teenagers are so afraid of being caught drinking alcohol, they drink more alcohol faster in an unsafe environment causing high intoxication rates (“Minimum Drinking Age”). As it seems reasonable to lower the drinking age so that teenagers won’t binge drink in order to keep a clean rap sheet, there will always be an age group that can’t have alcohol. If the drinking age was moved down to 18, would this cause a fluctuation in drinking in 14-17 year olds? According to “Minimum Drinking Age”, this is called the "forbidden fruit" theory. By making alcohol legally unattainable for those under 21, lawmakers have inadvertently romanticized it, causing teenagers to want to drink even more, critics maintain" (“Minimum Drinking Age”). There is always someone that can’t have alcohol and we can’t keep pushing the age back or there’d be toddlers allowed to drink.
Others also argue that a higher drinking age doesn’t reduce the amount of drunk driving. “Minimum Drinking Age” also states that "decrease in alcohol-related car accidents among 16- to 20-year-olds also show a dramatic increase in such accidents among 21- to 24-year old.” (“Minimum Drinking Age”). This is very true but if a young adult 21-24 cannot drive safely, then why could someone younger than them drive anymore safely? 21-24 year olds have more experience driving and more experience in making decisions. In Kristen Rollin’s research she found that "A National Institute of Health proposes that the part of the brain that restrains risky behavior, including reckless driving, and thinking skills is not fully developed until the age of 25." (Rollins). Until age 25, there is no significant difference in the ability of an 18 year old and a 21 year old in making a responsible decision. Therefore, the drinking age shouldn’t be lowered but perhaps raised to age 25 so that drinkers are more responsible.
The drinking age as it stands should be raised, not lowered. The younger individuals begin to drink, the worse shape they will be in. At age 25, people are able to make better decisions than younger people. Teen pregnancy, drunk driving, and intoxication rates could be reduced if the desire to consume alcohol wasn’t so young. The age group below the drinking age will of course want to drink, but if the drinking age is higher, those that wish to drink will be older than those who want to drink now. The mental and physical health of the nation could be helped if the nation had a higher drinking age. Drinking at an early age has horrible overall effects on teenagers and that cannot be overlooked.
Works Cited
Burke, Christina, Lisa Caldwell, and Susan E. Tapert. "Alcohol and the adolescent brain: human studies." Alcohol Research & Health Winter 2004: 205+. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 17 Sept. 2010.
"Drinking Age." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 17 Sept. 2010.
Edgar Snyder & Associates , . "Underage Drinking Statistics ." Edgar Snyder & Associates . Edgar Snyder & Associates , 2010. Web. 3 Oct 2010.
"Minimum Drinking Age." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 6 July 2009. Web. 3 Oct. 2010.
Rollins, Kristen. "Brain Not Fully Developed until Age 25." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct 2010
Sen, Anindya, and May Luong. "Sex, Teen Pregnancies, STDs, and Beer Prices: Empirical Evidence from Canada." 1. Web. 3 Oct 2010.
