Keep the Drinking Age at 21
This thinking has a few major flaws. Yes there may be less binge drinking on collage campuses. As the students will now be able to go downtown and get drunk legally. Also the first legal drink most of the people will be taking will be in high school. Shifting the responsibility from the collages down to the high schools.
When I turned eighteen back in the early 80's I was able to drink legally. Being a senior in high school I thought it was great. We had an open campus and I could always find someone to walk down to the bar with me during lunch and have a couple drinks before returning to school, usually late and finishing the day.
I had thought I was mature enough to handle drinking responsibly, until I went to a party where my friend was to drunk to drive his girlfriend home. He asked me if I would, having walked to the party I borrowed another friend's car and the three of us left. We got his girlfriend home safely but on the way back to the party I crashed the car. When I got my breath tested I blew a .18. Almost twice the legal limit of .10 at that time, and I was the sober one at the party.
Looking back on this time of my life I can conclude I was not mature enough to drink at that age. Although I would not have been a problem to the collages as I was still in high school.
After high school I joined the Army National Guard and was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for my basic training. During this time I did a lot of growing up. Not only did I learn the value of public transportation but also I had a buddy to look over me and keep me from doing anything stupid.
So should the drinking age be lowered? After all if you are old enough to serve in the military and put your life on the line for our country shouldn't you be allowed to drink? YES! If you enlist in the military and drink on base you should be allowed to drink at eighteen. Other than that, no!
Published by Russ Keith
Lower the American Drinking Age?Many people believe that lowering the drinking age will give college students the opportunity to learn how to drink responsibly through role models at college functions. - The Drinking Age Quandary: 21 or 18?This article delves into the debate over the drinking age, and the consequences of lowering the drinking age.
Athemyst Initiative: Lower the Drinking Age, Say College PresidentsWhat is the best way to deal with the problem of college campus underage drinking? Is it to stiffen penalties? - Raise the Driving Age to 18, Lower the Drinking Age to 18America should raise the driving age to 18, and lower the drinking age to 18. Why? There are compelling reasons to consider both.
- Why is the Federal Drinking Age Set at 21?Federal law prohibits states from setting the drinking age at 18 without serious cutting of Federal funds for highways.
- Will Congress Repeal the National Minimum Drinking Age Act If Enough States Lower...
- College Presidents Seek Discussion on Whether it is Time to Lower the Drinking Age
- Americans Are Not in Favor of Lowering the Drinking Age to 18
- Lowering the Drinking Age
- Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18?
- The Amethyst Initiative Does Not Advocate a Lower Drinking Age
- Lower the Legal Drinking Age in America
1 Comments
Post a CommentJoining the military isn't the only way to become a mature, responsible adult before the age of 21, you know. Just because you weren't mature enough to recognize the consequences of drunk driving, doesn't mean that with proper alcohol education, 18-year-olds can't be. In every other nation, with perhaps the exception of Muslim nations in which alcohol is forbidden by religious law, teens as young as 16 are allowed to consume fermented alcohol (beer, wine, cider, etc), and their drunk driving and alcohol-related-injury statistics are no higher than America's.
Don't punish America's youth, those who can vote for president or, yes, enlist in the armed forces, for your own negative experiences with the responsibility required for alcohol consumption.