Should Drinking Age Be 18 Essay

501 Words3 Pages
Legal Drinking Age Should Not Be Below eighteen There has been a huge debate in the past years between people whether the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen or not. The people who agree to that argue that if a young adult is old enough to go to war and vote, he should have the power to drink alcoholic beverages. They also site Europe as an example of a lower drinking age that works, and there are even some organizations that suggest that the illegality of alcohol makes it more alluring, that’s why we must allow our teenage individuals to drink alcohol. As for the disagreeing party, they state that those in their late teens and early twenties are formative years that build character and leadership in the community, and that individuals…show more content…
In other words, simply because drinking and driving rates are not particularly high in Europe among late teens does not mean this trend would continue in the U.S. Additionally, for those who feel that those who enlist in the military should drink legally, one might counter that the context is different. Sure, at first glance, picking up a bottle seems less harmful than picking up a gun. Keep in mind, though, that the military allows such behavior under extreme supervision and in a highly targeted fashion, not to mention going under extensive training, where you get a very different experience than allowing a young adult to drink a bottle of alcohol. Yes they can go to war, and they can vote, but that doesn’t mean they are ready to drink. Letting younger people drink is giving immature citizens more of the ability to make bad decisions that not only affect themselves but can also be very harmful to others. So in the end the obvious recommendation is to keep the drinking age at 21, because this allows people extra time to let their brains develop both physically and
Open Document