The Legal Drinking Age

Almost everyone has strong feelings about the legal drinking age in the United States. But there are five main standpoints that I will focus on. Currently the legal age to consume alcohol in the U.S. is 21 due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Everyone at the high school level has consumed alcohol underage, or has had the opportunity to, so they can relate to what I am about to say. And this is the typical story that you will here wherever you go. At my high school I would say about 80% of the students had consumed alcohol underage, and it was viewed as no big deal, and the social thing to do. Most of the students, along with myself did it just for fun, and it was a casual, irregular occasion. But there was a group of students who eventually started doing drinking more heavily and on regular basis. They would show up to class with water bottles full of vodka, and they would skip class to go drink. Those few students started to do poorly in school, and I didn’t see them as often. When I did they looked dirty, and unkempt, and it seemed like they didn’t have a strong drive to do much. I would wonder if their parents were looking after them at all anymore. Most of those kids did not go to college after graduation, some didn’t even graduate. Underage drinking does have some problems, and there are many stories like the one I just told. But what about those of us who just did the casual drinking, who were responsible enough to realize that drinking even underage in moderation is no big deal. Most of us who did the casual drinking were extremely smart, and went to prestigious colleges like Brown, Harvard, and Washington University. Many people believe that underage drinking is a terrible thing, but is it really so bad?

There are many people who support lowering the drinking age across the U.S. and the movement is gaining support from all sorts of people. With the drinking age lowered it could possibly lead to more responsible drinking, and less alcohol related accidents through exposure at a younger age. A Vermont legislator has introduced a bill to lower the state's drinking age to 18. He says "we're driving drinkers underground. 18 year olds can do everything else - go to war, sign contracts, marry, vote - so why not drink? When was the last time you heard a kid turn down a drink saying not "I don't drink, thank you," but "I better not, I'm not 21 yet." In other words, a kid is going to drink at 18 if they want to, regardless of whether the law says 18 or 21. The juvenile courts are jammed with "minor in possession" cases. If they weren't, they might have more time and funds to deal with the kids with more serious issues." There is strong support for lowering the drinking age from various different parties of people across the United States, but that support can be split up into to two more standpoints. Those who are under the age of 21 and want to lower the drinking age, and those who are over the age of 21 and want to lower the drinking age.

There are some many people out there who are under the age of 21 and who don’t support underage drinking. They are obedient to national laws, and to their own personal ideals and they might believe it to be morally wrong. Growing up in the United States we taught and encouraged to follow all laws, so those who are not following the rules are doing something wrong.

But their strict adherence to their own beliefs can restrict or block the activities of other people under 21 who do want to drink. Many times those who are obedient to the laws will intentionally seek out people who are underage drinking and turn them in, just for the personal satisfaction that what they are doing makes them better people because they are following a certain law.

Experts told members of a special House of Delegates committee on drug and alcohol abuse holding a hearing on underage drinking that not only should the drinking age remain 21, but that legislators should consider even tougher penalties for teenagers who break the law."The risk of a fatal crash increases with the first drink, especially for drivers aged 16 to 20," said James Fell, a senior program director at Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. "Little U.S. data are available on the issue, because the drinking age has been 21 across the nation for more than two decades. Fell cited reports from New Zealand, where the drinking age was lowered from 20 to 18 in 1999 and where teenage crash injuries increased soon afterward."
There is strong evidence that can back up those who oppose lowering the drinking age, and many people support this standpoint. But it can still be broken up farther into two more separate standpoints. Those who are under the age of 21 and oppose lowering the drinking age, and those who are over the age of 21 who oppose lowering the drinking age.

Those who are under the age of 21 and want to lower the drinking age may already have a sense of adulthood, and they believe (and probably are) old enough to make their own choices. They most likely choose to drink underage and are responsible enough to understand the consequences, and what can happen to them.

However some of these choices can affect the lifestyles of other people. For one, those who underage drink and lose control can disturb other who are studying or sleeping during the night. They can be belligerent and can possibly destroy property and hurt other people. Also there have been lots of problems with underage drinking and driving. Many states have risen their legal drinking age because of underage drinking and driving related fatality rates.

All of these kids who are drinking under age have parents or adult figures in their lives that have talked to them about it. Parents believe they know what is best for their children and in most cases this is true.
This is the story of a 17 year old, who because of his parents learned to drink responsibly even though he was underage. “The summer immediately after I had graduated high school my friend threw a party. I was 17 at the time. To my complete surprise, both his parents were in attendance and the very first thing all of us had to do was surrender our car keys to his mother, who promptly locked them somewhere in the house. All of us drank alcohol that night, and yes, some of us, including myself got drunk.
No one got completely out of control, no one vomited, no fights were started. For myself it was a lesson in pacing myself over the course of the night. I’m lucky in that my parents had the foresight and wisdom to realize that despite all their best intentions, they couldn’t absolutely stop me from drinking when I went away to college.
Being given that advice, my father sat me down one day with a 6 pack of beer and taught me to drink, to savor my drink, to enjoy it and to not chug it, binge-style. Sharing that six pack helped me to realize my limits later, when my parents weren’t around. All of this while I was under the age of 21."

But there are exceptions, and parents don’t always know what is best. They can end up being too controlling and putting their children in a position that is very difficult for them to deal with in that time of life. My parents wouldn’t let me go out to parties for the first few years of high school because they were worried about me drinking, and the dangers of other people around me who are underage drinking. This prevented me from going to many social events, and having fun with my friends. But it also let me become a more responsible drinker by having been given a fair amount of advice, and I always took into consideration why parents didn’t want me to drink underage in the first place. I have never been arrested for any offense, never started a fight while under the influence, never driven while under the influence, and i have never missed school because due to alcohol.

Possibly the most influential area that bans alcohol is the schools. Whether they are high schools or colleges. The schools ban alcohol first off because it is illegal to drink underage, but those colleges that are dry campuses also ban alcohol because they want to have a safer environment for the students. They are very strict on whether students can be in possession of alcoholic beverages, especially in dorms, and on campus. This control of availability might infringe on the lifestyles of students who attend the schools. Those who are of age might want to go to bar, and if it was located on campus they wouldn’t have to drive to bar of campus and possibly drink and drive. But because of a dry campus policy due to prevent underage drinking, they have to go off campus.

Drinking and driving is illegal, and there are strict laws that enforce this. Most drivers support these laws because they provide for safer roads, and they feel like they have more control with the laws in place. The laws aren’t specific to underage drinkers, but they do include them. There were a fair amount of students in my high school that had DUIs because they didn’t have a designated driver when coming back from parties. The penalties are especially harsh if you are caught drinking underage and driving, and it can prevent you from getting into to jobs or colleges in the future. But people may have to go out of their way to do certain things because of the extensive no drinking and driving laws, and this could cause some people to complain a fair amount.