Argument – Drinking Age Of 21
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Drinking Age of 21
Every child in the world wants to grow up faster then time permits them. They want to have their opinions taken as an adults would be. They want to have the privileges adults do. They want the freedom adults have. Most of all, children want to make their own decisions even though ultimately, it is the same decision the adults would of made for them. However, adults believe children below a certain age are immature and uneducated and that they are unable to make their own decisions. At what age do children become mature and knowledgeable? At what age do children not become children anymore? At what age do they get to make their own decisions? Those questions are taken closely into consideration when debating the minimum legal drinking age. Many countries have different views on what the age should be. Around the world, the most used age is eighteen. The United States minimum drinking age should remain twenty-one years old. We are the United States of America. We are a totally different region than the rest of the world. We have different views, standards and morals than the vast majority of the world. We plan for the future, which means taking care of the future generations. We ensure the safety of our children by providing rules and regulations accordingly including the federal, minimum drinking age of twenty-one.
This last January there was a petition posted on thePetitionSite.com by Ryan Barnes to lower the minimum drinking age from 21 to 18. Barnes believed that by lowering the age it would reduce a lot of problems. He claimed, “This plan can save lives” (Lowering). We, the United States, at one time tried this age. Back in the late 1960s, several states lowered their drinking age from 21 to 18. Researchers then found an increase in highway deaths of teens. So, in the early 1980s many raised it back to 21. Researchers monitored fatalities a little more and found that teenage deaths in fatal car crashes dropped considerably – in some cases up to 28%. The National Highway Safety Administration estimates that “more than 21,000 lives have been saved” (MADD). It is hard to look at these numbers and try and argue against them. Numbers do not lie. Barnes petition was a failure to say the least. His goal was to collect 150,000 signatures. He fell well short of his goal by only acquiring 213.
The reasons for the choice of age in America, as seen, are recorded in history. However, there are some more recent legitimate reasons to consider. According to the book Buzzed – The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs From Alcohol to Ecstasy by Kuhn, we should look at the facts we have gathered about a young adults brain. He states that the brain does not fully finish developing until the person is around the age of twenty. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for judgment, planning ahead, and critical thinking. “Young brains are built to acquire new memories and are built to learn” (qtd. in MADD). If a person has a prefrontal cortex that has not matured as it is supposed to as an adolescent and young adult, it could possibly impede on many different areas of their life. They could become impulsive and have poor decision-making. Their judgment could be off, and they might not be able to learn as well as others. A human only has so much time for their brain to completely mature. Some organs in the body, such as the liver, can recover from damage and regenerate themselves. However, the brain is unable to do this, so all the damage that it accumulates could become permanent!
Along with being close to maturity, the age of twenty-one is also very close to the age of a legal adult. At the age of eighteen, United States citizens gain the privileges of voting on national policies, serving in and being drafted into the military, being punished as an adult by the government and many more. However, many still say eighteen year olds do not have the maturity, experience and knowledge as an adult despite making it to this milestone. None of the things above are fatal. Drinking an obsessive amount of alcohol will obscure the drinkers judgment and could cause harm to the body, other than brain damage. For example, drinking can affect your heart. It weakens the heart muscles and the hearts ability to pump blood. It can also increase your blood pressure which could result it a stroke or heart attack. Another example is it could affect your stomach and