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- Essay Name : 890.txt
- Uploader : Dave Rarick
- Email Address : drarick@gisco.net
- Language : english
- Subject : Drugs
- Title : Lowering the drinking age.
- Grade : A-
- School System : Community college
- Country : USA
- Author Comments : About two pages double spaced with one documented source. Includes work cited.
- Teacher Comments :
- Date : 11/11
- Site found at : excite.com
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- English 101
-
- 10/28/96
-
- LOWERING THE DRINKING AGE
-
- It is legal for eighteen year-olds to die for their country,
- it is legal for eighteen year-olds to marry, and it is legal for
- eighteen year-olds to vote. Why then isn't it legal for eighteen
- year-olds to drink? I don't think that is right, and I believe
- that the drinking age in the United States should be lowered from
- twenty one years of age, to eighteen.
- For the most part, the drinking age does not deter young
- people from drinking. Studies have shown that lowering the legal
- age slightly increases the frequency that people drink, but not
- the number of people who drink; people who do not drink before
- the legal age is lowered do not drink afterward. (Wechsler 142)
- What it does do, however, is push young people to find places to
- drink where they won't be caught. Often this means drinking out
- in the woods at a hunting camp, or drinking around a bonfire in
- the middle of a field. I think it would make more sence for them
- to be able to drink supervised, in a bar or club, where there is
- less danger for injury.
- Another reason I think that the drinking age should be
- lowered is because it pushes young people to find alternatives to
- drinking. Often these alternatives are recreational drugs and
- narcotics. Many of these drugs are more addictive than alcohol,
- and most of these drugs are more dangerous. I think most adults
- would rather have their young people drink a glass of beer than
- shoot up.
- Many people think that the drinking age should stay at
- twenty one. These people believe that people under the age of
- twenty one are not mature enough to handle the responsibility
- that comes with drinking. The answer to that is that there are
- many examples of immature adults in all age groups. I agree that
- there are some eighteen and nineteen year-olds that are barely
- mature enough to cross the street by themselves, but if you look
- in almost any newspaper you will probably find articles about
- forty year-olds who can't be trusted to do even that. The fact
- is, most nineteen and twenty year-olds are either risking their
- lives for their country in the armed forces, working to support
- themselves or a family, or are under the pressure of earning a
- higher education. These people certainly demonstrate enough
- responsibility for them to have a glass of beer.
- Should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen? I think so.
- Lowering the drinking age will create a safe environment for
- young people to drink, and will eliminate the need for
- alternatives. Besides, most eighteen year-olds are as mature as
- most twenty one-year olds, and should be treated so.
-
-
-
-
- Works Cited
-
- Wechsler, Henry. Minimum-Drinking-Age Laws.
- Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1980.
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