The Legal Drinking Age: Should the drinking age be changed for adults

Hey Guys! This week my blog will be slightly different because this week it is my editorial that I wrote for school. This topic is something that is very important for people of all ages but especially teens who will soon be adults. I hope that you enjoy and learn something from my editorial!:

 When we turn eighteen in the United States we are considered adults. We can join the army, vote, buy cigarettes and tobacco products, get a tattoo, and even end up dying for our country. Although we are considered to be adults we are still not old enough to buy or consume alcohol.

 If we are considered and treated as adults we should be able to decide whether or not we want to purchase or consume alcohol. It should be something that as adults we have the privilege to experience.

Raising the drinking age to 21 has not reduced drinking but instead has created unsafe drinking settings and spaces. Newsday informs us that many college students have begun to drink in dorms, or at parties where they can easily be drugged, rather than drinking at a bar where things are more monitored and safe. When drinking and an underage drinker gets sick or consumes too much, they are not very likely to seek help. “Why? Because underage drinking is illegal and calls for help risk self-incrimination.”(“Lower the legal drinking age”, 7). With this information, we can understand that adults will continue to drink, and lowering the age would make their lives much safer.

 If the drinking age was lower the consumption of alcohol would feel like less of a restriction for adults between the ages of 18 and 20. If it was easier for adults to access alcohol they would not feel the need to drink so excessively when they have the opportunity. According to The New York Times, the goal for many adults is to drink as much as they can at events like college parties before the cops come. (“Return the Drinking Age to 18, and Enforce It”, 3). If the age were lowered this would not be the case. Adults would drink whenever they would want and wouldn’t binge drink because they didn’t know when they would get the next opportunity to drink.

In the eyes of the law at the age of eighteen, we are adults. We are given the right to vote, marry, buy guns, purchase tobacco in some states, and join the military. We are given the right to make all these life-changing decisions so why aren’t we able to dictate what goes into our bodies. PrideSurveys provides us with a very interesting quote“I can serve my country, but I can’t be served a drink?”. Why is it that a young adult who is fighting for the freedom of their country, not able to consume alcohol. (“The Drinking Age Debate..”, 9) As adults, we should be able to enjoy the consumption of alcohol.

 Many people like to argue that at the age of 18 our brains have not matured yet. The human brain is not fully matured until we are in our late 20s and sometimes even our early 30s. But then why give adults the power to vote, the choice to marry, the right to purchase tobacco in some states, or even enlist in the army. If our brains have not yet fully matured and our behavior could be impulsive then why are we charged with crimes the same way as adults?

 If the age were to be lowered to 18, every 18 year old should be informed of the effects and dangers of alcohol. Sometime in a student four years of high school, there should be a lecture, assembly, or some type of presentation informing young adults about alcohol.

 As someone who is or will be an adult one day we should inform ourselves about alcohol no matter what the legal drinking age is. As adults, we should have the right to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages.