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To Drink or Not To Drink…
By News Desk | August 20, 2008
The right of passage into adulthood is marked with many firsts. At 18 your voice may be heard as you vote for a leader. At 18 your body and mind may be sacrifice to the whims of war. You assume the responsibility to mark your maturity. And at 18 you are legally an adult, your own person officially. However, though you are recognized as an adult the choice to drink is still three years out of reach.
The U.S. drinking age has been an ongoing and seemingly endless debate as both sides heatedly spill out fact and statistic to prove their point. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and other related organizations implore the public to keep the drinking age at 21, claiming it helps reduce alcohol related deaths. While the organization Choose Responsibly along with many college presidents are speaking out against such a restrictive policy, saying that adolescents drink regardless and this law has failed at preventing it.
Sinse the early 1980s the legal age at which people can consume alcohol has been 21. This age limit was adopted to combat the increase in drunk driving accidents during this period. However, fatal and debilitating accidents are still all too common in our society despite these restrictions. This is not to say that allowing drinking at 18 would decrease these frighteningly high numbers.
Those for keeping the age limit as it is argue vehemently sighting both scientific fact and national statistics. The affects of alcohol upon the often unstable and developing brains of teens have been proven to have detrimental consequences and ultimately lead to alcoholism later in life. The teen’s brain goes through key developmental stages during the years up into their early to mid 20s. Alcohol disturbs the careful balance with in the brain, altering behavior, and also harming memory and learning. Also it is said that the current MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age) has helped prevent around 900 deaths on the road each year. During the time of the Vietnam War the MLDA was lowered to anywhere between 18 and 20 years of age and history witnessed a sharp increase in drunk driving. Also the lack of uniform drink age laws resulted in kids traveling to drink and then driving back impaired.
On the other side, those for lowering the age to 18 insist that despite the restrictions teen underage drinking is still a major problem, proof that it has failed in its objective. The taboo nature of drinking has shrouded alcohol in a rebellious glory insighting more teens to take a swig. Also by having it be such an anticipated event it can often lead to over indulgence as they turn 21. In fact the number of alcohol poisoning cases among resent 21 year olds is at an all time high.
Another point these supporters make is if one can die for ones country one should be able to drink. If the choice to sacrifice your life and take the lives of others is given to you on your 18th birthday why should you not have the choice to take a sip of sweet champagne or chug a mug of beer?
(Perhaps in this case we should raise the age to die to the age to drink, then there would be no discrepancy and the young would have a better understanding of their choice.)
This is a debate that has transcended the decades, still as hot and fresh as ever, perhaps even more so. An end is not insight as both push for the others defeat. Only time and the government’s official ruling will bring a resolution and put a stop to this argument. In the mean time 18 year olds will still go to war unable to drink, the underage will take their first sips, the road will still bare the wreckage of lives lost to alcohol, and 21 will still be the age to drink.
By: Landis Grenville
Topics: Discuss Amongst Yourselves |
August 21st, 2008 at 10:59 pm
“The affects of alcohol upon the often unstable and developing brains of teens have been proven to have detrimental consequences and ultimately lead to alcoholism later in life.”
No, this has not been proven. Studies to indicate the harmful effects of alcohol on the brain have been done on rats. These rats were given the alcohol dosage equivalent to about a case of beer per day, which is totally unrealistic. On the contrary, studies HAVE strongly suggested that teen brains are more resistant to the effects of alcohol.
Also, European children are exposed to alcohol at a very young age. I’ve seen no evidence to indicate dementia or other harm to the brain in Europeans.
Furthermore, certainly no studies have been done on the effect of moderate drinking on teen brains. Many studies, however, prove that moderate drinking has numerous health benefits and is associated with greater longevity.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
excellent!
good job showing both sides without a bias!
August 25th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
great article landis! you did a great job.