Should the Drinking Age be Lowered?

We have already attempted this before and it failed. The effects of alcohol are nothing that will help a maturing person in life. Further problems with minors would arise should the drinking age be lowered. If we want to keep our kids safe, with a bright future, we should not lower the alcohol drinking age.

Back during the Vietnam War era, we tried out lowering the drinking age. During that time, there was an increased amount of traffic fatalities, a number of them being alcohol-related. Ultimately, saving lives is the main purpose for lowering the drinking age, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes that raising the age to 21 saves these young drivers. In 1975, around 19,121 lives were saved. Studies show that between the years 1981 and 1992, there was a significant decrease in traffic crashes and fatalities. This period of time consisted of an increase in drinking age. So, what is the sense in lowering the drinking age, when it did not work the first time? -Buddy T. p.1

Lowering the drinking age comes with a lot more negativity in America. With a lowered age, kids increase the chance of developing alcoholism at a young age. Along with this, kids will damage their brains a greater deal than kids who do not drink. This includes damaging their abilities to think, reason, and learn, which can lead to poor decision making in life. According to “Alcohol: The Facts,” the more drinks that a student has a week, the lower their grade point average tend to be. Therefore, negative effects of drinking alcohol can really mess up our future adults. -Alcohol: The Facts p.1

Furthermore, there are more problems with drinking and minors. A goal in having the drinking age at 21 is that it would allow 16-20 year olds to learn to be responsible and drive sober. Lowering the drinking age, however, would defeat this purpose and give these kids less responsibility. If the drinking age were lower, that would mean an 18 year old in high school would be able to purchase alcohol. Then, that 18 year old could distribute the alcohol to younger students. This is where the gap in the laws lies. When this happens, neither party is breaking the law, so everything would “technically” be fine. Consequently, by letting one law be more lenient, we are slowly allowing more laws to be bypassed right under our eyes. -Richard

In conclusion, the drinking age for alcohol should absolutely not be lowered. It hasn't worked before, and it will not work again. The future adults in America would be destroyed in an age where drinking is more legal. Flaws in the system of minors would also occur. As a result, lowering the age for alcohol would be one of the biggest mistakes that America would make.