It Is Time to Lower the Drinking Age to 18

Anonymous

UNV 103

February 25, 2018

Jessie Kernagis

It Is Time to Lower the Drinking Age to 18

It Is Time to Lower the Drinking Age to 18

Binge drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths in underage Americans each year (Underage Drinking, 2016). Every 18-year-old is going to want what he or she cannot have. Binge drinking is due to the fact that a teenager is being told they cannot do something, so as a rebellion they are going to. There is an allure to alcohol to minors because it is illegal and therefore dangerous and exciting. The legal drinking age in America should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because it would effectively change the binge-drinking culture in college, it would reduce the number of DUIs and unplanned pregnancies, and it would create a positive stigma towards alcohol^[a].

Lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 would effectively alter the binge-drinking culture in college and America.  Binge drinking is defined as an excessive consumption of alcohol in a short period of time. More than 90% of alcohol consumed is considered to be binge drinking (Underage Drinking, 2016).  Italians can legally purchase and consume alcohol publicly by age 16. According to Andrew Whitaker, author of Speak the Culture: Italy, “Most Italian children taste their first alcoholic drink aged 11 or 12” (Lost in Italy, 2016). This gives children a responsibility towards alcoholic beverages versus American children who view it as a taboo^[b].

Lowering the legal drinking age will reduce the number of DUIs in minors.  In a study conducted in 2014, Italy ranked 111th for deaths due to alcoholic consumption whereas America ranked 34th (Lost in Italy, 2016).  Teen car accidents are the number one cause of death for teens in the United States and according to statistics about binge drinking and alcoholic consumption and driving, the correlation is very unsettling (Underage Drinking Statistics, 2008).  Underage kids have a sense of freedom with their license and their cars. Mixing the dangerous combination of drinking and driving is a matter of life and death with Americas youth^[c].

Lowering the legal drinking age will create a positive stigma towards alcohol rather than a negative one. You are told from a young age that drinking is irresponsible and it will only end in trouble if you consume it. To any teenager this just makes the concept of drinking more exciting and it makes you want to hide it from your parents.  In other countries such as Italy and France, alcohol is a part of life because for the most part it is consumed in moderation. The culture and opinion towards alcohol is much different in these countries because of this mindset.  By making alcohol less attractive, the attitude towards it will shift and hopefully the binge-drinking culture will start to diminish away. A big issue in the promotion of alcohol in the United States is advertising. Commercials, billboards, and magazines romanticize alcohol and promote it’s image as fun and carefree rather than the realistic image which is serious and dangerous. In a study with 5th and 6th graders done by Alcohol Research and Health, it was found that “59% of the children could correctly identify the brand of beer being promoted from…a television commercial” (Latest approaches to preventing alcohol abuse and alcoholism, 2000). This was due to the music choice, celebrity appearances, and colorful animations that captured the young audience. If a child’s favorite singer, actor or actress, or professional sports player is promoting alcohol, they are going to be drawn to it. It would be beneficial to both children and parents to monitor this type of advertising or to establish a communication platform where alcohol is known about, but it is not glamorized.