Hello Bloggers!
If you have been an avid reader of my blog then you should know where I stand with the drinking age debate, but if you are a newcomer then this is a good first post to start with. This is my first analysis post, and I am going to re-cap on what I have been blogging about, further define/explain my topic, analyze each side of the debate, and much more! So hop on the blog bus with me and explore the issue of the drinking age.
In my very first blog post, I discussed why the debate about the drinking age was important to me. Additionally, some of my other classmates have been blogging about this issue as well, so if you want to see why it is important to them then just click 1 2 and 3. To sum it up, the drinking age is a major issue. One side of the debate is to lower the drinking age to eighteen and the other is to keep it at 21. I have chosen to argue the side that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, and I have given a few reasons in my previous posts.
When did this debate come about you ask? Well most states voluntarily set their minimum drinking age to twenty-one, then during the Vietnam War era, some states started lowering it to age eighteen. As a result of that, a lot of states started following this trend, until the fatalities involved with alcohol and driving began to increase. Consequently in 1984, Ronald Reagan made it a law to have twenty-one be the legal drinking age in all states. To read more about the history just click here! Although it is a fact that the fatalities involved with alcohol and driving have decreased, there is a newer issue that has become extremely prevalent and that has been causing deaths. This issue is called binge drinking and as I mentioned in my binge drinking blog post, it is a major problem with underage college students. Here is a website with some interesting statistics on college alcohol related problems. Therefore, one of the sub-arguments within this huge debate is keeping the drinking age at twenty-one will keep the number of fatalities involved with alcohol and driving down, but lowering the drinking age will decrease the number of deaths related to poor alcohol behavior such as binge drinking. Dr Ruth Engs agrees with me and follows the side that believes that lowering the drinking age will decrease the number of overall fatalities by reducing dangerous drinking habits. According to this CNN article it states that, “Of the 5,000 lives lost to alcohol each year by those under 21, more than 60 percent are lost OFF the roadways, according to the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. The principal problem of 2009 is not drunken driving. The principal problem of 2009 is clandestine binge drinking.” In addition, this sub-argument is further explained on this website!
One of the main reasons I am so intrigued by this argument is because of the whole double standard of age that this issue personifies. For example, in the United States, we are considered adults at age eighteen, but one adult right is not available for 18, 19, or even 20 year olds to take part in, and that is legally drinking. So wait, at eighteen we are adults, but we are not adult enough to drink? As a result of this question, the definition of adult becomes blurred at this point, so let’s consult this website to help clarify it. It says that an adult is “adjective 1. having attained full size and strength; grown up; mature: an adult person, animal, or plant. 2. of, pertaining to, or befitting adults. 3. intended for adults; not suitable for children: adult entertainment. –noun 4. a person who is fully grown or developed or of age. 5. a full-grown animal or plant. 6. a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law.” Well that was not much help either… the definition is still unclear.
Many people feel that an eighteen year old is not mature enough to be able to legally drink. Recently, one of my classmates brought up the point that age is irrelevant to maturity and being able to be responsible, and when it comes to drinking maturity and responsibility are key. Thus, my argument is if we are supposed to be adults at eighteen why can’t we legally drink at eighteen too? Some people are never going to be mature and responsible until the day they die, but the ones who are should not have to suffer too. Another reason why age is somewhat irrelevant to the issues with binge drinking and dangerous drinking habits is because of the culture of drinking in the United States. In other countries, drinking is not that big of an issue and in a majority of them the drinking age is 18 or lower. To get a complete list of different drinking ages around the world click here. In a recent article that I have read, an American boy talks about his experiences with drinking at Oxford University and how much more laid back their drinking culture is compared to the U.S. There are definitely not as many drinking issues in countries where drinking is more of a socially accepted concept because so many people have been doing it for so long.
Recently, we did an exercise in class which required me to look at the other side of this argument and try to understand why some people would want to keep the drinking age at twenty-one. Although I do feel passionate about my position on this issue, this exercise enabled me to understand and agree with the other side’s reasoning to an extent. For instance, there is the major argument of car fatalities, the effects drinking has on a young person’s body, higher chance of alcoholism, and the trickledown effect to even younger drinkers. However, the truth is that the whole debate has many pros and cons for each side, and unfortunately they are almost equal. Therefore, one of my solutions to this problem is to lower the drinking age to eighteen, but have a required education class for a lengthy period of time, followed by a test, and receiving some sort of license. Moreover, this solution will be explored further in an upcoming blog post!
For people who do not want the drinking age to be lowered, you are in luck because President Obama agrees with you. Specifically, nothing about the drinking age is going to change while he is President; he even said so to a twenty-three year old Army veteran, but others are trying their best to persuade everyone that the drinking age should be lowered. Namely, people such as Duke University’s president, other major Universities presidents, and states such as South Carolina are working hard to try and persuade people to change the law. They have even created and bolstered the Amethyst Initiative to help get their message well known. I hope the post has helped you followers understand more about the issue at hand; I know it has sure help me! Unfortunately, this is where the blog bus stops, but keep posting and reading bloggers. Catch ya later!
If you have been an avid reader of my blog then you should know where I stand with the drinking age debate, but if you are a newcomer then this is a good first post to start with. This is my first analysis post, and I am going to re-cap on what I have been blogging about, further define/explain my topic, analyze each side of the debate, and much more! So hop on the blog bus with me and explore the issue of the drinking age.
In my very first blog post, I discussed why the debate about the drinking age was important to me. Additionally, some of my other classmates have been blogging about this issue as well, so if you want to see why it is important to them then just click 1 2 and 3. To sum it up, the drinking age is a major issue. One side of the debate is to lower the drinking age to eighteen and the other is to keep it at 21. I have chosen to argue the side that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, and I have given a few reasons in my previous posts.
When did this debate come about you ask? Well most states voluntarily set their minimum drinking age to twenty-one, then during the Vietnam War era, some states started lowering it to age eighteen. As a result of that, a lot of states started following this trend, until the fatalities involved with alcohol and driving began to increase. Consequently in 1984, Ronald Reagan made it a law to have twenty-one be the legal drinking age in all states. To read more about the history just click here! Although it is a fact that the fatalities involved with alcohol and driving have decreased, there is a newer issue that has become extremely prevalent and that has been causing deaths. This issue is called binge drinking and as I mentioned in my binge drinking blog post, it is a major problem with underage college students. Here is a website with some interesting statistics on college alcohol related problems. Therefore, one of the sub-arguments within this huge debate is keeping the drinking age at twenty-one will keep the number of fatalities involved with alcohol and driving down, but lowering the drinking age will decrease the number of deaths related to poor alcohol behavior such as binge drinking. Dr Ruth Engs agrees with me and follows the side that believes that lowering the drinking age will decrease the number of overall fatalities by reducing dangerous drinking habits. According to this CNN article it states that, “Of the 5,000 lives lost to alcohol each year by those under 21, more than 60 percent are lost OFF the roadways, according to the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. The principal problem of 2009 is not drunken driving. The principal problem of 2009 is clandestine binge drinking.” In addition, this sub-argument is further explained on this website!
One of the main reasons I am so intrigued by this argument is because of the whole double standard of age that this issue personifies. For example, in the United States, we are considered adults at age eighteen, but one adult right is not available for 18, 19, or even 20 year olds to take part in, and that is legally drinking. So wait, at eighteen we are adults, but we are not adult enough to drink? As a result of this question, the definition of adult becomes blurred at this point, so let’s consult this website to help clarify it. It says that an adult is “adjective 1. having attained full size and strength; grown up; mature: an adult person, animal, or plant. 2. of, pertaining to, or befitting adults. 3. intended for adults; not suitable for children: adult entertainment. –noun 4. a person who is fully grown or developed or of age. 5. a full-grown animal or plant. 6. a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law.” Well that was not much help either… the definition is still unclear.
Many people feel that an eighteen year old is not mature enough to be able to legally drink. Recently, one of my classmates brought up the point that age is irrelevant to maturity and being able to be responsible, and when it comes to drinking maturity and responsibility are key. Thus, my argument is if we are supposed to be adults at eighteen why can’t we legally drink at eighteen too? Some people are never going to be mature and responsible until the day they die, but the ones who are should not have to suffer too. Another reason why age is somewhat irrelevant to the issues with binge drinking and dangerous drinking habits is because of the culture of drinking in the United States. In other countries, drinking is not that big of an issue and in a majority of them the drinking age is 18 or lower. To get a complete list of different drinking ages around the world click here. In a recent article that I have read, an American boy talks about his experiences with drinking at Oxford University and how much more laid back their drinking culture is compared to the U.S. There are definitely not as many drinking issues in countries where drinking is more of a socially accepted concept because so many people have been doing it for so long.
Recently, we did an exercise in class which required me to look at the other side of this argument and try to understand why some people would want to keep the drinking age at twenty-one. Although I do feel passionate about my position on this issue, this exercise enabled me to understand and agree with the other side’s reasoning to an extent. For instance, there is the major argument of car fatalities, the effects drinking has on a young person’s body, higher chance of alcoholism, and the trickledown effect to even younger drinkers. However, the truth is that the whole debate has many pros and cons for each side, and unfortunately they are almost equal. Therefore, one of my solutions to this problem is to lower the drinking age to eighteen, but have a required education class for a lengthy period of time, followed by a test, and receiving some sort of license. Moreover, this solution will be explored further in an upcoming blog post!
For people who do not want the drinking age to be lowered, you are in luck because President Obama agrees with you. Specifically, nothing about the drinking age is going to change while he is President; he even said so to a twenty-three year old Army veteran, but others are trying their best to persuade everyone that the drinking age should be lowered. Namely, people such as Duke University’s president, other major Universities presidents, and states such as South Carolina are working hard to try and persuade people to change the law. They have even created and bolstered the Amethyst Initiative to help get their message well known. I hope the post has helped you followers understand more about the issue at hand; I know it has sure help me! Unfortunately, this is where the blog bus stops, but keep posting and reading bloggers. Catch ya later!
This post has certainly been useful in recapping the main contentions surrounding teenage drinking and the drinking age, as well as in restating your main stance on the issue.
ReplyDeleteYour solution of lowering the drinking age to eighteen with the provisos of an extended education program, a test, and the awarding of a drinking license is also refreshing. The drinking license also seems to be a good means to arbitrate the problem of necessarily pigeonholing drinking maturity against the legal definition of an adult in American society.
I am particularly interested in how you intend to develop this. One preliminary question that I have is how can a drinking license be satisfactorily awarded? Are you thinking about a course somewhat similar to getting a driver's license? Looking forward to see how you further develop your ideas stated in this analysis post!
Thanks for your comment nonlinearperspectives!
ReplyDeleteAs far as your question about how to satisfactorily obtain a drinking license goes you are right in the sense that it will be similar to obtaining a drivers license. One must take a certain amount of time to complete an education course, and then one must prepare to take a long test following the completion of this course. One must score high enough to pass the exam and receive one’s drinking license. Of course this course should be available to anyone who wishes to take it, but it does not have to be required if one has no desire to drink.