Another major issue with drinking is the education that is available with it in the United States. As a child we may have some basic courses giving us limited information about it. For example, in the fifth grade I took a course called D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and it was about a week long course at my elementary school. I do not even remember what exactly we were taught during this week, but I know it consisted mainly of the theme that drugs and alcohol are very bad for you and you should not do them. Do not get me wrong this information is appropriate to learn at this age because of course the educators are not going to go in depth of the short term and long term effects, consequences, etc. My point is that this course is not efficient enough to be the sole component of alcohol education. I think a more realistic approach, along with lowering the drinking age to eighteen, would be to have teens take mandatory alcohol classes, pass a test, and then have some sort of a license to drink. (Somewhat similar to the process of obtaining a drivers license). I believe that these classes should be included in a basic high school curriculum so they are available to all teens. After the student has turned eighteen, and has taken the classes the student must pass a cumulative written test. They must receive a passing score in order to obtain their drinking license. If license holder breaks any drinking laws or any other significant laws in general, they shall lose their license for a certain period of time, or permanently.
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