Drinking Age Essay

The bever era era was moved from 18 to 21 for a reason. The higher drinking age of 21 has save numerous lives, helped reduce the substance of small drinking, and therefore should not be moveed. Many studies from a large variety of sources have proven higher drinking ages have a positive effect on society. Alcohol is harmful to the development of younger people. interrogation has shown that an adult is little likely to binge drink (have five or more than drinks in a row). According to statistics from the depicted object Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, teens become excite twice as fast as adults. Because the teens get drunk faster they ar little likely to know when to stop and to go knightly their limit, causing harm to themselves and others. The piece brain continues to develop after adolescence and into our 20s. According to a flying field on the neurocognitive effects of alcoholic drink on adolescents and college students, drinking is harmful to the brai n. Since the brains of all people under 21 are still developing, and most are in college, alcohol can prove very prejudicial to the development of their brain and can harm their studies, and thus their futures. Underage drinking also largely contributes to many social problems include those such as impaired driving, fighting, sexual activity, and smoking (Pediatrics 2006 11976-85). People have proposed that a 40 hour educational course should entitle people under 21 to drink.Research shows that educating callowness drivers does not prevent youth crashes, however restrictions such as a limitation on the amount of passengers a youth driver can have, and curfews do help restrict the amount of youth crashes. The corresponding philosophy applies to drinking. Educating young people about drinking responsibly, and the damage that drinking can do allow for not prevent alcohol related incidents, or underage binge drinking, but restrictions like the afoot(predicate) laws will help preven t these ( subject field Institutes of wellness , Fact yellow journalism Underage intoxication). Alcohol has a direct effect on the amount of car crashes and crime levels around the world. Studies show that since the legal age was change from 18 to 21 the number of vehicle related accidents hasdropped 16 percent (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Other studies have shown that since the legal drinking age was raised over 25,000 live were saved (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs).Many European countries have lower drinking ages, and many people say that their system is better. Since alcohol is more readily available in these nations there are more underage drinkers than other countries where alcohol is more limited. Studies have also shown that alcohol cause more problems in Europe than America (DiClemente, Ralph J.Pediatrics 107). These issues include underage drunkenness, injury, rape, and school problems. The invention that a person becomes a full adult at age 21 dates back centuries in English common law 21 was the age at which a person could, among other things, choose and become a knight. Since a person was an official adult at age 21, it seemed to make horse sense that they could drink then, too (Ethan Trex http//www.mentalfloss.com /article/19437/why-drinking-age-21). Certain European nations and states allow drinking with a parents consent or drinking in the privacy of the home. Many people claim that this helps reduce underage binge drinking by introducing youths to alcohol at an earlier age in a controlled environment.Research has shown that this is not true (Fell, James Debating Reform), because the youths feel they have their parents permission to drink they are more likely to believe it is okay for them to drink in situations outside the home, which can lead to intoxicated driving, and other harmful acts. Some argument for lowering the drinking age claim that alcohol is more enticing to youths when they cant have it, and if the legal age was lowered there would be less underage drinking problems. Studies and history have proven this wrong (Fell, James Debating Reform). Before the drinking age was raised in the U.S. there was a larger underage drinking problem, and over twice as many fatal alcohol related accidents as today.SourcesEuropean School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs. DiClemente, Ralph J. et al Parental Monitoring Association WithAdolescents Risk Behaviors Pediatrics 107 6 June 2001, 1363-1368 Fell, James. From Chapter 2 Federalism Resolved, the Federal Government should restore each States freedom to set its drinking age. in Ellis, Richard and Nelson, Michael (eds.) Debating Reform. CQPress Publishers, Fall 2009. Fell, J. Minimum Legal imbibing Age Policy Knowledge Asset, website created by the Robert Wood Johnson behinds Substance Abuse Policy Research Program March 2009. Fell, James C. National main road Traffic Safety Administration, Oct. 2008 An Examination of the Criticisms of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 Laws in the linked States from a Traffic-Safety Perspective National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis Lives saved in 2007 by Restraint Use and Minimum Drinking Age Laws DOT HS 811 049 A draft Statistical Summary November 2008. National Institutes of Health, Fact Sheet Underage Drinking National Institutes of Health, Fact Sheet Alcohol-related Traffic Deaths National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Statistics on Underage Drinking National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Research Findings on Underage Drinking and the Minimum Legal Drinking Age National Institutes of Health, Alcohol Policy Information System The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act Shults, Ruth A., Elder, Randy W., Sleet, David A., Nichols, James L., Alao, Mary O. Carande-Kulis, Vilma G., Zaza, Stephanie, Sosin, Daniel M., Thomp son, Robert S., and the Task hurl on Community Preventive Services. Reviews of Evidence Regarding Interventions to Reduce Alcohol-Impaired Driving. Am J Prev Med 200121(4S). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Surgeon Generals Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 2007. Zeigler DW, Wang CC, Yoast RA, Dickinson BD, Mccaffree MA, Robinowitz CB, et al. The Neurocognitive make of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students. Prev Med 2005 Jan40(1)23-32. http//www.indiana.edu/engs/articles/cqoped.html