Every year teenagers get caught at parties where alcohol is present. This often results in probation for the teenager or some other form of punishment. In worst case scenarios the teenager will try to drive home while intoxicated resulting in an accident or even death. Underage drinking remains a problem in America because people of the legal drinking age often buy alcohol for their younger teenage friends. In the article Drinking Laws, by Lianne H. the author argues that the drinking age should be raised from twenty-one to twenty-three. Due to a lack of effective support we disagree with her argument to change the legal drinking age. However, we do agree that something needs to be done about underage drinking and drunk driving.

Lianne H., from Palatine, IL, wrote an article called Drinking Laws where she explained her views on the drinking age. She believes that the drinking age should be increased from twenty-one to twenty-three because of the growth of the brain, car accidents, and because of alcohol messing up people’s lives. When Lianne H. discusses the growth of the brain, she explains that the brain does not stop growing until the age of twenty-three, which is two years after the drinking age. She supports this by saying that by the age of twenty-three, a person is finishing up college and ready to start their lives instead of partying. She then goes on to discuss drunk drivers and how they usually leave an accident unharmed because alcohol makes them more relaxed. Lianne H. explains that the accidents by drunk drivers usually causes endless trauma. From there, Lianne H. goes on to share her personal experience about her sister and how alcohol messed up her life. It changed her personality and Lianne H. claims she will never be the same again.

Lianne H. states that the brain does not stop growing until the mid twenties. Yet, she does not support this statement with statistics. She fails to explain both where she got her information and what happens to the brain when alcohol is abused before the brain stops growing. Instead she goes on to another point that college graduates are more mature than college students, which does not have much to do with the effect of a drinker’s brain. The truth is, though, at the age of twenty-three, a lot people are either still in college or they are getting ready to move on to another type of schooling. Lianne H. then says that if we were to increase the age limit, it could, “save thousands of lives” but she fails to include any statistics over that statement. Lianne H. leads that argument into the next paragraph over drunk drivers. In there, she never used any numbers of how many people get hurt a year from drunk drivers or how many drunk drivers walk away unharmed. When she talks about the drunk drivers who make it home safely, she comes off as if she wished that they would have gotten in a wreck to teach them a lesson. It does not help her argument because she is not staying true to what she is wanting to be done, which is saving lives. Lianne H. also talks about her sister and how she is involved with drugs and alcohol, but it does not connect to her point about changing the age limit because she never states her sister’s age or anything irrelevant to the drunk drivers. Then, with Lianne H. talking about her sister, she says, “I can see where she made her biggest mistake” yet she never explains what her sister’s biggest mistake was.

We do agree that there should be something done about underage drinking and drunk driving, but because of her weak argument, we believe that the age limit should not be changed from twenty-one to twenty-three. Just changing the age limit will not change much because no matter what age a person is, when they are drunk, their mind is impaired and they are more than likely going to make the wrong decisions. An alternative could be for parents to keep a better eye on their children or for people to just be smarter about their decisions. Yet to stop teens from drinking is hard to do and it will never be officially stopped because of teen rebellion or many other excuses. Drunk driving and underage drinking will always be a problem in the United States because of the wrong decisions that people make every day.

Works Cited

H., By Lianne. "Drinking Laws | Teen Essay on Drugs | Teen Ink." Teen Ink | A Teen Literary Magazine and Website. Web. 03 Jan. 2011. <http://www.teenink.com/opinion/drugs_alcohol_smoking/article/9868/Drinking-Laws/>.