Drinking Age Should Be Lowered | Teen Ink

Drinking Age Should Be Lowered

May 18, 2008
By Anonymous

People use alcohol for numerous reasons; peer pressure, celebration, anxiety, sadness, boredom, rebellion and insomnia are just a few. Teens fall under the category of “people”. The legal drinking age is currently twenty-one, but illegally drinking age is as low as zero. Why? Is the main question asked. I can assure you the under age drinking age percentage would drop if the age is lowered.

Few reasons for teens drinking are: peer pressure, enjoyment, etc. But the main reason for doing so is “breaking the law.” 87% of high school seniors have used alcohol. That means that a large quantity of teens under the age of seventeen to eighteen have used alcohol before. We all know why teens drink, I mean is common since. Just the feel that they get of breaking the law is huge. Being rebel and not following the rules is an important role of a teen’s life. Consequences are the one that change them, but we don’t want them to experience the consequences of being under the influence of alcohol because we know them and they are fatal. Dying in a car accident and killing others is a mess that we don’t want to clean.

Despite the fact that is illegal for young teens to purchase it, they are able to get it through their parent’s own liquor cabinets, unscrupulous store clerks, or older friends who purchase it for them. As we all see, is not hard for teens to obtain alcohol. Why not lower the drinking age then? I mean any way you put it, they are getting it.

We have all heard of the famous saying “we want you to join the military and protect your country.” Blah blah blah. Well, you are telling me that I can legally kill someone at the age of eighteen, while I sign up with the military and go to war but I can’t have a sip of alcohol. Due to this none senseless situation, age should be equaled. In other words, if voting and military sign up is eighteen, then drinking should also be eighteen. Besides at the age of eighteen you are legally an adult. Why can’t we drink then?

Drinking age in Australia is eighteen, and in UK is as low as sixteen in restaurants. Studies have showed that those teens/adults are perfectly fine. In fact, Dr. Ruth Engs; professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington, uses this examples to propose the following: “……the drinking age be lowered to about 18 or 19 and permit those of legal age to consume in socially controlled environment such as restaurants and official school and university functions” (direct quote from Dr. Engs).

Drinking age should be lowered, and I know that by lowering it we can drop the percentage of reckless teen alcohol abusers. It is worth trying it , and if everything goes the opposite then change the law once more (which is done lots of times, for dumb reasons) and raise the drinking age back to twenty-one. Changes are always good (most of the times), and I know this one in particular is an excellent one.


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This article has 740 comments.


on Aug. 30 2017 at 5:48 pm
WriteFreak BRONZE, London, Other
3 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Everybody lies." - Hugh Laurie, House MD.

It is an interesting article. I do think most teens drink purely for the so-called "thrill" of breaking the law and all that. But if you lower it to 18, 16 yr olds will start drinking. As long as a teen is under the drinking age, however low it may be, it is a thrill.

on Dec. 8 2016 at 4:34 pm
Whimsical_Unicorn BRONZE, Melbourne, Florida
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment
That's what I think too

on Dec. 8 2016 at 1:30 pm
official.crizz BRONZE, Sacramento, California
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments
your right people drink but sometimes i think is not preasure is just when they have a big celebration or party. they shouldnt drop age for achol because younger people could get drunk and drive you never know what happens next.

on Dec. 8 2016 at 1:26 pm
Giovanni_Zamora2020 BRONZE, Sacramento, California
3 articles 0 photos 6 comments
I see both sides too, but I think that we should keep the drinking age where it is just to be safe

kylina said...
on Dec. 7 2016 at 2:52 pm
I am not sure you realize that the age was changed due to negligence of people 16-20 who consumed alcohol. A third of the national traffic accidents were caused by that age group. It may be inconvenient for you to not have access to alcohol at a young age but that might just be saving your life, or mine for that matter.
The comment about being able to join the military at 18 and not being able to drink alcohol has been repeated over and over. Killing and alcohol are already issues that alone are tragic. Why add to it by mixing them, whether it's in your argument, or in real life. The fact that you are so interested in the issue makes me wonder why it means so much to you? Alcohol is not that important in the world and if it is in yours then you should take a step back and find out why.

on Nov. 29 2016 at 2:47 pm
ALANSOTO13 BRONZE, Sacramento, California
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
sometimes the hardest thing and the easiest thing are the same

its good its great keep it up

on Apr. 27 2016 at 7:51 am
gquackenboss BRONZE, North Hanover, New Jersey
1 article 0 photos 3 comments
I agree completely with your point. So many teens already have ways to acquire alcohol, and lowering the age would make it so that all of these teens aren't labeled as "criminals". Very well written and great point!

Joker said...
on Apr. 1 2016 at 9:30 am
This article is completely true. I agree with the argument that if I can join the army, why cant I drink? Anyways, teenagers will find a way to drink under age.

on Feb. 11 2016 at 10:55 am
I think that if your a legal adult at age 18 and can join the military and vote for office, you should have the right to drink

mplo said...
on Jan. 20 2016 at 10:03 am
Better still...maybe the age for joining the military and/or being drafted should've been raised to 21 or so. During WWII, the average age that men were drafted for military service was around 26. When it came to our Korean, Viet Nam and Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, the age is 18, when kids are right on the threshold of adulthood! There is a certain amount of irony in this, but that doesn't mean that alcohol should be made more accessible to teenagers! As several posters here on this thread have succinctly pointed out, alcohol simply adds more negativity to already shaky situations, if one gets the drift.

mplo said...
on Jan. 20 2016 at 9:41 am
@ meemee13. I totally agree with the opinion that lowering the drinking age to 18 will definitely increase the chances of younger, less mature teens (and even pre-teens, too!) getting access to alcohol, which is also quite dangerous.

mplo said...
on Jan. 20 2016 at 9:32 am
Very, very good point, OptimusPrime123! Thanks for a succinct, articulate reason for not lowering the drinking age. I often wonder why the driving age (for getting a license wasn't raised to 18! Maybe it should've been!

mplo said...
on Nov. 21 2015 at 10:13 am
You're welcome, ScarletCity.

on Nov. 20 2015 at 11:07 pm
ScarletCity PLATINUM, High Ridge, Missouri
40 articles 4 photos 68 comments

Favorite Quote:
Anything that can be done, can be undone. ~Scarlet City
http://eepurl.com/dcyZMn

THANK YOU! This is the obvious effect if we lower the drinking age.

mplo said...
on Sep. 30 2015 at 4:03 pm
Here's the point, though, baby locks: A teenager's body and brain is not completely developed, and is therefore still much more vulnerable to more serious and permanent damage as a result of excessive imbibement of alcohol. Also, by lowering the drinking age to 18, alcohol is made even more easily accessible to teenagers, which is not a good thing. That was proved, when the drinking age here in the Bay State, and the results were disastrous; there was much more drinking among high school kids.

mplo said...
on Aug. 19 2015 at 2:27 pm
They did try lowering the drinking age to 18 at one point, here in the Bay State, but it was found that drinking among high school kids increased, due to much easier access to alcohol.

mplo said...
on Aug. 19 2015 at 2:25 pm
Good point, #commonscence! Thanks.

on Jun. 2 2015 at 5:13 pm
AshleySD BRONZE, Campbell, California
1 article 1 photo 90 comments
I think you have a good idea, but the human brain doesn't fully develop until around 25 years old, and alcohol could damage that.

on Jun. 2 2015 at 5:10 pm
AshleySD BRONZE, Campbell, California
1 article 1 photo 90 comments
But they're not already grown. Their brains are still developing.

on Jun. 2 2015 at 5:09 pm
AshleySD BRONZE, Campbell, California
1 article 1 photo 90 comments
Why not? What's wrong with it?