Legal Drinking Age

1. Legal Drinking Age

2. Intro • The issue of the legal drinking age has been a topic that many have been talking about since after Prohibition in the US. Many think that the age should be either lowered or raised. Those who wish for it to be lowered are mostly teens in high school, but there are many adults and even politicians who think this as well. The people who think it should be raised or stay the same are mostly adults and politicians, but even some teens think this as well. Both sides have their reasons, some good some bad, but are the reasons good enough to actually make a change?

3. Story • I chose the issue of legal drinking age for many reasons. One reason is because growing up a lot of my relatives drank at functions. So as a kid I was always around alcohol. It never bothered me, but what did bother me was the older kids always complaining about not being able to drink. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but for some reason them saying this stuck with me for a long time. I never could understand what was so special about alcohol that would make young people so excited. I honestly thought it was a waste of money and brain cells, and even when I got to high school I still thought this. I would hear a lot of my class mates talking about drinking at parties, and it was just so surprising to me that they would break the law over something so stupid and useless.

4. Story Continued • Some other events in my life that made me choose this issue was the numerous alcohol related accidents that would occur in my area. My neighbor died in an accident because the diver was drunk, while another neighbors family was killed because they were hit by a drunk driver. Those were just two incidents but there were many more.

5. Lower It! • Now I will show one side of this issue. Many people, mostly teens, think the legal drinking age should be lowered. While doing some research I found an interesting article about lowering the age requirement. A former head of Middlebury College and established historian John McCardell Jr supports the idea of lowering the age to 18. One of his main reasons for wanting to lower it is because there would be less teens trying to do it secretly, and he thinks this is good because less binge drinking would occur in colleges.

6. Cartoon

7. Cartoon Analysis • This cartoon is jokingly depicts how a bar would be like if the legal age was lowered. Although if the age would be lowered I don’t think it would be lowered very low. I find this cartoon funny but it proves a point. If the legal age was lowered teens would start to act like adults.

8. Analysis Continued • They would need to pay for the alcohol so they would get jobs, doing this they would miss out on fun things because they are so busy with school and work, all for what a couple of drinks on the weekend? They would be like a lot of adults, wasting money at bars and always working so they could do this.

9. Statistics

10. Statistics Continued • This graph shows the reported tenth graders who were caught binge drinking. As you can see the percentage changes each year since 1991, ether lowering or rising. Now if the legal age was dropped down to the age of a tenth grader, about 15 or 16, these numbers would go away because it is legal. But what about alcohol related car accidents?

11. Statistics Continued • At this age teens are getting their drivers licenses, so they are just learning to drive. If they were allowed to drink this could really increase the amount alcohol related accidents .

12. Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKCHUfv6ZU

13. Video Analysis • In this video we clearly see both sides on the issue. Most of the candidates think that the age should not be lowered. Only a few think it should be lowered and their reasons are convincing. What was interesting was that one candidate said the voting age should be lowered as well. Another interesting thing was that Obama, who ended up winning the election, had no say on the subject.

14. Conclusion • After doing some more research on the issue of the legal drinking age, my opinion is still the same. The article that was about the historian interested me because obviously not just teens think it should be lowered. The cartoon was funny but it did bring up a good point about how teens would act if they were given the right to drink. The statistics were interesting because it shows how many teens binge drink and brought up the idea of how those numbers would change if the legal age was lowered. And finally the video shows how politicians feel on the subject. I still think the age should stay the same, and I also think that those who can drink should do it more responsibly.

15. Bibliography • Cloud, John. "Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?" Time U.S.N.p., June-July 2008. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812397,00.html • "Century Council." Underage Drinking Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <http://www.centurycouncil.org/underage-drinking/statistics>. • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKCHUfv6ZU • Cartoon:http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&biw=1322&bih=650&tbm=isch&tbnid=_wBZKTgyZrf5rM:&imgrefurl=http://deaddays.deviantart.com/art/Lowering-Legal-Drinking-Age-3745535&docid=AYwO4ytkfjtbMM&imgurl=http://www.deviantart.com/download/3745535/Lowering_Legal_Drinking_Age.jpg&w=640&h=360&ei=MTG4UPK8JqTTiwKW-4CIDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=834&vpy=167&dur=7710&hovh=168&hovw=300&tx=113&ty=143&sig=108587159262995222720&page=2&tbnh=127&tbnw=227&start=27&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:31,s:0,i:181