I strongly believe that the drinking legal age should be lower to 18 years in the United States because it is just not the solution to all the problems as seen by the government and parents. The young adults of the present generation are smart and literate enough to be allowed to drink in the controlled environment or under supervision in the public places such as bars, pubs, restaurants, parties, special occasions and university gatherings. The young adults are sensible enough to understand how much amount of liquor they can handle in such situations. To overcome the overwhelming reaction of drinking among the new generation, they could be taught the perfect education and role model of how much liquor they can intake and what should be the maximum limit of the drink in one sitting.
(Will) The reason why it is not allowed for the youngsters to drink is different with different situations. At times, the young adults react reckless and immature; they make unbearable noise, cannot handle the amount of liquor, drive in the other states after drinking and break the laws of other states. All these problems are true to be happened but did not succeed in breaking up the ice between the adults and the young adults. The government could not succeed in stopping the youngsters from drinking because they started drinking underground while hiding from their guardians and laws. The prohibition acts applied in the past were: 1) the National Prohibition in 1920s; and 2) the State Prohibition in 1850s. Even though the almost all the states have banned drinking for youngsters under 21, but it never stopped the ratio of drinking among them. There is no specified national limit for prohibited drinking. Apart from that, by doing so, 10% of the federal highway fund of the states caused considerable pandemonium and chaos from the construction unions and contractors.
In most of the situations, drinking is prohibited to the students and young adults in many of the states in the United States, but it does not work out properly as planned by the governmental bodies. The legal age allowed for drinking is 21 years, but most of the youngsters coming under this age do drink recklessly and irresponsibly. This is because drinking has been made a “forbidden fruit” for them and they take it whenever it is possible for them and whenever they see a chance to grab it. The prohibited youngsters drink before their legal allowed age and regard it as “adulthood”, just to show that they are adults and can intake liquor just like their adults do regularly.
In the past, governments tried to prohibit drinking but did not succeed in stopping the children from drinking. Neither it was stopped in the past, nor would it be stopped now. The world has seen a dramatic fast modernization that was never seen in the history, so is the case with the young generation. The new generation at present is way too smart and sensible than the prior ones. They know what to do and how to react in what conditions and what should be done in what circumstances. If stopped, the trauma of drinking would increase instead of decreasing. It is recorded that an average student coming under the age of 21 years consumes at least 5 drinks in a normal week. Those less than 21 years are strong and heavy drinkers than those of over 21 years old students. The number of young drinkers has increased since the time it was banned for them and hospitalization of young drinkers (usually regarded as the “bringe drinkers”) has increased than it was 10 years before.
(Parker) Parents and governments are concerned about the problems such as; out of control driving, increase in car accidents, over-speeding, lack of interest in education, increase in drug, involving in fights, skipping classes because of hangovers, and others. These problems are not there because of the drinking problem. These problems are there because of the prohibition of drinking which is applied to the young college youth. When they are not allowed to drink liquor, they do it through the other way that is, either being off campus or being underground and doing it secretly away from the family. This leads to irresponsible behavior and leads them to disaster and put their health on stake. If they are allowed to drink at the age of 18 years, they would be doing it openly with precautions required to follow. There should be some rules that must be implemented with the permission to drink. These rules include especially designed driving programs, use of safe seat belts and air bags while driving, educating them after drinking, lowered speed limits, and there could be many more if the young generation is allowed to drink in the united states.
Despite the fact that this prohibition rule does not work on the youngsters. There should be flexibility from the federal government upon this matter and drinking should be made permissible to them. It should be noted that the drinking problem is not because of the fact of drinking liquor and getting affected by the alcohol. The main idea should be to allow youngsters to make their decision by themselves and study what they do in return. This thing should be kept in mind that every child learns from his surroundings, and the first surrounding he gets familiar is his own family and relatives. The young generation could learn to avoid irresponsible behavior after drinking from their adults and how to handle liquor and its effects responsibly and properly. This should be made clear to them that drinking is allowed to them, but reckless behavior would never be tolerated, neither misbehaving outside in terms of education nor neglecting the rules of government. A middle normal path should be practiced with harmony and decency, which would be welcomed by their adults.
Works Cited
Will ,George F.; 2007, Drinking Age Paradox, Washington Post, Page A27.
PARKER ,JENNIFER; 2007, Group Stirs Debate on Legal Drinking Age – National Safety Groups Have Formed a Coalition Against Lowering the Drinking Age, ABC News, Web.