In Favor of Lowering the Drinking Age to 18 :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Problem: A person should be able to drink legally at the age of eighteen. The law that states that it is legal for a person to drink at the age of twenty-one should be changed so that an eighteen-year-old would be allowed to drink alcohol legally. At 18, you are now an adult and you are expected to act that way. Legally you can vote, get married, buy a lottery ticket, serve in the military and be tried as an adult in the United States court system. These are very important responsibilities that are yours to take care of when you become an adult. â€Å"Good grief†¦let them [also] take the responsibility for the consumption of an adult beverage† (Conway 2000). Solutions: In order to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18, I would: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Find laws in other states and countries as examples. We should look to the European countries as an example to solve our problems in the United States. â€Å"The Europeans teach their children to respect [alcohol] from an early age† (Conway 2000). Theses countries do not have the minimum age of consumption at 21 and this has been proven to make a difference. There is less underage drinking because drinking is part of their culture and lifestyle. It starts in the household with their family and they are taught to drink smart and socially. Social drinking is acceptable; it is a time to have fun while still being in control. New Zealand changed their legal age to 18 in 1989. The slogan â€Å"You’re not just a teen when you’re 18† shows that the New Zealand government is taking the change very seriously and so should the men and women that are of the legal age. Maybe the United States should look around the world to try and solve our own problems. â€Å"Isn’t it ironic that the United States has the highest minimum drinking age and for some strange reason the largest problem with underage consumption† (Toomey & Rosenfeld, 1996)? This statement in itself should be one very good point when considering the change of the legal age to 18. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alcohol Consumption among minors:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some might look at this report and argue that at least the amount of alcohol consumption is decreasing among young people since the drinking age has been increased, but what most don’t know is that this has actually been occurring since about 1980. This was long before the states were required to raise the drinking age.