drinking age: 21 or 18
TRANSCRIPT
Drinking Age: 21 or 18
Michael Rott
The LawNational Minimum Drinking Age Act
1984
Withheld federal highway funds unless state made the age to purchase alcohol 21
Old Enough to Fight At 18, a man must
register for the Selective Service
Old enough to die for your country
Not old enough to buy a beer
http://blog.honeycreekcamapts.com/files/2011/06/american-flag.jpeg
Old Enough to be independent
Responsible enough to choose next president
Old enough to emancipate self from parents
Old enough to accept risk to smoke
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-amber/to-vote-or-not-to-vote-wh_b_1931281.html
http://jimjosephexp.blogspot.com/2011/03/white-label-packaging-for-cigarettes.html
Legally an adult At 18, if charged with a
crime you are tried as an adult
If arrested, you no longer go to a juvenile detention facility, instead you go to jail
Responsible for your crimes
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scale_of_justice_2_new.jpeg
Changing the drinking age to 21 came with ill effects
Forbidden FruitIt is a thrill to break the law when drinking
alcohol
At 18, teens are searching for independence that other adults have
Alcohol seems to be a right of being an adult
Barrett Seamen “When I began researching binge
drinking on American college campuses…I was struck by the unanimity of the culture on these campuses that seems to revolve around heavy, dangerous, determinative drinking, where people set out to get drunk and the whole notion of pregaming and doing shots in the dorm room. The sort of clandestine behavior I just didn’t remember from my days in college, which were definitely a long time ago. But back in the ’60s, when the drinking age in New York, where I went to school, was 18, we didn’t feel a need to do that stuff because it was legal.”
http://my.hamilton.edu/excelsior/excelsior-the-campaign-for-hamilton/a-salute-to-a-generation-of-hamiltonians
Daniloff, Caleb. "Drinking: 18 vs. 21." BU Today RSS. Boston University, 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 July 2013.
Former editor and correspondent for Time MagazineResearched drinking in relation to college campuses
Learning ResponsibilityAt 18, teens often live with their parents
If they could drink at this age, they could learn how to drink responsibly from the people who should be teaching them, their parents
If the drinking age were 18, teens would be able to drink in the presence of responsible adults who could monitor how much they drink
Drinking with parents will help diminish the “excitement” of drinking
Teens will often “pregame” an event
This means that they will try to drink enough to stay at least buzzed when they go to an event
This most often requires them to binge drink right before leaving to go to the venue
http://www.dimensionsinfo.com/baseball-field-dimensions/
•If 18 year olds were able to order a drink they would not have to pregame•They would be able to drink either less or the same amount, but spread over a few hours
Alcohol can be Good and Bad
Good
In moderation, perfectly cheerful
In moderation, no damage to youth development
In moderation, no one is harmed
Bad
In excess amounts can devastate families, jobs, and soceity
In excess, can damage youth development
Drinking excess and driving can take lives
Some claim that changing the drinking age to 21 has prevented so many driving
accidents
From 1982 to 1992 the incidence of drunk driving in the following countries dropped: UK 50% Germany 37% Australia 32% Netherlands 28% Canada 28% United States 26%
While the US has seen a drop in drunk driving, it cannot only be attributed to the change in the drinking age
The other countries, unlike the US, did not change their drinking ages
Sweedler, Barry M. “The worldwide decline in drinking and driving”. National Transportation Safety Board. Washington D.C., 1993. Web. 8 Jul. 2013.
Solutions One possible way that an 18
drinking age could be enacted is by requiring 18 year olds to go through alcohol education classes and obtain a “learner’s permit” to drink
“We should prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol in the same way we prepare them to operate a motor vehicle: by first educating and then licensing and permitting them to exercise the full privileges of adulthood so long as they demonstrate their ability to observe the law” – John McCardell
John McCardell, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee and founder of Choose Responsibly
http://wlunews.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/mccardell.jpg
McCardell, John M. “Let Them Drink at 18, With a Learner’s Permit.” Nytimes.com. New York Times, 28 May 2012. Web. 1 Jul. 2013
In Review18 year olds are old enough to Die for country,
smoke, live on their own, and be punished like adults
The change in the drinking age has brought about higher incidence of binge drinking
Teens should learn how to responsibly drink
Alcohol is inherently a good thing, but its abuse has many devastating side effects
Instead of pushing for a total ban, we should put policies into effect which would teach moderate drinking