The American Drinking Age

In America, the drinking age has been set at twenty-one years of age. The legal drinking age has caused great debate throughout the country because many individuals between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one feel that they are being treated unfairly. A person is considered an adult at the age of eighteen. This means that they are old enough to enter into contracts, be drafted by the army, go to jail, smoke, and experience all of the same responsibilities as any other adult except one thing. They are not able to drink. It does seem a bit unfair that one would be old enough to die for his country but not drink a beer.

The age being set to twenty-one gives underage drinking an allure and almost creates a black market for underage drinking. The lowering of the drinking age would take away such allure. This would allow young adults to learn to drink in moderation and provide them with an opportunity to develop maturity in their drinking.

The other side of the story shows that the drinking age being twenty-one would decrease alcohol-related accidents and fatalities. The opportunity to develop would allow young adults to develop before being allowed to legally drink. Also, many feel that drinking at younger ages would cause soldiers to loose the sense of their mortality and become irrational.

The debate will rage on through the years. The choice is purely a choice of ethics and judgment. Deciding would be an individual choice, and perhaps one day, we will be able to figure out which choice about the drinking age would be the best.

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