Drinking Age from 21 to 18, For or Against?

Question

I think they should just do it...Lower the drinking age. It may be a little shaky at first but come on people we all underage drank. If it doesn't work out in a few years they can always change it back!

Answer 1

I completely disagree. Sure I was drinking when I was underage, but I was also irresponsible, foolish, and I had a carefree attitude about my life. I was driving drunk at least once a week. Just face it you need those extra 3 years to mature. Besides the only one's that want to lower the drinking age are the underage. It will come fast believe me! And when it does life is sweet. Wait your turn like everybody else.

Ps. You are allowed to drink on the military base if you're underage I do believe. At least that's what my hubby tells me.

Answer 2

against...actually think it should be more like 25. so totally agree with Greg & Jades Mom. It only took one incident in high school for me to not want to drink until I understood its effects. a group of seniors at my high school had been drinking, out joy riding drunk, wrapped there pretty bmw around a light pole and killed 3 people. the onlyo way you could tell their car was a bmw was the emblem on the wheel. the parents brought the car to our school and left it there as a lesson. the driver had just turned 18 and was celebrating. so no, i don't think an 18 year old should be able to drink.

Answer 3

I was in the military and trust me you do not want the drinking age to be 18. 21 year olds cant handle so what makes you think an 18 year old can? Plus the reason you drink underage is because you are not supposed to.

The military drinks at any age. Hello most foreign countries don't have age limits. There is a reason they call them the drunken sailors.

Answer 4

Its ridiculous that the drinking age is 21. First of all it was 18 before 1984, why should it be any different now? Also, practically every other country in the world it is 18 and a lot more are lower if they even have one. Raising the age doesn't stop underaged kids from drinking, and allowing them to start earlier lets them learn the responsbilities that come with it faster, rather than building rebellious feelings within them. The biggest point is if your legal to do everything else, such as have a child, get married, go to war, etc. stuff that needs much more responsibility you should be able to have a drink. It still wouldn't be legal to drink and drive or be drunk in public, that is still completely wrong and should be illegal.

Answer 5

you might want to look up some statistics that correlate alcohol abuse and dependency with unemployment rates - or even just mention that a lot of unemployed people are alcohol abusers (this is a generalisation, but accurate in this case). then you might argue the point that at 18, most kids are looking to see which college or university to go to and what to do with the rest of their lives. this is an important stage of maturity and development that lays the foundation for their adult lives, professional success and financial independence. remind your audience that alcoholism is a hereditary disease. in other words, a fair number of these young adults who are making these important decisions are likely to be medical alcoholics. by allowing these potential alcoholics to legally buy and consume alcohol, you are facilitating the onset of their alcoholism before they've even had a chance to do anything for themselves. in other words - you sit with a bunch of uneducated, unemployed, alcoholics younger than twenty. in this time of global economic turmoil, we need to look to the professionals of tomorrow to get things back on track. lower the drinking age and we have no professionals tomorrow, only young drunks. * okay i might have gotten carried away a bit. i live in south africa and our legal age limit is 18. but we can also only drive at age 18. by the way, i think they may as well lower the legal limit, but thought i might help you out anyhow. hope my ideas give you some more ideas, good luck with your debate!*

Answer 6

OK sure lets let more people even younger than 18 have fake ID's to drink underage & kill the people of our country a little more with their reckless driving. Move to Louisiana it might be 18 there still. It sounds like you just want to be a drunk.

Answer 7

I am against it. The youth of today are maturing slower and slower. Letting them drink at 18 will not be pretty. Besides college and high are fun by seeking underage drinking parties.

Answer 8

That's an interesting question. As far as I see and having experienced it. The drinking age should be 18. Why restrict it to 21? A good percentage of teenagers have already been exposed to alcohol both in H.S. and College. Think about it, an average age of college graduates are from 21-23. I would say most have attempted to drink way before graduating. Ironically we are the only country to limit teenagers with this, but not as the young lady before me said," war, guns, voting, marriage!" HELLO! We are also the country with these limits that have a higher percentage of alcohol abuse. Go figure! :-\

Answer 9

There's really no difference in maturity levels between the two age groups. However, if you are able to legally drink at 18, please don't be stupid like the older folks've been by driving drunk. Stay out of a moving vehicle while intoxicated...and only drink around trusted friends or family, so you don't end up in a compromising situation with strangers who don't care for your well-being. (ie. pregnant, raped, robbed, alcohol poisoning, car wreck, DEAD, etc).

Answer 10

im against it. it use to be 18 where im at and it was horrible. 100s of young people died each and every year. now that its 21 yes there are still young people that have been killed but not nearly as many as when it was 18. so its already been tried and changed back to 21 and i think it should remain.