StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This research paper “Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years?” provides a research on whether to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 or not. Psychologically, humans would want to do what they have been prohibited from doing. The essay postulates that the drinking age should not be 18…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.3% of users find it useful
Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years"

Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years?In the recent past, there has been much debate on whether to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 or not. With adulthood comes the rights, responsibilities and privileges of being one, with the American law describing an adult as that person who is 18 years old or more. This person has the legal authority to enter into contracts, marry without the consent of parents, serve in the military and vote among others, except drinking alcohol. This essay postulates that the drinking age should not be 18.

Psychologically, humans would want to do what they have been prohibited from doing. The push would even be more for an adult, at 18, who would be allowed all other privileges of an adult apart from alcohol consumption. It would cause a feeling of being unjustly targeted resulting in resistance to the implied injustice in an attempt to regain control. Therefore, such persons would be driven more to drinking, referred to as reactance motivation by Hanson (2012). Since these persons are already adults, they should be allowed to drink to avoid such eventualities.

Such a viewpoint is useful to examine due to the fact that as long as the crimes associated with alcohol are limited to the actual age of consumption; very little positive effects to society are instigated. On the flip side, if the bulk of the crime that is a function of alcohol consumption can be linked to those crimes committed under its influence (which has been proven to be the case), then such crimes should be treated distinctly separately from those associated with merely imbibing alcohol while underage.

Moreover, due to the fact that research indicates that reducing the drinking age would have minimal behavioral change, it is not really a contributing factor to modifying the behavior of the target demographic. Such a change would only be achieved through proper training, giving responsibilities and holding one accountable for whatever actions. Therefore, with all these benefits attached to the raised drinking age, it would be beneficial to reduce the drinking age to 18.ReferenceHanson, D. J. (2012).

The legal drinking age: science vs. ideology. Potsdam, NY: State University of New York. Retrieved 26 November 2012 from http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1046348726.html

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words”, n.d.)
Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/social-science/1610109-persuasive-essay
(Should the Drinking Age Be 18 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 Words)
Should the Drinking Age Be 18 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 Words. https://studentshare.org/social-science/1610109-persuasive-essay.
“Should the Drinking Age Be 18 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/social-science/1610109-persuasive-essay.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years

Fear and Loathing on MySpace

Are these children age 8-13 years old safe on MySpace Or are websites like MySpace potentially dangerous for the pre-teen crowd?... First, the paper will try to determine if a 13-year-old girl can sign up on MySpace and create the profile of an 18-year-old girl.... He further stated that there is no practical way to do age checking on the Internet and there is nothing available in the near future....
6 Pages (1500 words) Annotated Bibliography

Why is 21 the drinking age and is it in fact the the real age limit

I think 21 is the drinking age because less people are dying in '' driving under Influence accidents'' than when the age was 18.... I also believe that the drinking age should be raised to 21, just as many believe the drinking age is just fine where it is.... This is the report that I collected from four types of data which are relevant to the study of the effects of the increase in the drinking age.... (Dobkin, 2007)I have interviewed several university and college students concerning this issue of whether 21 should be the legal drinking age or is it a real age when people should start drinking....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Drinking Habit among Youths

In Austria Italy like countries the legal age for drinking is 16 whereas in Argentina and Israel it is 18 years.... United States has the highest drinking age in the world where only those who have completed 21 years of age can drink legally.... The main objective of this research is to identify the drinking habits among youths of age 12 to 18 “Each year,… 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drowning (1–5)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Should the driving age be raised to 21

New Jersey, Britain and almost the entire European Union was sticking to 17 and 18 respectively.... Until 2008, news articles were debating over the increase of age to 18 all over the region.... The subject of an increase in the driving age is one such debatable topic.... These days, young adults are desperate to reach the legal age to be able to drive and explore the new… They are not really hesitant or afraid to try new things in life but parents definitely can lose patience when it comes to putting restrictions on them, especially when they are not ready to give that leverage to their child....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Defending the minimum drinking age

This law… This law has been opposed by a few people who believe that the age of drinking should be reduced to 18 years.... The minimum drinking age was set in the United States to 21 years in the year 1984 under the National Minimum drinking age Act.... The legal age of drinking which is 21 years of age has been indicated to be one of the best policies of the United States of America owing to its success and the subsequent reduction in the car crashes as well as the reduction of deaths and other negative effects due to excessive consumption of alcohol....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The State of Florida should raise the legal drivers age to 18

The driver was aged 16 years old at the time of the incidence made a grave mistake in his judgments: overloading the car with eight people, speeding, driving with near bald tires and overtaking another car full of fellow teen-agers (Driscoll 1).... Winter, which was 16-years-older that time, suffered multiple injuries and had to under go several surgeries due to brain damage.... Having been found guilty, of double homicide, she was jailed for 15 years....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Should there be a minimum age for driving

Therefore, the minimum age for driving should be 18 years because by that time, a teenage driver is quite developed biologically.... Therefore, it is surprising why… This writer believes that there should be a minimum age for driving and it should not be 15-17 years.... Therefore, it is surprising why teenagers from 15-17 years are even allowed to drive.... This writer believes that there should be a minimum age for driving and it should not be 15-17 years....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Legal Age of Drinking Should Be Eighteen

This essay outlines that although an individual has to be 18 years of age to earn the status of being an adult; drinking becomes legal only when the same person is 21 years old.... Although an individual has to be 18 years of age to earn the status of being an adult; drinking becomes legal only when the same person is 21 years old.... Although many believe the drinking age should not be lowered, eighteen is considered mature and educated enough to go to war, purchase cigarettes, and vote....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us