Persuasive essay- Maintaining the Drinking Age
In Italy, France, and Spain it's 16. In New Zealand it's 18. In the United States it's 21, and in places such as China and Portugal there isn't one at all. But what is this I'm talking about? It's the legal drinking ages of countries around the world.
Many people argue that the drinking age should be lowered to 18, just look at our surrounding countries with lower drinking ages. Some argue that the United States has the most careless drinkers with little self-control when it comes to alcohol usage, and some may even say that this is because we were not exposed to alcohol as children like the Germans or French are. Yet, how can you disregard the fact that we have "careless drinkers" and still want the drinking age to lower to 18? I believe the drinking age should remain at 21 for the benefit of our society.
One argument brought up for lowering the drinking age is that we mature based on experience rather than time, and that there may be little difference between ages 18 and 21, so why not just lower the age to 18. Although that is a good point, take this into consideration. Are freshman in college really as experienced and mature as students ready to graduate? Maybe some are, but "some" means there are exceptions. Do you really want those "exceptions" to be exposed to drinking if they are not ready for it? Because those same "exceptions" will be the ones causing accidents that could have been avoided. If we allow these people to drink, we are not allowing them to mature at their rate. Instead of taking chances, why don't we make sure we give everyone in this age group a chance to "grow up" and reach their full potential???
Let's look at this another way. In 1987, the United States raised the drinking age from 18 to 21. Since then, the rate of teenage accidents related to drinking has lowered dramatically. The reality is that well over 300,000 people have died in the United State as a result of drunk driving in just the last 20 years.
Although people argue that
Many people argue that the drinking age should be lowered to 18, just look at our surrounding countries with lower drinking ages. Some argue that the United States has the most careless drinkers with little self-control when it comes to alcohol usage, and some may even say that this is because we were not exposed to alcohol as children like the Germans or French are. Yet, how can you disregard the fact that we have "careless drinkers" and still want the drinking age to lower to 18? I believe the drinking age should remain at 21 for the benefit of our society.
One argument brought up for lowering the drinking age is that we mature based on experience rather than time, and that there may be little difference between ages 18 and 21, so why not just lower the age to 18. Although that is a good point, take this into consideration. Are freshman in college really as experienced and mature as students ready to graduate? Maybe some are, but "some" means there are exceptions. Do you really want those "exceptions" to be exposed to drinking if they are not ready for it? Because those same "exceptions" will be the ones causing accidents that could have been avoided. If we allow these people to drink, we are not allowing them to mature at their rate. Instead of taking chances, why don't we make sure we give everyone in this age group a chance to "grow up" and reach their full potential???
Let's look at this another way. In 1987, the United States raised the drinking age from 18 to 21. Since then, the rate of teenage accidents related to drinking has lowered dramatically. The reality is that well over 300,000 people have died in the United State as a result of drunk driving in just the last 20 years.
Although people argue that