In the Netherlands we have a drinking age of 18 years old, while in the United States the legal age to drink is 21. Also, in the Netherlands we think that people are mature enough to drink responsibly at the age of 18 and make smart choices. Obviously, in the United States the lawmakers do not think about this the same way, but you know what I think is weird? In the U.S., you can drive a car when you turn 16, by the age of 18 you are considered an adult, you can buy a gun (!), buy tobacco, vote in presidential elections, and then when you turn 21, you're finally old enough to buy and drink alcohol!
Doesn't this seem a little weird to you? Seriously, a gun when you're 18? And then the government says that people are not old enough to buy alcohol where they are 18, but a gun is okay at that same age??? Not in my book.
At the age of 18, people usually graduate from high school, maybe go to college or enlist in the army, live independently on campus or just in a house away from their parents. This is a lot of responsibility, but people can survive these circumstances. In the Netherlands, we are confident that if people are mature enough to live by themselves, they are also mature enough to make smart decisions when it comes to alcohol consumption.
I think the United States government should think about their rules about the drinking age again, and also about their gun policy. Maybe a ban on weapon possesion will change the number of deaths by shootings rather than worrying about an 18 year old adult trying to buy or consume alcohol.
There are pros and cons to lowering the drinking age to 18 in America. I believe the main pro is that it would lower the thrill of breaking the law and would normalize it to something done responsibly and in a safe environment. A con is that it could greater effect young adults ability to learn because alcohol can interfere with our still developing brains and can lead to higher addiction rates. This 3 year difference is tough for many, but surprisingly a majority of Americans support it. Now weapon procession is a whole other topic that I don’t even know where to begin at.
ReplyDeleteI think it is smart to lower the drinking ages. The reason being, many underaged drinking incidents could be prevented. It was not too long ago when the state of Indiana approved of a "Lifeline Law" stating you could call in an incident and not get in trouble. For example, if your friend is unresponsive, you could call the cops and the cops will not punish anyone else at the party. Prior to this, it was possible for students to get in trouble for calling the cops drunk underaged. Instead of coaching young adults to not drink, they should focus more on making sure everyone is being safe about drinking.
ReplyDeleteI agree with lowering the drinking age to 18 maybe even 16. In Countries like Germany who have a drinking age of 16 learn how to drink responsibly while their young so that they know they're drinking limits and are comfortable with alcohol and not peer pressured into drinking.
ReplyDeleteI agree with lowering the drinking age to 18 too. If the law does change eventually, I think parents should make it there responsibility to teach their kids about alcohol consumption.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if the drinking age would be lowered to 18 in the United States it would lower the amount of people that get in trouble for underage drinking. Most people in the United States consume alcohol before they are 21 anyways so I believe that they should lower the age so people won't be breaking the law.I also see it from a stance that people are allowed to purchase cigarettes, vote, and even go to war at age 18.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that if the government considers us legally old enough to vote, own guns, enlist in the army, and live independently at the age of 18, then we should also be able to purchase alcohol at the same age. I think that a large reason why why the drinking age has not been lowered to 18 in the United States is that it would make it legal for pretty much all college students to drink, and drinking fines and tickets are one of the main sources of revenue for small college towns where local law enforcement and lawyers profit greatly off of handing out tickets like these.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if you're old enough to die for your country (or an oil company) it makes sense that you should be allowed to rink to get through the struggle of being in an organization like the military. 21 seems like a totally arbitrary number and honestly I don't think the "your brain isn't fully mature until then" argument is at all valid because of the ages we assign to other activities.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on lowering the drinking age. I feel like if it was lowered it would help kids be more mature and even get into less trouble. People drink irresponsibly and in places they often shouldn't be. I feel like if the drinking age was lowered, people would be smarter about how they consume alcohol.
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