Drinking Laws | Teen Ink

Drinking Laws MAG

By Anonymous

     A strong belief of mine is that the drinking age should be increased. I don’t believe that at 21 most people are either mature enough or responsible enough to handle drinking. Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused drugs. The solution is simple, and I don’t see why it should not be done.

It’s common for minors to have friends who are the legal drinking age. I see people come into the store where I work who are clearly buying alcohol for minors. Teens will wait outside while the 21-year-old buys the alcohol. This frustrates me no end.

It has been proved that the brain doesn’t stop growing until the age of about 23. Yes, 23 is definitely not a large gap, but it is very significant. Most people at 23 have graduated from college and are ready to start their lives. On the other hand, many 21-year-olds are still in college, enjoying parties and the alcohol that comes with them. College is a time when many experience peer pressure to party and have fun with friends, which is where the danger emerges. If we could increase the drinking age by even a few years, we could save thousands of lives.

Automobile accidents are often a result of alcohol. The news is always reporting an accident because of a drunk driver who missed a stop sign or couldn’t stay in his lane. And it’s not always the drunk driver who gets hurt or killed. Since alcohol depresses the body, it makes drinkers more relaxed and loose. Consequently, they usually walk away from these accidents unscathed. One bad mistake, one bad judgment can cause many families endless trauma. The guilt the driver eventually feels often lasts the rest of his life. No one should have to live with that, or the knowledge that a loved one was taken away because someone decided to drink and drive.

In my life, I’ve witnessed a lot of things that I wish I hadn’t and I’ve seen many things I wish I could forget. My oldest sister used to hang out with people who would get drugs from the street and have others buy alcohol so they could party. Looking back, I can see where she made her biggest mistake since what she did when she was younger screwed up the rest of her life. Her personality has changed a lot, and I don’t think it will ever be normal again, even with help.

I hate hearing about how someone drank at a party and drove home slowly and carefully, and everything turned out okay. They were lucky, but do you honestly want to take that chance? I don’t know anyone who would willingly gamble with their life just to enjoy a night of drinking. The risk is just too high.

I’m not saying we should ban alcohol, but I believe that it should be more closely monitored and controlled. There are lots of other ways to have fun with your friends that don’t involve drinking. Alcohol is a drug. It always was and it always will be. I believe we should take that into account and make some changes to the laws.



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This article has 77 comments.


qwinc said...
on Jun. 7 2013 at 9:25 am
 this is true but i think 21 is a good age to be able to drink

Rap Rabbit said...
on Feb. 28 2013 at 9:43 am
I understand where you guys are coming from, but take Germany for example: The age where you can drink is 12 with a parent or guardian present. This is obviously before they can drive, and they don't think alcohol is that big of a deal once they get to that age, and thats why the number of drunk driving accidents in Germany are so much lower than in the USA. I really liked your piece though!

on Nov. 29 2012 at 8:32 am
ChickenLegHouse BRONZE, Brighton, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 44 comments
What we need is more sever laws on drunk driving. In some countrys they just take your car right away if you're cought. So what do people do? They ride there bikes home from the bar.

on Nov. 29 2012 at 8:27 am
ChickenLegHouse BRONZE, Brighton, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 44 comments
Have you ever had tiramisu? That has rum in it and nobodys ever going to get drunk off of it. So should that be banded too? 

on Oct. 25 2012 at 9:52 am
Kiashaw828 BRONZE, Elmwood Park, New Jersey
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot; We can do no great things <br /> Only small things with great love.&quot;<br /> by Mother Teresa

this article is very good, i agree with everything you say.

Solar BRONZE said...
on Apr. 23 2012 at 8:07 am
Solar BRONZE, Braircliff Manor, New York
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I agree! I certainly don't drink! And when I was 10, I swore never to drink. Even a little.

on Mar. 7 2012 at 5:50 pm
beautifulspirit PLATINUM, Alpharetta, Georgia
35 articles 0 photos 1398 comments

Favorite Quote:
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.<br /> --Eleanor Roosevelt

Unfortunately there is no specific or exact age upon reaching maturity. And teens are still gonna find some way to abuse the use of alcohol no matter what the laws are. This is reality---but you're right. We can monitor this situation better---not just for kids but for everyone. 

on Jan. 31 2012 at 8:19 pm
Andrea_Kolarova BRONZE, Hendersonville, North Carolina
1 article 0 photos 4 comments
thank you for writing this! I absolutely agree!

on Sep. 26 2011 at 7:17 pm
onedirectionlover GOLD, Hampton, Virginia, Virginia
16 articles 3 photos 37 comments
I agree with you! My name is also Leanne by the way.

on Jul. 16 2011 at 5:26 pm
jdotalways SILVER, Williamsburg, Kentucky
8 articles 1 photo 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
tis better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all.

i disagree i think since ur a legal adult at 18, and can join the military at 18, you can make ur own decisions. so if u wnna drink u should be able to drink and face the consequences

 


JustTazzy said...
on Jun. 29 2011 at 9:42 pm
raising it won't help people abusing it, or drunk d4rivers. America already has one of the highest drinking ages, and that probably contributed to people drinking way too much. If it wasn't treated as such a big deal, young adults probably would not drink as much. It is society, not the drink age, which really needs to be lowered. By the way, I don't really think anyone needs to drink, but that has been tried and failed, so we need to learn to lie with it.

on Jun. 24 2011 at 5:42 pm
FULLFORCE BRONZE, Hyde Park, Massachusetts
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Math- Matical!

I cant beleive anyone would over -use this product. It completely destroys your liver!

on Apr. 2 2011 at 6:14 pm
lovetowrite22 SILVER, ..., Colorado
5 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Everything happens for a reason.&quot;

I completely agree. rarely are there mature 21 year olds.

A+student said...
on Mar. 15 2011 at 5:34 pm
I think alcohol should be banned out of this country! It is a horrible creation!!! Well you did an excillent job at writting this artical.

mr h said...
on Mar. 15 2011 at 9:19 am

this story goes both ways with kids and people can think what ever they what because its everyones opinoin

 


on Feb. 17 2011 at 4:32 am
MasterZone BRONZE, Toronto, Other
2 articles 0 photos 39 comments

  My thought is, if you want to drink under-age legally, go to Canada and come back drunk. It's legal, you can do it, and the police can't stop you. All you have to be is 18 years of age. :)

 


on Jan. 12 2011 at 8:59 pm
butterflylover, Springville, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

mm i believe you are totally wrong.

maybe you should read my article and why drinking should be lowered.

its called drinking and driving laws.


on Dec. 26 2010 at 2:55 pm
black-sapphire BRONZE, Bismarck, North Dakota
1 article 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I&#039;m in a fleshy tomb, buried up above the ground.<br /> It&#039;s no use, why should I hold on?&quot;<br /> -Goodbye (I&#039;m Sorry) by Jamestown Story

kids rebel...if we would raise the legal drinking age then i think more people would just go against it...i mean, i hardly know any kids who follow the law that you have to be 21 and im only 14 years old, so if the legal age got raised to 23 i think more people would rebel against it...but i dont know..different people mature at different ages, and in the end--its their choice on whether they are going to drink or not..

on Dec. 16 2010 at 4:14 pm
whiteraven1989 BRONZE, Batavia, New York
1 article 9 photos 7 comments
i also agree the basic human nature is to want something that you can not have like a baby that has a ball that he/she is not playing with only wants the ball when you take it away 

on Dec. 13 2010 at 11:12 pm
jimmydane34 GOLD, Wood Ridge, New Jersey
10 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.

i argued enough about the alcohol issue. all im going to say is no matter what age you put it. everyone is going to still drink regardless. may be HARDER to get it but teenagers will always find a way.

life is dangerous, its about the freedom of choice, some people get unlucky become the victom and some arent.

i do feel remorce in people becomming the victom of dieing due to drunken drivers.

 

but leave your sad story out of it.

its about the whole country, all about satistics and and numbers. if drinking age at 21 works for 90% of population, sorry for your tragics in like but the other remainig 10% who have stories like family memebers being a victom. its just not going to change because something terrible happen to you.

 

im not voting for increasing or decreasing,,im just telling you the truth. 

this is out of context but some lawmakers trying to prohibit the use of caffine and energy drinnks to teenagers..

 

i mean really..keep restricitng or diminshing our right to freely choose and america just going to rebel and revolt against authority so bad, that this issue will be miniscule compare if american youth revolts in massive amounts of numbers