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Essays on how alcohol addiction affects the brain
Cons to lower drinking age
Cons to lower drinking age
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At exactly what age does a person become mature? It has been said many times that girls mature faster than boys? However, not always is that the truth. More and more these days’ boys are getting jobs before they even turn sixteen. Girls on the other hand typically do not get one until they are at least sixteen and most wait until college. Another example is a high school junior that has met all his criteria and would like to graduate early, at the age of seventeen, and go off to college. If he is allowed to make that decision, would you consider that mature since it is before the legal age of eighteen? Now, you have to consider the fact that he is working on a degree in whatever he desires, that most fifteen year olds have not even though about. In my eyes that is mature. But, he can not drink legally until he turns twenty-one. By then, he could be graduated and working in the field of his dreams. The legal age to drink seems to be unfair. Should the national drinking age be lowered to eighteen? Is the brain capable of handling alcohol at the age of eighteen? Dr. Simon Rowley says “young men's brains do not fully mature until they are in their early 20s.” He goes on to say that anything that distracts the brain development process “may adversely affect brain function later on” (Scoop). There are many important parts to the brain and alcohol can easily affect these parts and may possibly prevent your brain from ever growing correctly. Some people may think drinking is fun, but is it really worth the risk of damaging a very important part of your body for some temporary fun? In most cases, it is not. Could a younger drinking age create a future problem? It very well could. Lowering the drinking age gi... ... middle of paper ... ... to be sneaky and get away with something you can’t legally get away with back at home. Overall, no one will be satisfied regardless of the drinking age. There will always be the types of people that are looking for rules to break. Since not all eighteen year olds are in college, some are still in high school, then changing the drinking age could pose a problem in high school not just college and make this issue even bigger and possibly even more deadlier. Studies have shown that with the drinking age the way it is, it has decreased the amount of traffic fatalities. It may be cool to lower the age, but if it is working out better the way it is now, why change it? It gives teenagers three more years to mature and anticipate the day they turn twenty one! The national drinking age of twenty one may actually be teaching everyone a good responsibility.
In this article Aguirre talks about the possible benefits of having a raised minimum legal drinking age. She talks about the fact that lowering the drinking age would create a safer venue for young adults to drink. She also says that a lowered drinking age would limit the amount of binge drinking, which would also limit the amounts of deaths caused by binge
Lowering the legal drinking age would create problems such as infringing on the mental and physical development of the young drinker. As a respected author, Matt Nagin puts it, “The late teens and early twenties are formative years where character building, leadership in the community, and scholastic excellence should be emphasized. Alcohol detracts from all of these.” In other words, Nagin believes that the teen years are an imperative time of growth in a person’s life. Scientists have proven that the brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty five. If Nagin’s argument is correct, and I believe it is, then people should understand that scientists have proven the negative affects that alcohol has on the development of the brain. Alcohol has the power to kill brain cells and damage growth hormones. By making alcohol legally accessible to an eighteen year old, we are literally poisoning his or her brain.
First, the age limit to drink should stay the same has to do with the way the human body develops both mentally and physically. There is scientific evidence that the brain does not fully mature until the age of 21, on average. Before the age of 21, excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to permanent brain damage. Teens who have experienced alcohol withdrawal tend to have difficulties with memory. Since the teenage brain have been exposed to alcohol it will be at risk for being smaller in certain parts. Teenage alcohol can also negatively affecting a person’s memory, motor skills and test-taking ability for the rest of people lives. Research shows that because most of teenagers’ bodies are not ful...
Primarily, the drinking age should be lowered to teach responsibility and safety in young adults. The idea seems paradoxical; however, the high drinking age that is present in the U.S. today has only pushed underage drinking underground (Balko 458). In fact, America has the highest minimum drinking age in the world (Balko 459). Even though the American drinking age remains high, America still remains with an astonishingly large number of alcohol-related accidents and deaths. Is this statement a coincidence? Throughout the years alcohol has become more and more of an issue in young adults, but the correct actions are not taking place. If alcohol were to legally be put in the hands of Americans eighteen and above, these individuals would likely be forced to learn a sense of safety and responsibility. As stated by Caryn Sul...
Lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen is a good idea because it will most likely promote responsibility, alcohol consumption will be more controlled, and, if not done so, it is posing as discrimination against the eighteen to twenty age group; however, lowering the legal drinking age back to eighteen can be fatal because the brains of the eighteen to twenty year old age groups are not fully developed, binge drinking and alcohol addiction rates will go up, and the drinking and driving rates will increase.
There would be a lot of benefits to having the drinking age change to eighteen. The amount of binge drinking would lessen, and the out rage to drink would also decrease. According to Smith, ?Reports of binge drinking come from all types of campuses across the country. In 1992, researchers reported that more college?s students
As society progresses more and more it seems as though there is one aspect of American culture that is not keeping up with the times- the minimum legal drinking age. Whilst the rest of the world shares a similar view on this issue, with 96% of other countries holding a drinking age of less than 21, the American legal system seems steadfast in its resolve to keep it due to a manner of precautionary reasons. Yet these reasons are often lacking substance and validity, hence it seems that the Land of Opportunity needs to break the shackles of feigned abstinence and embrace a more practical and realistic criterion-such as the widespread norm of 18 years old.
...e minimum legal drinking age in the United States should remain at twenty-one years old. Since the National Legal Drinking Age Act was ratified, the consumption of liquor among minors has abated significantly. With the restriction in affect, the United States is definitely a safer place when it comes to alcohol use. Even though, the reduction of the drinking age would get rid of the taboo that surrounds alcohol which would result in fewer teens drinking just to be accepted by their peers, young adolescents now have a harder time getting access to alcohol due to the minimum legal drinking age resulting in less alcohol-affiliated problems and a decrease in damage to their bodies. Teens and alcohol are not a good mix so citizens of the United States should keep them separated as best as they can. By having a minimum age limit of twenty-one, that is a great way to do it.
Lawmakers should not consider lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Despite the deep value this country places on freedom, personal liberties, and personal responsibilities, the data shows that public safety is greatly at risk if the drinking age were to be lowered to twenty-one. A variety of groups believe that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen deeming that the twenty-one law is unconstitutional. On the opposing side, people agree that the law helps to protect our young people and the communities where they live.
If the drinking age is lowered would it stop more kids from binge drinking, partying and getting in to trouble? There are some many different views on to lowering the drinking age, would solve these problems. Some people think they will others don’t. Lowering the drinking age in some cases will help from an article by Katie Cary called Time to Lower the Drinking Age. She said “She rather see her kid in a well patrolled party...
The article “Adolescent Brain Development and Underage Drinking in the United States: Identifying Risks of Alcohol Use in College Populations” written by Marisa Silveri, PhD, aims to emphasize the the negative behavioral consequences with underage alcohol use. Silveri is a highly decorated professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who has been studying the neurobiology of brain development and consequences of alcohol and drug abuse using preclinical and clinical models for two decades. Her substantial background in psychology and neurobiology make her a highly credible source, and improves the author’s chance of making the point really stick. The article is easy to follow, and split up in subcategories that each cover a specific point the author is trying to make. Professor Silveri, with great credibility, uses logic and also emotional appeal to effectively convince the reader that alcohol use affects the brain negatively, and the importance to discourage the excessive consumption of alcohol by adolescents.
According to research done by SUNY Potsdam, the mean drinking age around the world is 15.9 years old, the majority of countries (62%) have a drinking age set at 18 years old, and only seven countries, including the United States, have a drinking age of 21 (potsdam.edu). Does the United States government not see a trend here? Having a drinking age of 21 years old is outdated and unrealistic, and the rest of the countries around the world have come to realize this. Many American’s today have a liberal stance on this issue and agree it is time for a change. Liberals believe that the government should cooperate with the ever changing culture and follow the lead of many other countries who have successfully adopted a minimum drinking age of 18. On the other hand, conservative groups such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) believe that changing the drinking age of 21 is right and no change is needed. Despite the strong resistance from certain groups such as MADD, I believe Congress and the rest of America should consider lowering the drinking age to 18 because 18 year olds are already technically considered adults, disallowing 18-21 year olds to drink only increases unsafe “underground” binge drinking, and by changing the drinking age to 18 more safety precautions can be taken to avoid harm from drinking. I suggest the U.S. Congress should overrule their initial National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 and change the age from 21 to 18.
According to the drinking age ProCons.org, lowering the drinking age will invite more use of illicit drugs among 18-21 year olds. It is more likely that they will use other illicit drugs. Lowering the minimum drinking age to 21 would increase the number of teens who drink and therefore the number of teens who use other drugs knowing the effects of this situation, and understanding what can happen. Young adults cloud face many more problems than just . Drinking is one step forward to many more drugs. According to drinking age ProCons.org, the minimum drinking age at 21 reduces traffic accidents and fatalities were reduced, 100 of the 102 analyses ( 98 percent) in the 2002 meta-study of the legal drinking age and traffic accidents found higher legal drinking age associated with lower accidents.
Hanson, David J., Ph.D. “Drinking Alcohol Damages Teenager’s Brains.” Sociology Deprtment. n.d.. Web. 20 March 2014. .
The problem is not a lowered legal drinking age but one that restricts us from drinking.