Elizabeth Whelan Deficient Argument

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In “perils of Prohibition” Elizabeth M. Whelan argues that the legal drinking age should be lowered to the age of 18. Dr. Whelan who is the president of the American council on science and health consortium supports this claim by declaring that, “today’s laws are unrealistic restricting young responsible teens to be allowed to drink when they turn 18”. She states that in today’s society teenagers are far more sophisticated than before. Dr. Whelan explains that teenagers have more responsibilities today than they held in the past. She also disputes that not allowing teenagers to drink makes an atmosphere where binge drinking have become a health problem. Dr. Whelan as a mother of a girl that will be going to college soon says that police should come much harder on alcohol abusers and drunk drivers of all ages. Dr. Whelan affirms that schools should start to educate children about safe alcohol consumption just as we do with safe sex and abstinence. Dr. Whelan’s arguments appeared fitting for many people to some degree exclusively for young people who are in urge to be able to drink. There are thousands of young responsible teenagers who know the consequences of drinking without moderation and chose not to drink until they reach 21 and feel perfectly fine. In the other hand, Dr. Whelan’s daughter, Christine, says that her friends and her feel excluded from the rest of the 21- year old adults who can have a drink at a bar. Despite the fact that Christine and her friends are able perform any task a 21- year old does. They cannot enjoy a drink because they are 18 years old. However, it should not be about how teenagers feel about not being able to have a drink legally, but instead to know what is right for young teenagers. For this ... ... middle of paper ... ...lcohol in detail just as we do with safe-sex. We will then be able to give our children the time for them to develop mentally and let them take their own educated decisions about drinking alcohol. Whether they are 18 or 19 we as a society should not allow America to be much vulnerable to chronic diseases. Works Cited Whelan, Elizabeth. “Perils of Prohibition: Why We Should Lower the Drinking Age to 18.” Newsweek. 25 May, 1995. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. [April 7, 2014]. Bettina Friese and Joel W. Grube, "Youth Drinking Rates and Problems: A Comparison of European Countries and the United States," Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 2010.WEB. April 18, 2014 Hemingway. Liz. Stop Drinking and Start Living. Free Publishing, 2013. Print. April 19, 2014 Editorial, “Colleges and Binge Drinking”, The New York Times. September 17, 2008: A26. Print.

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