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Origin of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984
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Published from Time magazine in 2014, the article “It’s Time to let Teenagers Drink Again” by Camille Paglia, was written to help express how she felt about the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Paglia states her main claim in her first paragraph and tries to appeal to the audience about the drinking age. Using her personal background, she proves her credibility in order to persuade the reader that she has a good grip on what she wrote about. In the article, Paglia used pathos and logos to appeal to the reader. By using the facts and evidence she helped backup her statements and her ideas. Adding in the pathos helped the reader relate to her and her work, even persuade them to see how she sees. Paglia wrote her article, “It’s Time to let Teenagers Drink Again,” to inform her readers using ethos, logos, and pathos about the positive effects …show more content…
Paglia is a social critic who works as a University Professor of Humanities and Media Studies for the University of the Arts based in Philadelphia ("Camille Paglia Biography"). As a feminist and libertarian, Paglia writes about challenging topics, like women’s rights, marijuana, and even the drinking age ("Camille Paglia Biography"). She was born in Italy and grew up there with their customs for many years ("Camille Paglia Biography"). Growing up in Italy gives her credibility when she talks about other countries that use alcohol as a learning tool. Camille Paglia states in “It’s Time to let Teenagers Drink Again” that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, passed by Congress in 1984, deprived the young people of socialization, learning experiences, and opened a door to drugs (Paglia). The audience of the argument could be two types of people; first, the teenager who feels the same way or two, the voters and adults to help repeal the act. Her first argument appeared in the first paragraph and even is the first
This article advocates for the drinking age to be lowered. It presents the arguments in a very clear manner, with a bulleted list of 18 statistics that prove why it is unnecessary for the drinking age to be 21. The main argument of this article is that it is ironic that “Someone can join the military and die defending their country, but they can’t legally have a beer.” The first few examples use logos to appeal to the audience by giving legitimate statistics that prove how it makes sense to lower the age. It then uses pathos, by giving scary statistics that talk about drunk driving and other harmful behavior that actually prove to worried parents that statistics are lower in for these things in states that allow drinking at 18. Obviously parents
Whelan’s argument might be very interesting for teenager who thinks and dreams about alcohol beverages in his/her high school years, but in fact; there are no parents that become happier after reading this article. Her arguments has two points because it is very easy to persuade teens after reading it to wake them up and ask about their right, and it is very easy to persuade mature people to do not let
"Americans Still Oppose Lowering the Drinking Age." Gallup Poll Briefing. (24 July 2014). Web. 19 Feb. 2016. The article provides the views of those who wish to keep the legal drinking age at 21. It states that almost 75% of Americans are still against lowering the drinking age. They believe that the higher age has reduced drinking and driving accidents. Also stated is the belief that since it has been in act for thirty years it should be left the same. The articles also provides statistics based on the specific classes of Americans who are for or against the issue. The purpose of the article is to show readers the benefits of keeping the drinking age as is. It was published on a website that is used to report new and political issues, therefore, allowing it to draw the attention of many people. It is unique in the fact that it provides surveys and information about the specific kinds of people that were surveyed. This article helps me with my thesis because it provides me with the views of people who do not agree with it, therefore, allowing me to show both sides of the
Eastman III, Donald R. “Lowering the Drinking Age: Let’s Keep the Dialogue Open.” St. Petersburg Times. 25 Aug. 2008. Print.
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
The legal drinking age in the United States will always be a point of contention. No one can settle upon a drinking age that everyone is in agreement with; should it be 18 or 21? Ages 18 and 21 are the most popular options, yet neither one has 100% of the vote. With the current legal drinking age in America standing at 21, meaning that people under the age of 21 cannot purchase or consume alcoholic food or beverages, there is the question of whether or not to lower it to 18 or 19 years old. This paper will argue that the drinking age should be lowered, and examine its impact on State University.
A lot of the time, teens think it is ‘cool’ to drink because everyone else does it. Almost every television show that young people watch have some underage substance abuse, leading adolescents to believe that it can’t be that bad. While society plays a big part in this huge problem, both teens and parents need to learn that there can be severe consequences from as little as one drink. Allowing them to think this kind of behavior is acceptable will haunt them for the rest of their lives, even if they are not alcohol related. Believing that such behavior is acceptable now will lead them to bad decision-making skills in the future when faced with an ethical decision. Teens need to know the major effects can come from underage drinking before going to that party or when being pressured into something they may not be willing to participate in. It is obvious that the long and short-term effects of alcohol abuse can be easily avoided by getting educated and thinking before engaging in any self-destructive
In the 1960s, the drinking age was set as 21, to match the voting age. However, around the time of the Vietnam War, the public began to argue that if an 18-year-old was old enough to fight and die for his country, then he should be able to vote as well. As a result, the voting age was lowered to 18. Between 1970 and 1976, 29 states lowered their legal drinking age as well. In the words of Carla Main, author of Bulldozed and various other published works concerning law and society, the results were “catastrophic,” as “[h]ighway deaths among teenagers and young adults skyrocketed” (Main 33). Many states began raising the legal drinking age up again. In 1984, under the supervision of Ronald ...
The National Minimum Age Drinking Act was signed into law on July 17, 1984. This law was carried out at the federal level and forced all states to raise the minimum drinking to 21 or face cuts in federal-aid cuts in their highway funding. I believe this law must be repelled and that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. We must decriminalize the notion of underage drinking because why must 18 through 20 year olds be treated like children but charged as adults?
“Either we are a nation of lawbreakers, or this is a bad law”, says John McCardell, author for the Greenhaven Press (McCardell, 2012). What McCardell is referring to is the law barring the consumption of alcohol in individuals under the age of twenty-one in the United States. John McCardell is the former president of Middlebury College, and he is also the founder of the Choose Responsibly group (Baldouf, 2007). This group is a nonprofit organization that travels around the country sharing McCardell’s proposal about the drinking age...
To make its point the article uses facts and statistics to prove that teenage drinking is a huge problem in the United States. We learn, "Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice for kids, preferred by 27% of all children," and, "1.1 billion cans of beer and 300 million bottles of wine coolers were consumed by junior and senior high school students." The article also uses statistics to prove the unfortunate consequences of drinking and states, "In 1997, 3,336 drivers 15 to 20years old died, an additional 365,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes.
Hosking, Elizabeth. "Drinking laws remind parents of their responsibility." USA Today E 6: Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2010.
In the epilogue, in my opinion, changing the law of twenty-one back to the old rule of legalizing alcohol in age of eighteen has more benefits than forbidding it. American youth should act and ask their government for their rights if they want this to change – actions are better than words. I believe that the government wants to be happier by making their own nation happy and as an advantage; more companies will reap huge profit due to increased sales, and sure the government will earn more revenues through tax. Moreover, this will go a long way in reducing accidents and incidents due to binge drinking by teenagers.
In the article "Let My Teen Drink" by T.R. Reid, the author tries to justify teenage drinking by explaining how lowering the drinking age will teach kids to become more responsible. The writer also introduces the subject by linking teenage drinking to his personal experience with his daughters who have an easier access to alcohol because in London where he is located, teenage drinking is actually legal. After I read more of the writer’s main points and analyzed his key subjects, I felt that the writer wants his readers to understand that having an easier access to alcohol will ultimately reduce the urge for teens to want to consume alcohol because it becomes more obtainable. The writer also claims that having access to alcohol helps teach teens
As I saw these people, my peers, the truth finally hit me, alcohol isn’t for teenagers, no matter what the commercials say. Not only does alcohol make you look ridiculous, it’s illegal for people my age to be drinking. In a survey conducted by the Associated Press in 1998, almost half of the American teenagers were drinkers. This same substance I had been told to refuse my entire childhood was being consumed by nearly half of my peers. According to that same survey, nearly 9 out of 10 teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 years of age had their first alcoholic beverage after their 11th birthday. At this point, was I suppose to become a statistic or be that one out of ten people who doesn’t use alcohol?