As I am approaching 21, I have been thinking of what makes 21 so special. Why is the drinking age not 18? Why 21?
Here are my theories of why the drinking age should be 18 years old... when we become legal adults.
1. If 18 year olds are considered adults, they should be able to enjoy an adult beverage
I mean, it's in the name. ADULT beverage
2. Being told you cannot drink only makes you want to drink more
This is a bit subjective, but I think I am speaking for a lot of people. When I thought about college, I thought of drinking. I would be away from home and could do whatever I wanted. The "forbidden fruit" theory. If I would have been allowed legally to drink at 18, then going to college wouldn't be so focused on alcohol. Most of the thrill of drinking Freshman and Sophomore year was the fact that it wasn't allowed.
3. Less Freshman would pass out and/or get hurt
I have seen this first hand. A lot of kids don't drink in high school. I did only a hand full of times, but that was Strawberitas or Bud light. I didn't have access to anything else. Going to college there is access to anything you want. I have personally carried girls home because their first night out they went wild. They don't know their limits and don't know when to stop.
4. Buying fake IDs can be a risky process
Sending money to a stranger overseas? Sending your personal information? It's sketchy. I would say most high schoolers/college students are doing this. Don't @ me
5. Drinking isn't a big deal in a lot of other countries
I have visited a lot of places and talked to people my age about drinking. They drink, but not to the point I was drinking. I wanted to go crazy because it was finally legal, but to them it wasn't a big deal. This goes back to my other point of when things are "not allowed" it only makes people want to do it more.
6. Could prevent binge drinking
Kynslie Otte of University News states "lowering the drinking age to 18 would allow 18-to-20-year-olds to consume alcohol safely in regulated environments, with supervision. Since the drinking age is 21, underage college students often consume alcohol in unsupervised spaces, such as house parties, where binge drinking and other drug use occurs."
7. Make it easier to encourage healthy drinking habits
Once an underage person starts drinking, they are sneaking around and don't have older adults to talk to. When our parents give us the safe-sex talk when we are younger, we know how to have safe sex. If our parents have no idea we are 18 and drinking, they don't know to have the talk of how to be safe while drinking.
8. Potentially prevent arrests
All of the people I know that have gotten arrested were from underage drinking. They were chilling on the beach, not bothering anyone with a beer in hand. They got arrested and will now have that on their record. One spring break I saw a cop tackle a girl to the ground because she was leaving the beach while intoxicated. Her friends were going with her to make sure she was safe and she got screwed.
9. If you can serve jury duty, you can buy a 6 pack
A jury is defined as "a body of persons legally selected and sworn to inquire into any matter of fact and to give their verdict according to the evidence." The persons serving on jury duty are there to help come to an outcome of the person being tried. That's a whole lot of responsibility.
10. Cigarettes and Tobacco products can be purchased at 18
More than 480,000 deaths occur annually from tobacco products. 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually. Yet 18 year-olds can buy tobacco?
11. You can get married
You can vow to spend your life with someone forever, move in with them, pay taxes together, create joint bank accounts, begin to start a family, but not a sip of wine! Nope!
12. Bring more money and jobs to the alcohol industry
The more people that are legally allowed to go into bars or drink at dinner the more money coming in and more jobs created.
13. Prevent high schoolers from putting themselves in risky medical situations
In high school, I saw many of my friends get way too drunk and all they wanted was to go home. They couldn't because of the fear of their parents finding out. I saw my friends that needed to go to the hospital not go just because of fear. If the age was lower, 18-year-old high school students could be more open with their parents and prevent them from putting themselves in a risky medical situation.
14. Allow schools to discuss how to drink safely
High schoolers are drinking however they think it best because they cannot talk to adults about what is going on. Most schools teach how to have sex, safe drinking talks to juniors and seniors could be very beneficial.
15. If you can join the military, you can have a beer
Enough said.
16. The science argument isn't valid because your rational thinking part of your brain isn't fully developed until 22 for girls and 24 years old for boys
So what makes 21 the magic number?
17. If you can vote you should be able to sip some wine
A glass of wine is less serious than impacting the outcome of who leads of our country.
18. In 2003, underage drinkers spent $22.5 billion
That is a massive number. Underage persons are obviously smart and finding a way around it. The reason the number isn't larger is because most underage people are spending money on less expensive drinks such as beer or kegs.
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