It's a typical Friday night at college, so you make plans to head to the local bar or your friend's wild party on the other side of campus.

Regardless of where you will be, there will be alcohol, and you will be drinking it. You're 19, but that doesn't matter because you have a fake ID that could fool even the cops. It cost you a couple hundred bucks, so it better be foolproof.

Plus, nobody waits till 21 to drink, so why should you? That's basically your entire first 3 years of college, and you're not about to sip ice water or apple juice out of a red solo cup for six semesters while your friends shotgun 5 beers in a row.

So you drink, and drink, and drink until you can't drink anymore, and then you realize that you have to get home because you can't see straight and your stomach hates you more than the media hates Donald Trump. Maybe you call an Uber, but maybe you get into your red Jeep Cherokee and drive the mile home because it's "just a mile." You make it home just fine, or maybe you don't.

Maybe you rear end the vehicle in front of you and your head goes crashing through your windshield. You might wake up safe and sound the next morning in your tiny twin bed, but you also might wake up in a hospital with a concussion and bruises. Or you might not wake up at all.

Underage drinking– it's a "crime" that has become normalized in the American culture. Some start in college, but most begin well before then. High schoolers through back shots of gag-worthy lemon Burnetts at prom after-parties. Teenagers share a beer with their parents at the dinner table.

With a high minimum of 21 years of age to legally drink, it's almost becoming unusual to not consume alcohol before then. So why does the U.S. keep the legal age so high, especially compared to other countries around the world?

According to BBC News, children over the age of 16 in England may visit a bar and consume alcohol, as long as it is purchased by an adult who stays present for the entire consumption of the beverage.

At 18, the young adult can legally purchase and consume alcohol within the home and in public establishments. In contrast, a teenager in the United States can be arrested and heavily fined (plus probation) for being caught with a beer in their own home.

A higher drinking age would naturally cause one to conclude that alcohol related deaths in the United States would be much lower than that of Britain or other European countries with a similar limit. However, statistics prove otherwise, which causes me to ask the question: is a higher drinking age more dangerous?

Of all fatal alcohol-related crashes in the United States each year, 17% are a result of underage drinking. Alcohol plays a role in one-third of American teenage auto deaths (DrivingLaws). In the UK, alcohol contributes only 4% to young adult auto accidents (UK Gov). Teenagers are drinking at a younger age but crashing less; how does that happen?

Of course if you Google explanations for this, you will find a million and one different reasons, with each picking a side for or against lowering the U.S. drinking age.

But let's stop for a second and actually think about it. If children are being served alcohol at an English restaurant at the age of 16, they are learning how to drink in a public and responsible setting, with adults present.

Their tolerance has two years to gradually increase, and their alcohol consumption is completely supervised (if they're drinking legally, that is). At a much earlier age than the U.S., they are learning how alcohol tastes, how it affects their body, and what the consequences could be if they drink too much.

By the time it is legal at 18, many (but not all) will have a decent grasp on the concept of drinking and how it relates to their lives and the choices they make.

Now fly across the ocean to our land of the free and home of the brave. Because it's illegal until 21, teenagers have to hide their brews and stash their clear-colored vodka in unassuming water bottles. They drink because it's "cool," and they find it difficult to fit in otherwise.

Schools teach one slogan: "Don't Drink and Drive," but are they actually teaching students how to drink responsibly? They don't because they can't. A teacher cannot advise a 17-year old to only have two beers because even two beers are illegal.

So with no proper education and abstinence as the only helpful hint, underage drinkers are going to get drunk and make poor decisions that may prove to be fatal.

If the United States lowered the drinking age (you can register for the military but you can't have a glass of wine, how's that for ya?), I wonder if the statistics would change.

If we added alcohol education to middle and high school curriculums, would college students be less likely to drive home drunk on that crazy Friday night in December when the roads are slick and their vision is blurry?

In health class, let's talk about the effects of liquor instead of how many minutes you should spend outside each day. Perhaps that would change the number of shots a new driver takes before heading home to meet their curfew on a Thursday night freshmen-only bonfire.

Lowering the legal drinking age isn't going to end all alcohol-related injuries and deaths. It's not going to stop intoxicated rape and assault. What it is going to do is allow teenagers to drink earlier and understand how incredibly powerful of an impact alcohol can have on their minds, bodies, and future.

They're already drinking it and not getting caught, so let's make it legal and take the necessary steps to saving lives because 21 is just too late.