Age Limit From Twenty One To Eighteen example essay topic

Congratulations, it is your eighteenth birthday! You are now legally mature enough to sign contracts, fly airplanes, serve in the military, serve on juries, vote, and hold public office. So why are you not able to sit down, relax, and have a nice cold beer after launching nuclear weapons at your job in the military? There are only seven countries on the entire planet that have a drinking age of twenty-one.

Most countries have lower drinking ages, and many countries do not have a drinking age limit at all. So why does the American government feel that it is necessary for this age limit? A popular argument raised when discussing this topic is drunk driving. If the age limit was decreased to eighteen, would this age group be mature enough to avoid driving intoxicated? Well, I believe that if you can hold the responsibility to be part of a jury, that can sentence someone to the death penalty, then you are fully responsible to make a decision whether to drive drunk or not. The truth is, as researchers David Levy and Peter Asch state it, the "minimum legal drinking age is not a significant-or even perceptible- factor in the fatality experience of all drivers or of young drivers".

An in depth study proved that raising the drinking age simply transferred lost lives from the 18-20 bracket to the 21-24 age group. Raising the drinking age in America to twenty-one has not done its job (Youth Rights. com). The government Chase 2 needs to look at the problem of drinking and driving openly to find better options for dealing with it. Your mind and body develop all throughout your life. A twenty-one year old is no different from an eighteen-year-old; just as a 42-year-old is no different from a 39-year-old. Maturity is a gradual process that continues throughout your entire life.

It does not end on your twenty-first birthday! Youth Prohibition activists ignore the proven medical fact that reasonable consumption of alcohol is correlated with better health and greater longevity. An effortless way to look at this argument is to simply look in your medicine cabinet, or go look up and down the aisles of your nearest drug store. Every single over the counter medication classifies an adult dose for ages twelve and up. Obviously, this proves that the FDA determines a twelve-year-old is developed enough to have an equal dose of Advil, Excedrin, Aleve, or Dramamine.

So why cannot a "developed" eighteen-year-old have a glass of wine with dinner? I realize that alcohol can be a very harmful substance that can cause problems for some people. However, it will still cause the same problems for a sixteen-year-old, as it will for a 29-year-old. When you turn twenty-one, the danger of alcohol does not go away. I do not believe that we should lower the age limit from twenty-one to eighteen and change nothing else. I feel that a larger change should occur for people under eighteen as well.

Alcohol must be introduced gradually at an earlier age (Europeans practice this). The safest way to do this is for parents to allow their children to have a small amount of wine at dinner, in a safe environment. A period of gradual introduction Chase 3 to alcohol may take a few years, but there is no way it should last until twenty-one. I believe the age of eighteen is far more reasonable. Smoking, a legal act at age eighteen, has been medically proven to cause cancer. It is an addictive habit.

Secondhand smoke is also detrimental to the people that are by smokers. Why is smoking a legal choice at eighteen, but drinking alcohol not? When children graduate high school and move on to college, they are trusted to live on their own, manage their own money, and wash their own clothes. There is nobody there to make decisions for them, therefore I consider them adults. College students make their own decisions that effect their lives. Therefore, why does the government believe eighteen-year-olds are responsible enough to buy a pack of "cancer on a stick", but not responsible enough to enjoy a cold beer after a stressful week of school?

The government makes no sense to me. Numerous studies show that cultures where it is normal for children to have a moderate consumption of alcohol have a significantly smaller number of alcoholism, and drinking and driving accidents. I believe that if drinking was not a "taboo" behavior and it was a simple way a life, the obsession of alcohol would lose its appeal. Noah A. Black illustrates another reason why the drinking age should be decreased.

He states", The 21-year-old drinking law shows a lack of respect by our society toward 18- to 20-year-olds. They can be killed in defense of our country, but cannot walk into a tavern and have a beer. This is disrespectful. Respect is something all humans crave.

This lack of respect creates anger and distrust in young people who deserve respect and are not treated with it. Simple as that. When a person turns 18, he or Chase 4 she is an adult and should have all the rights of an adult, including to use alcohol as he / she wishes". (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) At the age of eighteen, you are an adult in ALMOST every aspect of your life. Your parents can no longer legally make decisions for you. You make decisions for yourself.

The government acknowledges this because you will be tried as an adult in court. So why is it that they will not let you make the decision to drink? I believe the government needs to do some serious thinking. It is not fair that they consider you an adult in almost every aspect of your life except one. The government believes that an eighteen-year-old is mature enough to go to a bloody war, and in the case of a horrific battle, they expect you to acknowledge the fact that death could be around the corner. They believe that an eighteen-year-old can make the right decision in a jury giving a criminal the death sentence, and the government believes that an eighteen-year-old is mature enough to vote for the President of the United States.

After giving all these enormous rights and responsibilities to eighteen-year-olds, WHY don't they believe an eighteen-year-old can make a simple, mature decision to consume alcohol?