Binge Drinking vs the Drinking Age Essays

Stating that drinking at a younger age causes more health hazards proves that having the drinking age higher would be safer for oneself and the community as a whole. In addition, younger adults could easily become exposed to alcoholism. It is stated by the National Highway Institute in a study done on alcohol abuse among teens that “the overall risk for alcoholism decreases 14 percent with each year of age that drinking is postponed” (Boulard 52). The drinking age should not be lowered because the higher the drinking age, the less risk there is for alcoholism. Not only does drinking cause health related problems, but it also produces risks of injury or death. It has been proven that “youth alcohol use contributes to higher incidences of drunk driving, traffic accidents, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)…” (“Update: Alcohol Issues” 1-2). Not only is underage drinking illegal, but drinking and driving is as well. Therefore, maintaining the drinking age would prevent the number of accidents and deaths. However, some believe that drinking wine is good for the heart. This is only true for drinking in moderation. If one drinks more than a couple of glasses, this does not go into effect, and the number of bad health related consequences outnumbers the good. Studies have shown that “The lower death rate among moderate drinkers is due to the reduction in heart disease, specifically atherosclerosis or

In Henry Wechsler’s, “Getting Serious about Eradicating Binge Drinking”, he discusses the issue of binge drinking. Binge drinking is an extensive problem on college campuses. The majority of colleges merely focus on the student, rather than what encourages students to drink. Fraternities, sororities, and athletics are huge sources of the students on campus who drink. There are many approaches colleges can take to decrease the problem, and many colleges are already getting a head start. It is also important to not ignore how often colleges indirectly encourage students to drink (20).

It must be recognized that young adults will drink alcohol, no matter what the legal age. As thought to be a gateway to more drinking problems, reducing the age to 18 can benefit our society. Prohibiting teens from drinking in bars, restaurants, and public locations has the effect of forcing them to drink in unsupervised places such as fraternity houses or house parties, which can be very dangerous. Lowering the drinking age would create a safer drinking environment, creating a higher chance of adult supervision who will promote more responsible drinking among intoxicated teens. As stated in the PostStar article for the pros and cons of lowering the drinking age, “When adolescents are not taught to drink in moderation, they end up binge drinking.”

According to Drew K. Saylor, he writes that studies from a meta-analytic review showed that "Raising the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is associated with a 16% median decrease in alcohol-related crash outcomes while lowering the MLDA result in a 10% median increase in such crash outcomes" (332). The essence of this argument is that having the law of the drinking age to be 21 has a positive effect in the country because there is a decrease in car crashes. This is why the author Drew K. Saylor also agrees when he writes "A solution to this problem is not a simple as lowering the drinking age and asking young people to choose responsibility" (332). Saylor's point is to make the people understand that lowering the drinking age won't fix much because accidents will still happen, but with more frequency. Since in the past, the argument was deciding whether to raise or no to raise the drinking age to be 21 because of the danger youths had to live through if something happened to them. Drew K. Saylor argues that the drinking age has led to create a change in the people who are 18-20 years old because college students now a days tend to consume more alcohol than any others. When this happens among college students, it’s called binge drinking. According to Drew K. Saylor, a professor from the University of Virginia with a BA degree, he states that “Binge drinking is the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time”

The article “Why the Drinking Age Should be Lowered: An Option based upon Research” is about twenty years of research based underage drinking done by Ruth Engs. It talks about the way things were in the past compared to how things are now. The research done for this article shows that binge drinking is mostly found in the age below 21 due to the lack of being taught responsible drinking habits. In this article there are many statistics dealing with drinking at a college level over a long span of

A college report showed that most kids are drinking to get drunk. In college a large sum and the majority of students are under twenty one. This fact is showing the immaturity of the students and more reasons the age should be twenty-one to drink. Drinking to get drunk and binge drinking are irresponsible which those under twenty-one are continually showing that they are. Yes there are adults who drink irresponsibly but the majority handle alcohol maturily. Some argue that there are children who drink responsibly, how can a minor drink responsibly when drinking at all is illegal. Binge drinking does more than harm the body , thsi is another reason the drinking age at eighteen would harm college students. Binge drinking increases academic struggles in students and while eveyone may not believe this, the actual reason for college is an education. By binge drinking obtaining this goal can be a challenge. While the college life is a large part of the legal drinking age there are other reasons it should stay at twenty-one. Drinking and driving is not acceptable by any age group and effects many lives every day. A vehicle is a weapon and operating this such weapon while intoxicated, or under the influence of any substance that will decrease your ability to operate the vehicle is foolish and dangerous for the driver, its passengers, and anyone who may be unfortunate enough to

By the time high school students are seniors around 70 percent of students have had alcohol and the number will increase more as they begin college (IUPUI). With being in college one thing that I did discover is that underage drinking is part of the culture in college, also the friends that I had in high school who are 21 now I have discovered they drink some of the least amount now. Which has begun to make me wonder why people who are 21 drink less than people who are underage. I believe that when people are 21 they now do not have to worry about the next time they can get alcohol. Congress should lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 because at age 18 when they are in college, for some students it will be the first time of it being acceptable to drink alcohol. Most college students are putting their health at risk with binge drinking. They are not introduced to alcohol at a younger age and drink because they do not know the next time they will get alcohol, so they will start to binge drink drinking a high content of alcohol quickly and dangerously. Although it may introduce alcohol to people of younger ages, it will help them mature more quickly knowing they do not have to worry about the next time they will get alcohol. With lowering the drinking age, it will have positive effects on the economy and society, it will be beneficial because it will prevent younger people from binge drinking, and people are legally adults at the age of 18 can vote and serve for their

According to Alexis Aguirre in The University Star, “Keeping the minimum legal drinking age at 21 will not dissuade young people who want to indulge in reckless alcohol intake. If anything, the age limit encourages binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age could make it easier to regulate consumption among younger adults as well as encourage healthy drinking habits” (Aguirre). Sure enough, if the drinking age were lowered to 18 it would avoid the illegal, abused intake of alcohol by 18 year olds. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, “Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking” (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). A way of avoiding such tragedies is lowering the drinking age to 18, teaching younger

In fact, of all underage drinking, some 90 percent is consumed through binge drinking [as of March 2014]” (Hall). That being said, by making alcohol more readily available it will reduce pregaming and excessive drinking on and off campus. “ The main consequence of this law has been to drive college-age alcohol consumption underground, which has in all likelihood increased that consumption and probably actually increased drunk driving,” says Gordon. Nevertheless, pregaming can lead to heavily intoxicated individuals driving drunk to their final party destination; which could cause more alcohol related traffic fatalities. By lowering the drinking age young adults could safely drink a reasonable amount of alcohol, legally, without the fear of getting in trouble for doing so.

To start with, lowering the drinking age has many atrocious downfalls. First, binge drinking is one of the larger issues. Binge drinking is when large amounts of alcohol are consumed into the body, in a short amount of

“From the moment freshmen set foot on campus, they are steeped in a culture that encourages them to drink, and drink heavily. At many schools, social life is still synonymous with alcohol-lubricated gatherings” (Cohen). Binge drinking is a huge aspect of the culture of college life; many college students binge drink to become socially accepted in a particular group. Binge drinking is not only

Research has supported the observation that young people in America consume alcohol regularly; this prevalence of use increases rapidly during adolescence, as well as a few years afterward (Wagenaar and Wolfson 37). This has come to be a problem among college students. It has been shown through extensive quantitative and qualitative research that those under twenty-one years of age are able to obtain alcohol, which allows them to binge drink. Binge drinking holds many problems for college students: alcohol poisoning, DUIs, traffic accidents, and even fatalities.

Alcohol leads to other drugs and substance abuse, too. If the drinking age were to lower to eighteen, this would not change the actions of young partiers. “Alcohol should be forbidden to 18- to 20-year-olds precisely because they have a propensity to binge drink whether the stuff is illegal or not—especially males” (Main). Drinking alcohol usually leads to other illegal substances. “Youths who report drinking prior to the age of 15 are more likely to develop substance abuse problems, to engage in risky sexual behavior, and to experience other negative consequences in comparison to those who begin at a later time” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

In Alcohol, Tobacco, and Caffeine, shows that alcohol is a serious issue on campus universities. Especially being a binge drinkers, who are the cause of deaths, lack of interest in college, and even rape. However, university presidents are concerned about the student’s behavior on campus with alcohol use. They attend to provided leadership groups that help with students on alcohol abuse,

Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will delay underage drinking, as well as terrible injuries or deaths that result from such conduct. Keeping the drinking age at 21 is driving to more cases of binge drinking in a short time because it has become a ritual among this age group. However by lowering the drinking age to 18, the binge drinking practice will decline, because it will demystify the drunken experience therefore viewed the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages becomes a disciplined behavior.