Drinking age

EAP1-A WW
GilJae Yeo
Argument Essay #1

Drinking Age

Nowadays, many people have got problems about drinking alcohol. Have they ever drink underage? What do you think about whether young people can drink alcohol? Now so many underage people drink while they go to high-school or university. It causes drunk driving and fights with other people. Sometimes people die by drinking too much. However, the alcohol is not really dangerous. Moreover, there is no big difference between adults’ drinking and young people’s drinking. The accidents are not related to drinking, because these accidents also happen when people are not drunk. In fact, the number of accidents is not really big compared to the number of people who are drinking underage. The law that limits qualification of age for buying alcohol causes young people to want to drink alcohol.

People have to have the freedom to drink without the restriction of law because people who are high school students have circumstantial judgments and students have to learn about how to control them.

First, high-school students have already got liability for an accident when they make problems. According to Will’s article, Mccardell says that alcohol is “a reality in the lives of 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds” (Will, 2007, para. 2). For example, when university students make money and live apart from family, they would meet more people in society than when they were in high school. So sometimes they need to drink alcohol, because they want to make good relationships. If the law limits the drinking age, they would not have a good relationship with their friends. Because of that, sometimes they infringe the law to drink alcohol.

Secondly, high-school students have to learn about how to control themselves. For example, American schools have a driving test when they are going to school. Sometimes they make a mistake such as drunken driving, fighting with other people or damaging other people. These problems are caused because they have not had any alcohol education. It has come to this, they have to have education about drinking alcohol.

Opponents say that we should not change the law. According to Mulcahey`s article, “The drinking laws were set at 21 years old for a reason.” (Mulcahey, 02, para. 5). Although some people do that, not every person does. The law should not ban drinking alcohol at that age for only a few people who make problems. So many underage people need to drink alcohol when they meet important people and after they finish work. For these reasons, the law should be changed, because many people need to drink alcohol.

In conclusion, they can be responsible when they are 21, when they have a problems, and students need to be educated about drinking alcohol. This is because they made their decision, and they have to pay the consequences of their responsibility. They have to have education about drinking alcohol, it will definitely decrease the accidents. So we need to lower the drinking age. It will have a good influence on many young people.


References

Mulcahey, S. (2002, Jan. 30). Lowering drinking age is not a solution. Retrieved February 5, 2008, from: http://www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2002/01/30/Opinion/Lowering.Drinking.Age.Is.Not.A.Solution-443723.shtml

Will, G. F. (2007, April 19). Drinking Age Paradox. Washinton post. Retrieved February 5, 2008, from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041802279_pf.html