The legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen years old. You cannot stop anyone from doing something that they want to do and if the age were lowered, then they would be able to do it legally. When teenagers turn eighteen they are “adults” and should decide for themselves if they want to drink or not. Since most eighteen years olds are still at home with their parents, they can properly educate their children and teach them to drink responsibly. The legal drinking age of twenty-one should be lowered to eighteen years old because they will do it anyways, other life changing choices are made at eighteen and lastly parents can watch and supervise their child’s drinking.
There is a little saying that when something is illegal people want to try it even more. If you cannot drink when you are eighteen and in high school then they are tempted to drink excessively and when they get to college it is worse. People binge drink (get wasted) when they are not allowed to drink openly. If they get caught they automatically ruined the rest of their lives and keep paying for it as years go by. People will be more open about when they are drunk or not if they are eighteen or older because they will not be breaking the law. They will decide that they should not drive home when they have had too much to drink and will instead get in a car with a designated driver. When people turn eighteen they can do many legal things except drink alcohol.
At eighteen people are allowed to get married, join the army, sign contracts and do other life changing things but they cannot drink. People can make a choice to get married and have kids which change their whole life and bring about even more stresses. People can join the army and get killed in the line of duty but they cannot drink. Most countries besides America has a drinking age lower than twenty-one and they are doing all right with their young people. It is true that people are involved in car crashes when they drink too much alcohol but if they know they are drunk and feel like they have to sneak around and get home then they are more likely to drive home drunk. If they were able to drink legally and knewthat it is something they would not get punished for, they would get a designated driver or tell their parents so that their parents could pick them up and help them out.
Most teenagers turn eighteen when they are still in high school and at home. Parents become more aware that their kids are drinking. They could educate their kids and figure out a plan so their child did not drive home drunk. Also, when their child is allowed to have a party they could make sure that everyone who is drunk stayed at their house and did not drive home. The parents could better educate and prepare their kids for a world where drinking can be healthy and not toxic.
The legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years old in the United States. First, people are going to drink anyway it is just a matter of how old they are, how much they drink and what they do afterward. Second, at eighteen people are legally adults and should make their own decisions. Third, parents would be more involved with their drinking behavior and could help them make the correct choices. There could even be a compromise that eighteen year olds were not allowed to drink hard alcohol but could drink everything else, such as beer and wine. It would satisfy young adults and maybe even make the roads and highways safer because then the drinking would be out in the open.