Argumentative Essay Final Draft

The drinking age should be lowered to 18 instead of 21. Alcohol is not as prominent in other countries as much as it is in the United States therefore the United States has one of the highest drinking ages. The government thinks that by making the drinking age 21 it will lessen drunken driving accidents and the use of alcohol by teenagers. The fact that the drinking age is 21 makes younger people want to do it more, because they know they are not allowed. The United States government feels that they are controlling the drinking problem by limiting the drinking age. At the age of 18 you are officially an adult, and all decisions you make you should be responsible for. At the age 18 you can drive, go to war for our country, vote for president, but the government feels that letting an 18 year old drink would cause chaos.

The government is afraid to lower the drinking age back to 18 because they think, that everyone from ages 18 to 21 will go crazy and drink so much and cause a lot of damage. In my opinion lowering the drinking age to 18 will not cause as much chaos as politics and the government believes, because teenagers younger than 18 drink already. What the government needs to realize is that if teenagers want to drink they will always find a way. In my opinion lowering the drinking age might lower the amount teens drink because they will be allowed to, and it won’t be as exciting. The government says that 18 year olds are not mature enough to drink, the government is especially afraid of drunken driving accidents. The percent of drunk driving accidents would not increase, because with the drinking age being 21, anyone under 21 still drinks and they make sure they don’t drive because it would be more illegal. The federal government raised the drinking age to 21, by threatening states to lessen federal funds if they didn’t raise the age as well. After only a little over 20 years of having the drinking age being 21, several states are thinking about lowering the drinking age to 18. A major argument is that soldiers that fight in Iraq can be shot at and defend our country but can’t legally drink on United States soil. "If you can take a shot on the battlefield you ought to be able to take a shot of beer legally," said Fletcher Smith, who has sponsored legislation to lower the drinking age in South Carolina (Goldberg 1).

With the drinking age at 21, it encourages more binge drinking for younger people, and puts them into more dangerous situations. "I know people in high school who drink and that's well below the drinking age. I don't feel like lowering the drinking age would promote kids to drink; they're already exposed to it. The laws are used to keep people under 21 from drinking, but people under 18 drink. What is the success of that?" (Travis 1). Many people are just oblivious to the fact that people under the age of 21 drink. Once in college there are so many opportunities to drink, there are certain bars that allow you in and allow you to drink if you have a college id, they don’t even check your age. In college there are people from ages 17 to above the drinking age, so having all the different ages makes it very easy for underage people to get alcohol. Underage drinkers for the most part have to hide the fact that they are drinking, which can be very dangerous to their health. “About 90% of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 years in the United States is in the form of binge drinks.” (Quick Stats on Binge Drinking) The government shows that binge drinking is the highest form of drinking in underage drinkers. The government also states that the highest rate of binge drinkers is between the ages of 18 and 20. Underage drinkers have to drink in hidden places so they won’t get tickets or in trouble from their parents, not being able to tell anyone they are drinking can cause people to die. Binge drinking is much more dangerous than lowering the drinking age to 18 and allowing 18 to 21 year olds to drink in bars, and clubs.



The government should lower the drinking age back to 18 because having the drinking age at 21, doesn’t stop younger people from drinking to begin with. The government is afraid of what will happen right when they lower the age, but they do not think about the long term changes. The government doesn’t think about how lowering the drinking age would also help them by the taxes they would make off of the younger people drinking. The government pretends they are trying to do what is best for the citizens, but drinking is bad weather you let 18 or 21 year olds legally do it. In the United States the 18 year olds are considered adults, and are given many responsibilities, they are allowed to vote, get married, live on their own, and enlist in the army. Any person who is allowed to go and fight for our country in my opinion should be allowed to have a legal drink in the United Sates.




Works Cited
Goldberg, Suzanne. "Us States consider lowering drinking age." The Guardian (2008): 19.
"Quick Stats on Binge Drinking." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008).
Travis, Helen Anne. "Debating the Drinking Age." St. Petersburg Times (2008): 18.

Extra credit about the G20 Project

This blog was very informational, i honestly had no idea about any of this and its crazy to actually see this happening in the US. The videos we watched in class were so shocking and they made it seem like the protestors were causing trouble when in fact they were just enforcing their free speech. I think the LRADs are way too powerful for a simple protest in Pennsylvania, and the police use tatics to keep the protestors from being able to leave. To know that the goverment has enough power to basically get away with anything they want if they say they need "emergency powers" is kind of scary. Our government is supposed to be a democracy and we are supposed to have the right to free speech, and free press and not allowing the protests to protest about the G20 project is infringing on that right. The news broadcasts that we watched about these protests made it seem like it was not the United States, and that the protestors were doing something wrong, and that the police had all right to do what they were doing.

Argumentative Essay

The United States drinking age should be lowered to 18 instead of 21. Alcohol is not as prominent in other countries as much as it is in the United States therefore the United States has one of the highest drinking ages. The government thinks that by making the drinking age 21 it will lessen drunk driving accidents and the use of alcohol by teenagers. The fact that the drinking age is 21 makes younger people want to do it more, because they know they are not allowed. The United States government feels that they are controlling the drinking problem by limiting the drinking age. At the age of 18 you are officially an adult, and all decisions you make you should be responsible for. At the age 18 you can drive, go to war for our country, vote for president, but the government feels that letting an 18 year old drink would cause chaos.

The government is afraid to lower the drinking age back to 18 because they think, that everyone from ages 18 to 21 will go crazy and drink so much and cause a lot of damage. In my opinion lowering the drinking age to 18 will not cause as much chaos as politics and the government believes, because teenagers younger than 18 drink already. What the government needs to realize is that if teenagers want to drink they will always find a way. In my opinion lowering the drinking age might lower the amount teens drink because they will be allowed to, and it won’t be as exciting. The government says that 18 year olds are not mature enough to drink, the government is especially afraid of drunk driving accidents. The percent of drunk driving accidents would not increase, because with the drinking age being 21, anyone under 21 still drinks and they make sure they don’t drive because it would be more illegal. The federal government raised the drinking age to 21, by threatening states to lessen federal funds if they didn’t raise the age as well. After only a little over 20 years of having the drinking age being 21, several states are thinking about lowering the drinking age to 18. A major argument is that soldiers that fight in Iraq can be shot at and defend our country but can’t legally drink on United States soil. "If you can take a shot on the battlefield you ought to be able to take a shot of beer legally," said Fletcher Smith, who has sponsored legislation to lower the drinking age in South Carolina (Goldberg 1).

With the drinking age at 21, it encourages more binge drinking for younger people, and puts them into more dangerous situations. "I know people in high school who drink and that's well below the drinking age. I don't feel like lowering the drinking age would promote kids to drink; they're already exposed to it. The laws are used to keep people under 21 from drinking, but people under 18 drink. What is the success of that?" (Travis 1). Many people are just oblivious to the fact that people under the age of 21 drink. Once in college there are so many opportunities to drink, there are certain bars that allow you in and allow you to drink if you have a college id, they don’t even check your age. In college there are people from ages 17 to above the drinking age, so having all the different ages makes it very easy for underage people to get alcohol. Underage drinkers for the most part have to hide the fact that they are drinking, which can be very dangerous to their health. If someone is with a group of people who are all binge drinking, no one is going to make sure everyone is still conscious. Underage drinkers have to drink in hidden places so they won’t get tickets or in trouble from their parents, not being able to tell anyone they are drinking can cause people to die. Binge drinking is much more dangerous than lowering the drinking age to 18 and allowing 18 to 21 year olds to drink in bars, and clubs.

The government should lower the drinking age back to 18 because having the drinking age at 21, doesn’t stop younger people from drinking to begin with. The government is afraid of what will happen right when they lower the age, but they do not think about the long term changes. The government doesn’t think about how lowering the drinking age would also help them by the taxes they would make off of the younger people drinking. The government pretends they are trying to do what is best for the citizens, but drinking is bad weather you let 18 or 21 year olds legally do it. In the United States the 18 year olds are considered adults, and are given many responsibilities, they are allowed to vote, get married, live on their own, and enlist in the army. Any person who is allowed to go and fight for our country in my opinion should be allowed to have a legal drink in the United Sates.






Works Cited
Goldberg, Suzanne. "Us States consider lowering drinking age." The Guardian (2008): 19.
Travis, Helen Anne. "Debating the Drinking Age." St. Petersburg Times (2008): 18.