...Old enough to fight, old enough to drink Brandon Molett Sociology: 120 Instructor Daniel Beteta April 23rd 2013 There has been an age old conflict regarding the United States military. If you are old enough to fight and die for your country, why are you not old enough to enjoy an alcoholic beverage? Marines who are 18 can be thrown into the very teeth of it. They face death in battle. They make life-and-death decisions in split seconds. But here's a simple choice they can't make: “Miller or Bud?” (Stetz, 2007) Some may argue that 17, 18, 19, and 20 year olds are not capable of handling the responsibilities that go along with consuming alcoholic beverages. To those people I say, if you do not trust someone under the age of 21 to be responsible when it comes to alcohol consumption, then why do you trust them to carry firearms into battle and make life and death situations? In 2007 the United States Marine Corps listened to these complaints from the Marines and decided that Marines, who were overseas, in ports of call where the drinking age was under 21, would allow those Marines to consume alcohol. It is also up to the commanders’ discretion to approve beer being served on special occasions such as returning from war. These Marines would only be allowed to drink on base though. These young people are being asked to make enormous sacrifices, said John McCardell, the former president of Middlebury College in Vermont who runs Choose Responsibility...
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...Eligibility I expect you to protect our country. I am going to give you a gun and when ordered to I expect you to take another human life without question. I expect you to be willing to die and watch others around you die. However you will not be allowed to drink alcohol and if you do you may face military and criminal charges. This is what we tell our soliders that are under the age of twenty-one. While most of us agree that the legal drinking age should be twenty-one plus there should be exceptions for our military personal who we expect to protect our country and die if needed. The minimum age to join the military in the United States in seventeen years old with parental consent or eighteen years old without parental consent. If we consider this in greater detail we can surmise that at age eighteen you are old enough to make the choice to join the military and put your life at risk. You are also given a great responsibility of protecting our country. For those that do not enlist in the military their responsibilities are typically much less. While there are certain to be exceptions, most young adults between the age of eighteen and twenty-one are concerned with school, work, friends and dating. Their level of maturity and understanding on life is not fully developed and they are just starting to explore the world on their own. Prior to 1984 some states did allow people to buy and consume alcohol at the age of eighteen. However the federal government has passed the National...
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...Professor Howard ENG-123 13 Jun 2015 Lowering the Drinking Age The drinking age in America needs to be changed to align our cultural values with the rest of the worlds. In America there is no real reason to support the fact that we need to wait until the age of 21 to drink. To think that 21 is the age when everyone is mature enough to drink is just speculation. At 18 you are allowed to buy tobacco and even tattoo yourself. So how could lawmakers come to the decision that we need to wait until 21 in order to consume a beer? The main argument against keeping the drinking age at 21 is the fact that it may cause problems in the development in the frontal lobes of the brain. There is only minimal supporting evidence that actually shows any problems in normal drinking habits. Many people feel that the drinking age that is set in place is biased and a form of prohibition to the people who are 18 to 20. We need to stand up to lawmakers in the government and ensure that the laws that are emplaced to protect and allow for “adults” to make their own decisions. The fact that the brain may not be fully developed until the age of 21, the drinking age should be lowered because you are considered an adult at 18 and can die for your country and the primary reason states are refusing to change the law is for fear of losing federal funding for roads from the government. There is controversy surrounding the primary argument against lower the drinking age which is the assertion that the...
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...Some may wonder the age old question, why should we be able to serve our country and possibly die in war but not drink until you turn 21? This question has been asked many time but instead of a right or wrong answer it is more of an opinion type of an answer instead of a set answer. But there are many factors that go into this key role in the debate War age V. Drinking age, like war and drink aren’t the same thing and drinking if for fun but war isn’t. Most of the things said about these are opinions and are right and wrong. I do believe that I will go with the side that allows you to drink when you are 18 and not 21 mainly because if kids are going to drink they will do so ether way. Second off drinking is common in other countries and how...
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...United States by laurie rose The law states that you can start drinking legally at 21 in the United States. Some people think that a federal law should be passed that reduces the drinking age to 18 in all states. I agree with this side of the argument. It is not just young people who are for lowering the drinking age but some legislators as well. Representative Bob Lynn who is in the state legislature of Alaska also argues that the drinking age should be lowered for 18 year olds in the military. “Why do we consider 18-year-olds old enough to join the military, to fight and die for our country, but not to have a drink with their friends before they ship out or while they are home or on leave?” (Minton) Phyllis Kahn who is a state representative of Minnesota has fought for years to lower the drinking age in her home state. She proposed two bills this year on this topic in her state. One bill would lower the drinking age in bars and restaurants to 18. The other bill would allow underage teenagers who are accompanied by a parent or a spouse who is of legal age. She feels that if teenagers want to drink, they need to do it socially instead of getting alcohol from an older friend or relative and then binge drink. It would also eliminate the need for fake IDs. (Belden) In the 1970s the drinking age in many states used to be 18. In 1984, Congress passed the 1984 National Drinking Age Act which lets Congress withhold money from the state’s federal highway funds if the legal...
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...gun and do a host of things that they could not have done the day before. Young people are also held accountable for their own actions and could be sued in court or thrown in jail for crimes they have committed; they are forced to sign up for the draft, risking the possibility of being sent off to distant lands to fight wars and they are now forced to pay taxes if they have a job. So with all these responsibilities and privileges given to 18 year olds, why not allow them to consume alcohol? Lowering the age limit to 18 is a great idea that can be a benefit for many. It teaches young adults to be responsible; “The majority of the people around the world who are introduced to alcohol at an early age and learn to drink appropriately (often at home, with food and in the company of family) continued to drink responsibly and rarely get drunk, so that drinking poses no threat to themselves or others” (Heath, 2000); it helps the government build a better infrastructure by taxing the alcohol consumed by these young people and finally, it is just plain fair. Our youth can kill for our country but they are not allowed to take a sip of alcohol? It is a double standard that should be eliminated. According to the Andrea C Nakaya, “National beer sales alone pull in $30 billion in taxes. The beer industry in the U.S. spends $1.36 billion in advertising annually, employs 1.78 million people and pays $54 billion in wages and benefits. These numbers are even greater when the drinking age is lowered”...
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...be lowered because fewer people will abuse alcohol , adult supervision will help teenagers at a young age ,and drinking helps with anxiety and depression. If the legal drinking age is decreased many teens would more than likely start drinking wisely. Adult supervision will tell the teens when enough is enough. If the teenagers suffers with anxiety or depression they could drink and feel better about what they are suffering and going through. If the drinking age is lowered many alcoholics would learn how to control their drinking habits. Even though the majority of humans argue that we should not lower the legal drinking age, but raise it, raising it could be a bad idea. Having the age remains the same or raising...
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...think it should be lowered to eighteen is because even before eighteen or twenty one people still drink. So if people are still going to decide to drink although they are not of age, why shouldn’t they be allowed? Secondly, there would be a lot less arrests to be made because of under age drinking, the reason i say this is because they wouldn’t have to be rebellious about it. Another great reason is there would be less problems in general, statistics show that in the countries that lowered it there were less problems with drinking. Lastly, I personally feel as though less laws would be broken, because again they wouldn’t have to be rebellious about sneaking around to drink. For kids nowadays it’s really not that hard for us to get alcohol. The reason I say this is because if we have the money and older friends, that older friend can just buy it for us. The second reason is we can have parents that thinks drinking is ok and basically say it’s ok to drink just as long as your home....
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...alcoholic beverages. “Most cultures where alcohol consumption is legal have a mandated threshold age at which buying and/or consuming alcohol becomes permitted” (International Center for Alcohol Policies, 2011, para. 5). Currently, the United States has set the legal age to drink at 21. The age was once 18; however, society has changed its views concerning this issue. Because the legal drinking age changed to 21 there was an increase in mortality rate at age 21, increase in motor vehicle accidents, and increase in suicides. Even though 18 is considered an adult and a person should be able to make his or her own decisions, the drinking age should not be lowered because teens lack the maturity to handle alcohol and teens are at a higher risk of alcohol-related deaths. This debate has two sides as some people are for lowering the age to 18 again and some against. Many will argue that the average drinking age around the world is 18. According to International Center for Alcohol Policies (2011), “Minimum drinking and purchase ages in countries around the world range from 16 to 25 years of age, with 18 being the most common age limit” (para. 6). Others say that if a person age 18 is old enough to serve and die for his or her country, he or she should be permitted to consume alcoholic beverages. Should the drinking age be lowered to 18? This paper will weigh the pros and cons as well as identify potential issues associated with this debate. Pros on the Debate Many people still...
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...drinking. My experience is that I drank in high school. I drank before I was 21 and the only trouble I ever got into is because of the nonsensical laws. I got an underage drinking ticket; one or maybe two. It’s totally wrong that a society, a Nation that claims to be free, tells young men and women that they are old enough to die, be issued weapons and ordered into combat to terminate other human lives but they cannot consume alcohol? Whether it be hard liquor, moonshine, beer, or just a glass of wine it’s totally wrong! The mistakes and foolishness of the few should not justify the raping of freedoms from the whole population of 18 to 20 year olds! Furthermore I know many Veterans. One Veteran in particular, when he was 20 years old, the Port Washington, WI PD gave him a fine. Right after he got back from Iraq because he was at a party drinking. Talk about a lack of respect, respect for what he's done! Those cops have the nerve to wear the same flag on their uniform and claim they are there to protect & serve. This whole topic makes me more than angry. It still infuriates me to this day and I'm 30 years old. I think it is so wrong that 19, 20 and 18 year old Soldiers cannot drink, let alone a civilian population that can join the military if they choose to. All I ask for is there to be one real legal adult age, no more double standards. If at 18 you can vote, sign a legal contract, legally get married & procreate, buy long guns, join the military the list goes on and on. But then you...
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...Argument Should the age of drinking alcohol be lowered? One side would argue it should not be changed because people will start drinking at an even younger age. They would also say that more deaths among teenagers will occur by changing the law. Also, they would argue that teenagers are not responsible enough to be drinking at such a young age. The otherside; however, would say it should be changed because it would decrease the amount of teenagers drinking as a whole. They would also argue that it will help teenagers think less about partying and focus more on their school work. The drinking age should not be lowered to drink alcohol. The first problem that could occur by lowering the drinking age is people will start drinking at an even younger age. Now people in high school have partied and drank getting ready for the big twenty one, well what could be next, children in grade school? Teenagers are not able to make such decisions when they are under the influence of alcohol. When drinking you lose train of thought and some people do not remember the next morning. Therefore, Morleo explains “These individuals are at risk of a range of harms including violence and regretted/unprotected sex” (Morleo 1). This quote states that drinking alcohol at such a young age or even at all can make regrets and see things most young teens are not suppose to experience. Drinking alcohol is different for everyone; some people get mean while others get happy and nice. Even alcoholism could run...
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...| Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 | Sociology 100 | | John Max | | STRAYER UNIVERSITY 12/8/2012 Professor Taylor, Grace Individuals born prior to 1966 had the right to drink alcohol legally in the United States at the age of 18. In 1984 the United States changed its legal drinking age from 18 to 21. The legal drinking age in the United States of America should be lowered from the age of 21 to the age 18. Americans today are mature enough at the age of 18 to drink responsibly. Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will have a positive outcome for American society. Lowering the legal drinking age affects the country as a whole, as well as many countries around the world. When considering the issue in a global perspective view, the United States is only one of four countries that have a drinking age as high as 21. In just about every other country around the world there is little or no social pressure to drink. In the countries where the legal drinking age set to 18 irresponsible behavior is never tolerated. Young people learn at home from their parents and from other adults how to handle alcohol in a responsible manner. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development states that development occurs in stages. The second stage which is known as the conventional level appears in the teenage years. Kohlberg believes that in this stage young people lose some of their selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong in terms...
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...Lcpl Redfern Ssgt Holdberg EMP 20140306 Underage Drinking Alcohol has become the root of many issues in not only the United States but also around the world. There are a countless number of effects it has on your body physically, mentally, and emotionally. From all types health problems such as diseases and cancers, to the the bad decsions you make while under the influence such as drinking and driving and suicide, to the deppression and sadness it can bring. Everyone likes to go and drink to have a good time, but it has become such an abused drug that is ruining many peoples lives because they can't control it. None more than the people who drink underage. Alcohol use by people under the age of 21 is a major problem in the US. It is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth, more than tobacco and illicit drugs. Although drinking under the age of 21 is illegal, people ages 12 to 20 consume more than 11% of all alcohol in the United States each year. Underage drinking has become an epidemic, gradually getting worse every year. Alcohol is responible for the death of almost 5,000 teens each year and approximately 190,000 emergency room visits. Nearly 9 million youths, ages 12-20, report they have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. The rate of current alcohol consumption increases with increasing age according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 1% at age 12 to 15% at age 16 and 39%...
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...cannot figure out where the shooting is coming from. You stay low and pray that you will not be struck by a bullet. Thankfully the shooting eventually stops and you escape with only a few minor wounds. You go back to camp and tell your comrades about your near-death experience. At this point you are still on edge and need help calming down. A drink of alcohol would do just the trick. However, you are just an 18 year old adult and not a 21 year old adult so you cannot legally consume alcohol yet. But don’t worry, you can still fight and die for your country. How can we possibly send 18 year olds to war, but not allow them to drink alcohol? To adults under the age of 21, alcohol is seen as a forbidden fruit. Since they cannot legally have it, they want it that much more. So when they are granted an opportunity to drink, they do so in a dangerous way. This binge drinking is where many alcohol related injuries come from, and what must be decreased. According to our laws, an 18 year old has enough maturity and judgment to drive a car, sign a legally binding contract, perform jury duty, and vote. Why shouldn’t they be able to decide if they want a drink or not? The drinking age should be lowered to the age of majority, which at this time, is 18. This decrease in the drinking age will allow young adults to safely consume alcohol in regulated environments. In turn, this will decrease the risk of alcohol-related injuries that result from unsupervised drinking. When a person turns 18 they...
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...Holy Grail of Adulthood Introduction The United States, one of the most advanced nations around, is one of four countries that have kept their Minimum Drinking Age at 21. Due to the National Minimum Drinking Age (NMDA) being age 21, the United States has been removed from the category with the Advanced Western Nations and was lumped in with small countries like Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, etc. In order to find out why the United States is willing to be clumped with small, developing places like those above, many people have done research and conducted tests on various drinking related activities of both the past and the present. The research on the ongoing debate has found that while many people were for lowering the NMDA, there were just as many that were against lowering it. Back Ground Info During the Year 2009, various instances of vehicular deaths or accidents involving alcohol were documented. The statistics showed that the age group of 21- 24 held the highest percentage of fatal vehicular accidents with BAC levels being .08 or higher. This shows that regardless of the NMDA, newly fledged drinkers are the cause of most accidents. Courtney Carlson, an editor of The Californian says, “All European and many South and Central American countries have a legal drinking age of 18 or younger” (Carlson). Canada has a drinking age of 19; Germany has a drinking age of 16 for beer. These countries along with many others have a have NMDA of 18 or 19. Researchers were curious as...
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