Why Drinking Age Should Be Lowered by Ruth C. Engs - Essay Example

? Introduction In an article “Why drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research wrote by Ruth C. Engs, an Applied Health Sciences professor in Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana dated March 20, 1988, 18 to 19 years of age should be legally allowed to drink, and thus, young adults must be permitted to drink in restaurants, taverns, pubs, or even in the official school and university functions (Engs, R. C. 1988). According to the CBSNews, legalization of drinking within the young people in public places would reduce their task in the enforcement of the law and that they can focus on other problems (CBSNews, 2010). This article as well as those articles related to this tone tackles one of the main problems the youth faces in all races all around the world. Drinking has been seen as one of the most basic manifestations in the transformation of teenagers to young adulthood and the reality lies on the fact that not only youngsters are getting involved in the issues but as well as their immediate families and friends. The issue of drinking, including the effects and consequences in the young adult transcends to the most basic element of the society which is the family and this is the reason why tackling the issue of drinking among the young adult is vital and demands our attention. Allowing the young adults ages below 21 to have a legal basis in drinking to public establishments or anywhere else they would want to be is a worthy issue to talk, discussed, refute, and resolve because this is a general issue concerning the entire young adult in all races and in all places. Opponents Arguments Some points have been presented by the author in his article “Why drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research, and it is important to scrutinize some of these points to be able to come up with clear picture about the issue being talked about. Ages 18 to 19 must be the legal age for drinking among the young adult and they must be allowed to drink in public establishment or even in some of the officially functions of schools and universities. However, in this manner, young people could be taught through educational programs and is expected to be mature when it comes to drinking behavior. Nevertheless, this is based upon the research of the author in his more than twenty years of involvement in the college of youth and the history of drinking in the United States as well as other cultures. Despite the fact that the age 21 is the legal age to purchase alcohol, irresponsible manner in consuming alcohol is manifested among the young adult below this age. Furthermore, some of the considerations given to the young adult for drinking were, drinking is inviting, manifestations of rebellion from the authority, and a symbol of adulthood. Current law prohibiting drinking below the age of 21 proves to be not working just like all the laws that existed in the past (1850’s and 1920’s), these laws were found to be hard to enforce and repercussions cause social problems just the same as to what had occurred in the past. Prohibitions through laws are not working on the young adult under the age of 21. Considering the existence of the law, there is a bigger percentage of drinkers that is below the age of 21: 32% of the students are heavy drinkers compared to 21 years of age and above which is only 24%. Even before the implementation of the purchase laws in 1987, research shows up to the present the decreased in the drinking and driving related accident and this is because of the education given with regard to drunk driving, increased in seatbelts, and lower speed limits. However, Along with the decrease of the accidents during that time was the increased on the problem related to heavy and irresponsible drinking among the college student’s ages below 21 are manifested such as 46% of drinking student heavily rise to 50%, 9% cutting class after drinking rise to 12%, 26% absentees because of hangover rise to 28%, and the 12% students getting the lower grade rise to 17%. The reason behind the excessive drinking among the young people’s behavior is because of the “underground drinking”, without the supervision of the adult or authority, and lack of knowledge with regard to responsible drinking behavior. Based on the researches conducted, it was obvious and relevant to say that the 1987 law prohibiting ages below 21 in drinking is not working, it must be subjected for changes and that is to legally allow young people below 21 to drink and face the responsibility of drinking behavior. Refutations, Arguments, and recommendations 1. The author of the article cited above claims those 18 to 19 years of age must be legally accepted in drinking because young people of this age could be taught of responsible drinking behavior as an educational programs and the maturity in drinking behavior will be expected. To refute with this opinion, Young people or teenagers are more vulnerable to drink because they thought that this is part of their growing up and they can be taught about proper way of handling drinking behaviors without putting down the age allowed by law which is 21. It would be highly recommended to give them the awareness about drinking whether it will be in the house or in the school. In support to this, Duncan Walker cited on the BBC News online Magazine dated September 23, 2004 that the young people aged below 21 drinks more as well as those who are at a younger age and this problem leads to the increase of the crime levels and serious health problems (Walker, D. 2004). 2. Laws prohibiting drinking below aged 21 are not working, hard to enforce, and the outcome of the implementation of the law leads to social problems. To refute this opinion, proper implementation of the Law gives better result in the enforcement, and thus, it is not true that the law is not hard to enforce and thus this does not lead to social problem. To support this argument, David J. Hansom, Ph.D. reiterated the National Minimum Drinking Act of 1984 requiring all the states about the purchase of alcohol and public possession be granted only to people aged 21. The enforcement and the implementation of the law is very much evident through the reduction in the highway funds under the Federal highway Aid Act. This Law does not prohibit people aging below 21 to drinks but rather prohibits their purchase and possession publicly (Hanson, D 1984).. 3. The so called “underground drinking” is one of the reasons of the excessive drinking among the young people. This means that they are hiding upon drinking from the adult and the lack of Knowledge about responsible drinking behaviors. It is relevant to refute this opinion because there is no such thing as “underground drinking” and awareness could be given to the young people aging below 21 by their parents or either in the school. Nevertheless, no one could ever prohibit young people from drinking especially if they are in private places like their house, having a family gatherings, etc. In support with this rebuttal, Law it self says, “The National Minimum age Drinking Act does not prohibit drinking to people below the age 21 or does it requires the states to prohibit such drinking” (Hanson, D. 2004) . Conclusion As the law provides, drinking is an equal opportunity for the young people both on the ages 21 and below but the prohibition of purchasing and public possession on the young people below the age of 21 must be obtained and must not be meltdown to 18 to 19 years of age. This is one way on how to reduce crimes and accidents brought about by the effects of heavy drinking. This opinion is supported by Duncan Walker of the BBC News Online Magazine. References Engs, R.C. (1988). Why the Drinking age should be Lowered: An opinion based on research. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Retrieved on July 26, 2011, at http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/articles/cqoped.html Walker, D. (2004). Is it time to raise the bar on drinking? BBC News Online Magazine. Retrieved on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3681462.stm Hanson, D. (2004). The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Retrieved on July 26, 2011 at http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1092767630.html CBSNews, 2010.The debate on lowering the Drinking Age. Retrieved on July 26,2011 at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/19/60minutes/main4813571_page2.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody Read More