Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years - Essay Example

Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years?In the recent past, there has been much debate on whether to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 or not. With adulthood comes the rights, responsibilities and privileges of being one, with the American law describing an adult as that person who is 18 years old or more. This person has the legal authority to enter into contracts, marry without the consent of parents, serve in the military and vote among others, except drinking alcohol. This essay postulates that the drinking age should not be 18.

Psychologically, humans would want to do what they have been prohibited from doing. The push would even be more for an adult, at 18, who would be allowed all other privileges of an adult apart from alcohol consumption. It would cause a feeling of being unjustly targeted resulting in resistance to the implied injustice in an attempt to regain control. Therefore, such persons would be driven more to drinking, referred to as reactance motivation by Hanson (2012). Since these persons are already adults, they should be allowed to drink to avoid such eventualities.

Such a viewpoint is useful to examine due to the fact that as long as the crimes associated with alcohol are limited to the actual age of consumption; very little positive effects to society are instigated. On the flip side, if the bulk of the crime that is a function of alcohol consumption can be linked to those crimes committed under its influence (which has been proven to be the case), then such crimes should be treated distinctly separately from those associated with merely imbibing alcohol while underage.

Moreover, due to the fact that research indicates that reducing the drinking age would have minimal behavioral change, it is not really a contributing factor to modifying the behavior of the target demographic. Such a change would only be achieved through proper training, giving responsibilities and holding one accountable for whatever actions. Therefore, with all these benefits attached to the raised drinking age, it would be beneficial to reduce the drinking age to 18.ReferenceHanson, D. J. (2012).

The legal drinking age: science vs. ideology. Potsdam, NY: State University of New York. Retrieved 26 November 2012 from http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1046348726.html