Evaluating Effectiveness of the Americas Minimum Legal Drinking Age - Essay Example

Evaluating Effectiveness of the MLDA Argumentative Essay Introduction The essay in involves appraising effectiveness of arguments used in deriving the paper’s conclusion. Usually, arguments can either be deductive, where validity of a conclusion depends on logical procedure employed in supporting the hypothesis, or inductive, where validity of a conclusion depends on the degree of persuasion adopted in supporting the hypothesis. The underlying persuasion about America’s Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) is deductive in nature because the writer procedurally presents logical evidence in support of the essay’s conclusion. Conventionally, every argumentative essay should have a definite claim or hypothesis (Moore 32). In this case, MLDA essay claims that as adults, 18-year old Americans should be allowed to take alcoholic beverages. The premise in support of this claim is that American society expects youth attaining the age of 18 to be responsible, mature and independent, but fails to give them all the rights accorded to adult citizens in the country. In this context, young adults attaining the age of 18 should engage in all activities deemed legally permissible for adult American citizens. Value Claim for the MLDA Essay The essay tries to create the claim’s basis in the second paragraph by appraising the history of the current MLDA. Since teenagers become adults upon celebrating their 18th birthday, then social and administrative policies must be adjusted in a manner that respects the old sense adulthood. Current minimum drinking age of 21 contradicts with past policies relating to minimum age for adulthood. During the Vietnamese war in 1970s, America’s MLDA was reduced to 18 because “if soldiers who were old enough to fight for their country, it was decided that they were old enough to drink beer”. However, this premise was swiftly contradicted by the proposition that setting the minimum drinking age at 18 leads to increase in alcohol-related traffic accidents in American roads. Consequently, the Congress restored America’s Minimum Legal Drinking Age back to 21 years. In order to establish the skewed nature of America’s MLDA, succeeding parts of the essay contains detailed arguments highlighting on the shortcomings of thought patterns used in restoring the age to 21 years. At this juncture, it is worth acknowledging the fact that the essay succeeds in developing a concrete claim backed by use of statistical evidence and true premises. Argument 1: Analysis The first argument effectively presents both the absolute and relative parts of the underlying topic. Absolutism of raising the MLDA is supported by statistical evidence used by the congress in restoring the age back to 21 years. In the third paragraph, it is undeniable that restoration of the MLDA to 21 in 1984 led to substantial decrease in “death rate among young drivers”. However, the writer challenges the absolutism of this statistical fact by saying that decrease in road fatalities as a result of increasing the MLDA represents a tip of an iceberg, with the submerged portion standing for other factors contributing to road accidents. Evidence In this context, the first argument of the MLDA essay is effective because it contains both the absolute and the relative issues surrounding the minimum drinking age in America. In proofing the point, one has to appreciate the fact that a minimum age of 21 is not directly related to decrease in lives lost. Statistics from European nations insinuates that lives lost in American roads do not result explicitly from underage drinking. Rather, it is as a result of the general behavior and disposition of underage Americans after drinking. Europe adopts a system where teenagers are thoroughly trained on vehicle control techniques and safety measures in roads. Explanation Supposedly, such a training system has proven effective in reducing road fatalities for young drivers in Europe. In this regard, Americans should stop direct association between underage drinking and road fatalities. Relevant authorities should implement appropriate education programs meant to improve the general safety of young drivers in their roads. Such programs could include enlightening teenagers about physiological effects of alcohol conception, together with probable consequences of driving under the influence. Such education programs explains why Europe, with a MLDA of 18 experience less road fatalities from young drivers than the USA. Argument 2: Analysis Analysis of the second argument shows that the writer used the true premise of “alluring taboo associated with underage drinking”. As acknowledged earlier, effectiveness of an argumentative essay depends on the nature of premises used in supporting an underlying claim. False premises leads to poor conclusion while true premises, like the one of alcohol taboo, helps in substantiating components of a claim. Based on this argument, the writer point out that prohibition of underage alcohol consumption leads to increase in underground binge drinking. Subsequently, increase in underground drinking spills into a corresponding increase in cases of driving under the influence among the youth. Evidence In support of the prohibition taboo, the writer highlights that customary ban on alcohol for persons below the age of 21 is based on justifiable rationale. In paragraph 7 of the MLDA essay, evidence from the Youth Alcohol Prevention Center (YAPC) in Boston agrees those teenagers who start consuming alcohol earlier in their lives “are highly likely to develop serious problems with alcohol later.” Despite the health rationale of alcohol prohibition for young Americans, paragraph 12 of the essay admits that the current “ban on underage drinking on our nation’s college campuses is totally ineffective.” Explanation Based on these two contradicting evidence, it is undeniable that prohibition of alcohol to individuals below 21 years is alluring to America’s teenage population. This argument proves effective and procedural by clarifying that the current ban on underage drinking “contributes to its allure even among our brightest young people.” This argument means that lowering the current MLDA from 21 to 18 will make the alluring taboo to lose its appeal. Consequently, a MLDA of 18 render underage drinking unattractive and less enticing than the current MLDA of 21. Argument 3: Analysis Another argument developed effectively within the essay touches on the relationship between culture and alcohol consumption. Similar to the second argument, this third proposition proves effective in convincing those against lowering MLDA to consider the prevailing drinking attitude in America. Admittedly, Greek, Jewish and Italian cultures perceive alcohol consumption as a neutral habit. On the contrary, America labels alcohol consumption as an evil habit rather than viewing it as being a normal part of everyday life. Labeling of alcoholism as an evil habit is the reason why underage Americans engage in negative activity once they are intoxicated. Evidence As evidence, this premise argues that low tolerance of alcohol be American culture explains why college students under the age of 21 are allured to the “forbidden fruit” of alcohol consumption. Typical American homes forces teenagers to abstain from drinking or from alcohol related discussions. On the other hand, European cultures handle alcohol consumption in a civilized ad tolerable manner. Italians teaches their young adults to start learning on reasoned moderation in alcohol consumption. In fact, Italians serve alcohol at home, which makes young adults to enjoy their drinks “in an atmosphere of moderation”. Based on the underlying true premise of culture, such contexts usually promote learning under parental supervision. With respect to paragraph 3 of the essay, moderate attitudes towards alcohol coupled with balanced cultural perception about drinking yields 18-year teenagers with “mature, adult-like behavior.” Explanation In support of the underlying claim, extreme attitudes towards drinking adopted in most American homes are to blame for irresponsible and immature behavior demonstrated by American teenagers while drunk. This argument employs the true premises of cultural tolerance and attitude towards alcoholism in proving the level of maturity demonstrated by young drivers and students in the US. It is undeniable that embracing alcohol consumption as part of the society will solve the issue of underage drinking. This is because parents at home are more likely to provide a mature example on moderation to young adults than when left alone to engage in binge drinking. Conclusion After objective evaluation of the essay’s main claim, deductive reasons used and the conclusion derived, I believe the MLDA paper proved its proposition. In fact, procedure used by the writer in delivering evidential arguments and structuring the conclusion convinces a reader in viewing the MLDA 21as an absolute failure. At this juncture, I am of the opinion that the essay effectively presents all its arguments in a logical manner. Presence of statistical evidences as well as adoption of true premises to support the claim enhances success of the entire essay. In this regard, the essay not only contains all technical components of a good argumentative essay but also articulates logical presentation of true premises. Therefore, all premises, evidence and explanations provided supports my position about the essay’s effectiveness. Work Cited Moore, Brooke. Making your Case: Critical thinking and the argumentative essay. Harrisburg: McGraw-Hill College, 1995. Print. Read More