Your 18th birthday is quite a big milestone. There are so many freedoms you get when you finally turn 18. You are not, however, awarded the freedom to drink alcohol.
The legal drinking age of alcohol being 21 and not 18 has never made sense to me. How is it fair that you are able to get married, yet can’t legally have champagne at your wedding? How can we allow people to fight and die for our country all before you are old enough to kick back and have a beer with your friends?
The legal drinking age in the United States has been 21 years of age since The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984. The restriction of alcohol was initially enacted to lessen the amount of drunk driving with the help of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. With their influence, President Ronald Reagan passed the bill telling states to raise the age or face a 10 percent cut in their federal taxes.
Some people might say that 18-year-old college students wouldn’t be mature enough to drink if the drinking age was lowered. But we find them mature enough to live on their own, go to prison for crimes, and decide who runs our country, right? I would much rather some 18-year-olds drink than choose our president, that’s for sure.
Everyone knows college students drink anyway. We also know how crazy they get. But it’s not really their fault though. It has to do with the culture of drinking in America. The United States is one of few countries who has a drinking age this high. In many European countries, kids grow up drinking under the supervision of their parents. When they are 18, or in some countries, 16, they are able to drink on their own.
When they get the chance to drink alone, they most likely do it responsibly because it hasn’t been off limits to them their whole young lives. I think drinking like this while growing up would be much better for people.
According to a recent article published in the Huffington Post, Dr. Patrick Neustatter, author and current medical director at Lloyd Moss Free Clinic in Virginia, agrees Europeans consume alcohol more responsibly.
“I will say that as someone who grew up in England, and has lived in America for several decades, I can say it seems like younger Europeans do have a more respectful, controlled attitude towards consuming alcohol,” Neustatter as quoted saying.
I‘ve grown up with the mindset that alcohol is supposed to be off limits until you turn 21. My parents hardly ever drank and I never saw alcohol in the house. For me, all this did was make me want to figure out what all the commotion was about, and try it even more. So, I’ve looked forward to turning 21 for quite some time.
Some people aren’t waiting until 21 to try it though. Teens and young adults rebel; that’s just human nature. That means, regardless of the law or what their parents tell them, young adults are going to drink. And because of the law, they are doing it in unsafe places in effort to avoid being caught. And since they haven’t been exposed to it before, they consume it in excessive amounts because they aren’t aware how much they can handle.
Surprisingly, many students at Tallahassee Community College are not in favor of lowering the drinking age.
Shayla Clark, a second year student, is one of the people who feels this way.
“It would not be a good idea,” Clark said. “People are not mature enough at that age to be responsible.”
TCC Student Government Association President Cody Rodgers has a more moderate view.
“I’m neither for nor against it,” Rodgers said. “We know people are going to drink anyway. I would just question if it affects brain function.”
To me, being 18 means you are an adult, and are entitled to every freedom that comes with adulthood. This would include drinking alcoholic beverages. If the drinking age were lowered, and our culture made alcohol less “taboo” and more of a normal thing, I think it would actually promote a more safe and smart way for people to do what they have probably already been doing since they were 16.
