The American Drinking Age Should be Lowered

The legal drinking age should be kept at 21, not lowered to 18 as some states have suggested. The lowered drinking age would only apply to beer, but this will still be a harmful decision for our country. It is due to the general lack of responsibility in American teenagers, the harmful effects of alcohol at any age, and that fact that our country needs to stay strict with inhibiting substances that I believe the drinking age should be left as it is now. [For clarification, I would like to state that I use the term teenager to refer to anyone between the years of 13 and 19] Today's American youth has yet to prove that it is responsible enough to handle the effects of a lowered drinking age. The image of a rebellious teenager, living without regard for safety, isn't just a stereotype. News stories of teenaged robberies and violence are hardly a rare case now days, so why should our country give into the wishes of reckless children? Supporters of the lowered drinking age will argue that most teenagers and young adults are already drinking illegally, so lowering the drinking age won't show a increase in young drinkers as some may fear. So what if it won't change the amount of drinkers? But we, as a country, shouldn't tell teenagers that they can legally drink just because they were already doing it! Our government should take a more responsible role and put more focus on teaching sobriety and better enforcing the laws we have now, rather than change or make laws to appease the problem. Even looking away from the underage drinkers now, most teens can't handle the responsibility of drinking at such a young age. At eighteen, most young adults are just beginning to fully grasp independence from their parents and begin to make their own decisions. It has been proved time and time again that alcohol impairs decision making, so is it really a good idea to make it legal to drink just when teens start making some of the most defining decisions of their lives? At eighteen, a person has a lot to deal with; Paying rent, paying for food, college, working, taxes, bills, and all of the other things they never had to worry about as minors. Even without adding alcohol into the equation, these developing adults have enough to deal with. It is stupid to assume that they could handle the responsibilities that come with drinking at such a stressful point in their lives. My second point explains the fact that, aside from the emotional unreadiness, a young adult's body is often not prepared for what alcohol/beer will throw at them. Alcohol addiction, or alcoholism, is a big problem amongst present drinkers. Many persons who are now alcoholics started drinking before the current drinking age, rendering them a life-long slave to their substance. Lowering the drinking age would only increase the number of clinical alcoholics and further damage the families plagued by the disease. But addiction isn't the worst of things alcohol will do to a young drinker's body. A study on the effects of drinking on the minds of young adults and teenagers was recently published in "Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research", showing conclusive evidence that drinking between the ages of 18 and 21 decreased the size and functionality of the pre-frontal cortex, which is the region of the human brain that controls decision making. The same study went on to explain that after a life of early-stated drinking, patients show decreased brain size and a lower mental capacity. As if the prior two reasons weren't enough, young drinking influences bad habits. Drinking is commonly associated with both gambling and obsessive binge-partying which can both be life changing addictions if left in the hands of a developing alcoholic. Gambling, which is legal in most states at eighteen, is the participation in games that revolve around the circulation of money and probability. Coupled with the judgement inhibiting effects of alcohol, gambling could permanently screw up anyone's financial life early on. To make my final point, I would like to state that it is our legislature's job to stay strict with the laws protecting the well-being of our youth. We can't change these laws simply because some may think that they aren't being followed at the current time. Assuming that teenagers and young adults will 'Do it anyway' is a wrong and lazy thing for law makers to think. The government, at many times, has been compared to a parent. Keeping with this analogy, would a good parent lessen it's rules when they aren't being followed? No, a good parent would stick with the rules it had previously established and enforce these rules until the child matures. As I have previously stated, drinking is often associated with bad habits. Whether it is partying, gambling, or the emotional swings associated with drinking, most eighteen year could do without these life devouring habits. We need to do everything in our power to set our youth on the path for a responsible life and with a young drinking age, this is not possible. We can not demote ourselves to the position where we change laws just because they are not being followed properly. This would not only be a sign of weakness, but also a sign that we aren't willing do do whatever is necessary to secure the future of our youth and our country.