The drinking age lowered

My opponent starts off with: "I will begin my own argument by asking my opponent to provide reliable sources for the statistics he had cited." Well, here they are http://family.samhsa.gov... http://www.renewamerica.us... http://why21.org... These are just some of many sources I have used to come up with my statistics. He states: "Well, not exercising the proper amount each week is harmful to development as well. I doubt Con would advocate allowing the government to regulate exercise, or create an age limit for video gaming. Similarly, television has been shown to harm brain development in toddlers. A study suggests 1 1/2 hours of television per day for toddlers is "harmful in terms of children's attentional abilities later in life, harmful in terms of their cognitive development." Well, firstly there is a significant difference between not exercising enough and watching TV or playing video games. Not exercising enough and watching TV or playing video games does NOT harm other people in your surroundings; alcohol does. Many stats have shown that 55% of family violence occur in homes of alcoholics, incest is more likely to occur in homes with alcoholics then in homes with no alcoholics, children of Alcoholics are 3 times more likely to become alcoholics themselves. http://www.doitnow.org... There is the source since I know my opponent will ask. This all relates with the debate because kids who drink underage are more likely to become alcoholics in the future, then people who are 21 or over. He stated: "Additionally, the drinking age has proven to be ineffective. Studies of the era before and after age-specific prohibition reveal "little impact upon behavior."[2] For instance, a study conducted examining the before and after affects on 18 and 19 year old college students in New York showed that prohibition made had no effect on students' consumption rates or their view on alcohol. [3] From these studies, it is clear that the prohibition has little to no affect on consumption practices." Now, I do not know how they handled this study since you nor I was there but reading from what you wrote this does not sound like a well done study. They probably took kids who have already been drinking prior they did the study and of course had no effect because the kids were already conditioned to drink. Also in this study of yours did the students have consequences for drinking alcohol? My guess is probably not since it was a "study". My opponent claims: "Government regulation aside, removing a drinking age altogether teaches children to respect alcohol. Teens in nations with lower or no drinking age are less apt to binge drinking than their American counterparts. American teens are taught at a young age that Alcohol consumption is a taboo subject. Educators and families tell the youth that alcohol is bad, but fail to teach them about responsible drinking. Once teens realize that alcohol is not as harmful as they were originally told, they dive into drinking head first. Since educators refuse to talk about responsible drinking, teens and young adults have a noticeable lack of information in this regard. As with nearly everything in this world, alcohol is not bad when taken in moderation. Without learning these skills early on, American teens and young adults are more apt to heavy binge drinking than their counterparts in nations with lower or no drinking age." Many people who support lowering the drinking age almost always uses this as a argument. But, the fact is that in European nations (where the minimum drinking age is lower) alcohol related issues such as binge drinking rates are worse in almost every one of these nations especially in nations such as the U.K., Ireland, and Denmark where there alcohol related problems are almost twice as much the U.S. level. http://www.csmonitor.com... He says: "In an effort to save more lives, does my opponent care to remain consistent and advocate raising the driving age as well? Undoubtedly, many lives would be saved in the process." No, lives would NOT be saved by increasing the driving age. First of in our society you cannot do things without a car its almost a necessity especially in places with no public transportation. Is alcohol a necessity? The answer is no. It doesn't matter how old you are when you start driving you will still be a new driver whether you start driving at 15 or at 40 you still need to require the skills of a trained driver. Just because you happen to be older doesn't mean you magically become a great driver. All I was stating in my argument above is that there is lives saved due to the drinking age. Does this make sense to you? He continues: "There are many other things that cause death that similarly do not warrant government intervention. Among them are car accidents, cigarette smoking, eating unhealthy foods, air travel, and a great many others" Well, I already explained car accidents above, and yes the Government DOES have great restrictions on cigarettes even more so then alcohol such as the smoking age is 18 and you can't smoke on a airplane or any public areas. Even in some states they restrict smoking to only inside your house. Eating unhealthy foods? Again eating unhealthy foods does not harm OTHER people only YOURSELF. I am not sure how air travel relates to the issue I would like to ask my opponent what he means in his argument. He says : "Con concludes his argument by citing (without sources) that alcohol-related vehicular fatalities have reduced since the Reagan era because of age restrictions on alcohol. The evidence on this issue is inconclusive. The fewer number of deaths could be attributed to other things. Since the Reagan era, for instance, police forces have significantly cracked down on drunken driving in general. This seems to be a more compelling explanation for a decrease in alcohol-related vehicular fatalities than a high drinking age." Well, to answer this Youth drinking rates have DECREASED shown by the 2006 monitoring the future study has shown since the law has taken into effect 8th grade drinkers have decreased 38% 10th grade drinkers decreased 23% and 12th graders decreased 14% and continues to decline. My opponent stated that drunk driving related deaths went down due to the police cracking down on drunken driving. Well, lives were saved nonetheless am I right? http://why21.org... Thanks for debating me.