The Problem with Teenage Drinking
There is an ever growing problem among young people all across the United States: the abuse of alcohol. Once a person turns eighteen, they gain the status of an adult and the responsibilities and privileges that go along with it. Nevertheless, these young adults lack one privilege that their slightly older counterparts have, the right to drink alcohol. In an attempt to attain this badge of adulthood, many lash out at the legal drinking age by binging. This is because drinking by these individuals is seen as a way of rebelling against authority. As a nation we have tried prohibition legislation in the past for controlling drinking problems. But did these laws work? No, they did not; the government repeal
Decision-making abilities of eighteen year olds are trusted in public elections, with the right to smoke, and with the choice of marriage without parental consent. Prohibition did not work then and prohibition for people under the age of twenty-one is not working now. How can the powers that control the government decide that when people become twenty-one, they are instantaneously transformed into responsible citizens capable of handling the responsibility that comes along with the right to consume alcohol? Some people feel that the higher drinking age discourages teenagers and young adults from consuming alcohol. However, in reality, these laws are hard to enforce. They may say the laws that force merchants to refuse to sell alcohol to persons less than twenty-one years of age will help hinder the problem of underage consumption. The law cannot be affectively enforced, and the repercussions for breaking it are few and light. The working young are required to pay taxes and contribute to the Social Security fund. Today the United States is making the exact same mistake, except this time exclusively with young adults. For the underage consumer, the law is a tiny obstacle that can and will be overrun by the determined. The laws convey that until the age of twenty-one, young adults are still too immature to handle alcohol. Young men are required to enlist in the military and fight for their country should the need arise. However, the drinking age in the United States is a contradiction. While breaking the law and risking fines, some storeowners often sell to minors repeatedly to gain precious profits. Unbelievably, this country's citizens trust their sixteen year old children to drive three thousand pound vehicles.
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