Many Americans today believe that alcohol should not be consumed by anyone under the age of twenty-one. All through our teen years either you, an acquaintance, or a friend has abused and rebelled against the alcohol regulations. Is this truly abuse or is usage of alcohol a lesson in life that every person will go through eventually no matter their age?
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website states that, "alcohol use by persons under age 21 years is a major public health problem." Yes, it is a health problem but it is a problem to every aged drinker; not just the under-aged drinker. Children grow up in homes where parents frequently drink and they are exposed to this behavior every day. Eventually that child will want to experiment and know what the alcohol will do to their body; most kids' curiosity grows when they become a teenager. Maybe if that child's parent had not exposed them to alcohol they would not be put into this teenage alcohol statistic.
Our media in the United States targets the youth or the worst of the crimes to create drama; they leave out the facts that nobody cares about, efor example the alcohol death rates of adults. In 1996 CBS did research on alcohol related deaths and compared it to a more recent study in 2002 and both studies show thta people between the ages of forty and sixty have had a much higher death rate than teens. Media attacks the teenage drinking, although it is illegal, but the bigger issue is the irresponsible adults that take alcohol as a right instead of a privilege. Typically if it is horrendous crime the offender was an adult, "Officer Daniel Shragal, of the DWI enforcement unit, tested Hudson and wrote in his report she registered a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit on a portable breathalyzer. She was charged with public intoxication and taken to the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center." (John Tuohy). Rarely do you hear of a reckless drunken teenager with consumption of twice the legal limit, or raping and kidnapping some helpless child, or doing some outrageous crime.
Many foreign countries do not have a legal drinking age; Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Denmark, Poland, Italy and many more countries are included in this group. If we lower our drinking age children would not have the incentive to go out, drink, and party with friends; they would not have the sensation of doing something illegal; they would not be as irresponsible with alcohol as they are today. Alcohol kills an average total of 2,100 people in Switzerland each year comepared to Americas 85,000 alcohol consumption deaths. (Annual Causes of Death in the United States) If the United States lowered the drinking age we could lower our death rate also.
Other countries start drinking alcohol while you are practically in the mothers whom. This tactic could be very efficient for the United States. If we lower our drinking age it would prevent child alcohol abuse and it would lower the teen alcohol death rate. Instead of teens fighting the law and rebelling against their better judgment they would be raised on drinking a few beverages here and there; it would be second nature to them. The alcohol death rate would sufficiently go dowm because Americans would learn how to handle their liquor better and know their limits.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website states that, "alcohol use by persons under age 21 years is a major public health problem." Yes, it is a health problem but it is a problem to every aged drinker; not just the under-aged drinker. Children grow up in homes where parents frequently drink and they are exposed to this behavior every day. Eventually that child will want to experiment and know what the alcohol will do to their body; most kids' curiosity grows when they become a teenager. Maybe if that child's parent had not exposed them to alcohol they would not be put into this teenage alcohol statistic.
Our media in the United States targets the youth or the worst of the crimes to create drama; they leave out the facts that nobody cares about, efor example the alcohol death rates of adults. In 1996 CBS did research on alcohol related deaths and compared it to a more recent study in 2002 and both studies show thta people between the ages of forty and sixty have had a much higher death rate than teens. Media attacks the teenage drinking, although it is illegal, but the bigger issue is the irresponsible adults that take alcohol as a right instead of a privilege. Typically if it is horrendous crime the offender was an adult, "Officer Daniel Shragal, of the DWI enforcement unit, tested Hudson and wrote in his report she registered a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit on a portable breathalyzer. She was charged with public intoxication and taken to the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center." (John Tuohy). Rarely do you hear of a reckless drunken teenager with consumption of twice the legal limit, or raping and kidnapping some helpless child, or doing some outrageous crime.
Many foreign countries do not have a legal drinking age; Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Denmark, Poland, Italy and many more countries are included in this group. If we lower our drinking age children would not have the incentive to go out, drink, and party with friends; they would not have the sensation of doing something illegal; they would not be as irresponsible with alcohol as they are today. Alcohol kills an average total of 2,100 people in Switzerland each year comepared to Americas 85,000 alcohol consumption deaths. (Annual Causes of Death in the United States) If the United States lowered the drinking age we could lower our death rate also.
Other countries start drinking alcohol while you are practically in the mothers whom. This tactic could be very efficient for the United States. If we lower our drinking age it would prevent child alcohol abuse and it would lower the teen alcohol death rate. Instead of teens fighting the law and rebelling against their better judgment they would be raised on drinking a few beverages here and there; it would be second nature to them. The alcohol death rate would sufficiently go dowm because Americans would learn how to handle their liquor better and know their limits.
Like I said before, under-age drinking is not the main issue. The main issue is people in general not knowing how to handle themselves under the consumption of alcohol. Just because someone is of the drinking age does not make them a more experienced drinker. John Tuohy’s article on Officer Daniel Shragal’s arrest of a woman under the consumption of over twice the limit is an example of these outrageous adults not knowing how to handle themselves (http://www.indystar.com). Yes, teenagers are irresponsible drinkers and should not consume any alcohol but we need to remember who is teaching us these horrible habits. Adults need to learn how to control themselves and quit pointing out the teenagers; then we can fix our alcohol death rate problems and the teens will be more responsible with their alcohol habits.
ReplyDeleteUnder-age drinking is becoming a nation-wide issue and affecting us in more than one way. Msnbc.com states that “alcohol abuse kills some 75,000 Americans each year and shortens the lives of these people by an average of 30 years.” The website goes on to say that the consumption of alcohol leads to poor eating habits, tobacco use, and bad exercise habits. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention “estimated that 34,833 people in 2001 died from cirrhosis of the liver, cancer and other diseases linked to drinking too much beer, wine and spirits.” The only thing any of these studies stated about under-age drinking was that “Men accounted for 72 percent of the excessive drinking deaths in 2001, and those 21 and younger made up 6 percent of the death toll.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6089353/) As I have been stating this entire time, it is not only under-aged drinkers that are irresponsible with their consumption. If the drinking age was lowered we would see a decrease in teen deaths related to alcohol.
ReplyDeleteUnderage drinking should not be allowed. You compare the drinking ages of other countries stating,"Many foreign countries do not have a legal drinking age; Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Denmark, Poland, Italy and many more countries are included in this group. If we lower our drinking age children would not have the incentive to go out, drink, and party with friends; they would not have the sensation of doing something illegal; they would not be as irresponsible with alcohol as they are today." Many other countries do not have the same restrictions we have in the U.S. because of the country's lifestyle. The countries contain different alcohol cultures. Consumption of alcohol is a social thing in many other countries, not an excuse to party and get drunk. http://www.peele.net/lib/sociocul.html If the drinking age was lowered we would see even more fatalities in high schools and college campuses.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the under-age part of drinking is the problem, i believe not knowing how to handle the drinking is the issue. Numerous of under age drinkers drink with responsibly and few don't.
ReplyDeleteThe United States have different drinking ages, so the age isn't the problem,and if that was the case, there would be a set age for all states.