According the the article Lessons From the Drinking Age Experiment, the U.S. used to consider twenty-one the age of being an adult. You even had to be twenty-one to vote. In 1971, the voting age was changed to eighteen. Along with the lowering of the voting age, twenty-five states also lowered their drinking and purchasing alcohol age to eighteen. This change resulted in more car crashes, injuries, and death related caused by drivers under the influence between the ages of sixteen and twenty. This lead to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 passed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA predicts that 1,000 lives are saved annually by this policy. The percentage of alcohol consumed by high school seniors fell, as did the percentage of binge drinking. By 1988, all states had raised their drinking age to twenty-one.
In other countries, where the drinking age is lower than the United States, there are less intoxicated drivers and fatalities according to ChooseResponsibilty.com. The NHTSA did a study with countries similar to the U.S. and found that the U.S. has more alcohol related fatalities. The same study reports that the U.S has the highest legal blood alcohol content set at .10. (at the time of the study in 2000) Other countries in the study, such as Australia and New Zealand, have random breath tests and sobriety checkpoints. Both are mandatory.
Since the U.S. is the minority of the drinking being twenty-one, drinking by eighteen to twenty year olds in not as big of a deal in other countries as it is here in the U.S.. But binge drinking is still a concern in foreign countries. Research found by the World Health Organization found that fifteen to sixteen year olds in Europeans states have fewer dangerous, intoxication occasions than in America. In the U.S. almost half of all drinking situations resulted in intoxication, but in other European countries the ratio is lower.
Your blog is very intriguing. I was not aware that the drinking in other places other than the United States was under twenty-one. Although the title seems to pin-point binge drinking but mainly speaks about the drinking age the overall blog is necessary because this is a topic that should be discussed more frequently. The opening of the blog begins with facts that emphasize a serious tone because it is a serious topic. Your images attracted me to want to read more of your blog. The only thing that I would fix in your blog would to explain more about binging alcohol.
ReplyDeleteThis article caught my intrest because there are many people in my circle of friends, as well as in my family, that drink heavily. While in other countries the drinking age might be lower, people there do not look at drinking so much as getting wasted, but because there is nothing else availible.
ReplyDeleteMany other countries do not share in our fortune as a prospering country. Since this is the case many countries have to turn to alcholic beverages to substitute for water.http://www.cancunsouth.com/plan_hel_main.html
Underage drinking has been a very serious cause in the previous years. Young adults have taken it too far at times and have actually died. Although, some may think that even though those took it to the extreme, they themselves will not get to that stage. Yet, it only takes 1 more drink than before for it to actually happen. The law states that one must be 21 or older in order to consume alcohol. It is there in order to prevent as many deaths and accidents because the government feels that once a person has reached that age they can make good decisions. So is that correct, should a person be 21 in order to consume alcohol? Well, it has also been stated that when a person reaches 18 they have become an adult. So, isn't it the same idea? Once a person is called an adult then they should be able to consume the alcohol? Not necessarily. It has been reported that when the drinking age was 18 there were more accidents and deaths than at 21. If the percents have gone down after raising the age then it should stay that way.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.monheit.com/teenage-drinking/statistics.asp
I am not quite sure if you are agreeing with the drinking age or arguing against it. I believe the drinking age should be lowered again to the age of eighteen. If eighteen year olds are truely considered adults than they should not be regulated when it comes to alcohol. How is it that a legal adult in the United States can go across seas and fight for the flag, but can't enjoy an alcoholic drink under it. Also by lowering the age of drinking the intrigue of alcohol would decline. Kids do things they are not supposed to do. They enjoy the deviance and the secrecy of not getting caught. With the drinking age lowered, kids would no longer have the rush they get from underage consumption. Other countries are able to have lower drinking ages and less alcohol related fatalities? We should not be assesing the drinking age, but more so the difference between our youth and that of other countries.
ReplyDeleteLike I stated in your last blog it is not the under-age drinking that is the complete issue. You said, "In other countries, where the drinking age is lower than the United States, there are less intoxicated drivers and fatalities according to ChooseResponsibilty.com. The NHTSA did a study with countries similar to the U.S. and found that the U.S. has more alcohol related fatalities." If other countries have the same drinking age why don't they have as many alcohol consumption issues as we do? Because they are more responsible with their alcohol. If we lower the age to eighteen again there may not be as many fatalities as before because our generation likes the thrill of rebelling against what they know is wrong.
ReplyDeleteUnderage drinking has been serious problem in the United State for many years. The drinking age may have been raised but it hasn't stopped the number of underage teens from drinking. Maybe it's because it is not heavily enforced as it should be. On the other hand, foreign countries have lower drinking requirements, and yet they have less drinking-related accidents. This is because alcohol is heavily promoted on television. In the early teens, television is the main influence on the decisions they make in life. Foreign countries don't do that, and drinking is possibly a second tier option to them. There are many contributing factors to underage drinking, and it needs to get addressed before it gets out of hand.
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