Underage Drinking is all Mental

Andrew Brearton

Underage Drinking is all Mental

Ever since the introduction of a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in the U.S., there have been constant debates and arguments over the effects of alcohol on minors and whether or not it is suitable for people under the age of twenty-one to consume it. Every person has his or her own opinion on this topic, but usually do not have significant knowledge or facts about their stance. Typically teens want the drinking age lowered to eighteen so that they can drink legally. This is where the issue of the drinking age starts. The mindset of teens between sixteen and twenty is they want to drink to get drunk. If the behavior and mindset of these teens were not so focused on being drunk, then there would be more chance for a lowered drinking age. The problem with trying to get the drinking age lowered is the fact that there have been numerous studies to support the laws that govern drinking in the United States. Some major points in the debate for lowering the minimum legal drinking age are: the current percentage of underage drinking currently; the increase of drunk driving and crashes amongst underage people; and the physical damages to the adolescent body. Dr. Richard Spoth, Mark Greenberg, and Robert Turrisi compiled a list of negative effects of alcohol on teens and ways in which to prevent underage drinking, while at the same time supporting the current drinking age. The researchers try to point out the common problems which plague parents who are worried about their child’s behavior with alcohol. Between knowledgeable people who understand the argument about lowering the drinking age, the ultimate goal for both sides is to stop irresponsible drinking and create a safer environment for the whole community. The best method in which to achieve this goal is to lower the MLDA to nineteen.

A reason that the MLDA is so high is because of the youth risk behavior surveys handed out in schools that come back with results of high levels of drug, sex, and alcohol rates because students like to mess with the system, but if the MLDA was lowered to nineteen, the surveys would pose better and less false results. According to one of these surveys, Monitoring the Future Survey, forty-one percent of eighth graders, sixty-three percent of tenth graders, and seventy-five percent of twelfth graders have admitted to consuming alcohol at some point in their lives (Spoth, et al. 32-53). These numbers are incredibly high for such young children and teens. One argument that is used with this type of data is that if the age of being able to purchase alcohol is lowered, then the availability of alcohol is severely increased for minors. The ability to purchase alcohol earlier will only further the problem at hand with underage drinking; however, this type of data drawn from a survey of students is not reliable. From previous experience with these surveys, students tend to lie about what they do. For instance, a student will say that they drink all the time, take drugs, and have sex on the survey even if they do not, because some of them, motivated by a desire to be popular, want to appear cool and funny. Data taken from surveys given to students in schools is a highly unreliable way to obtain accurate information regarding the amount of drinking occurring in underage students.

Though students do joke about the effects involved with alcohol, they do not fully comprehend the idea that it is a proven fact that alcohol does damage to the adolescent brain and the body. Scientific research has proven this to be true, and it is part of the reason why the drinking age is currently set at twenty-one. This is the strongest reason for having the MLDA at twenty-one, because students’ academics and general wellbeing are affected. An issue with this argument is the fact that underage kids who are participating in drinking are more likely to do more damage to themselves simply because drinking is illegal. Underage drinking primarily consists of binge drinking and kids often suffer from alcohol poisoning as a result. The reason for binge drinking, for a teen, is because the association of alcohol to them is to just get drunk. The damage done by this style of drinking, compared to drinking responsibly at a younger age, is significantly greater. As a result, by having a younger drinking age, theoretically, less damage to adolescent bodies can be done when they drink. Though time and guidance will be needed to correct the current mentality of kids who participate in underage drinking, the end result will lead to a healthier style of drinking and overall less harm done to adolescents.

When teens have been binge drinking and the party then gets broken up, the teens will try to leave the party as quickly as possible, and as a result drive drunk. One of largest and most continuous issues regarding the MDLA is the problem of underage drunk driving. Studies have been conducted which claim that “traffic crashes pose the single greatest mortality risk…” when the association with underage drinking is made (Spoth, Greenberg, Turrisi 53). There are significant amounts of evidence that supports that when states lowered drinking ages back in the 1970’s that there was an increase in crashes associated with drinking. Furthermore, there is evidence that supports that underage drinking increases the chance that adolescents will drive under the influence. If the MLDA were to be lowered to nineteen and proper knowledge and usage of alcohol were to be given by parents to their children, then the amount of underage drunk driving would decrease. A lot of times kids in high school will drive drunk, in an effort to get home from a party; the reason why they drove home under the influence is because they do not want their parents to find out that they were illegally drinking. Furthermore, the kids will try to leave a party if it were to be broken up by the police which causes a substantial amount of driving under the influence. This happens more than people realize. The laws which are in place that govern drinking directly affect the choices kids make to drink and drive. Also, parents should responsibly introduce their own children to alcohol via beer and wine initially. From there that stand point the parents can then introduce hard liquor to their kids at their own rate. This will help to show teens the affects of alcohol. Most kids are introduced to drinking to get drunk by friends. This leads to the mindset of drinking for the purpose of being drunk instead of drinking to appreciate the drinks. By showing adolescents at an early age, in the home, that enjoying alcohol responsibly is good, the mentality of underage drinking would be different.

Personally, I have been raised by English parents who steadily introduced alcohol to me when I was fourteen. I was raised drinking beer and wine with meals to enjoy them, and now I have certain appreciation for alcohol which the majority of American kids do not possess. Because of the way my step-father introduced alcohol to me, before I had a license, I experienced the affects of alcohol. From this I learned how bad driving under the influence is because of how I functioned when I have consumed alcohol. Though this seems irresponsible to many American parents, all of my friends at home (with English and Scottish parents) learned about alcohol in the same way. We still party and enjoy ourselves, but we have the knowledge about being safe which we learned through drinking with our parents and not our friends. Overall, I am safer and more responsible when I drink illegally because of how I was raised. If parents in the United States adopted this mentality in teaching kids about alcohol instead of just banning and shunning it altogether, then the instances of underage drunk driving could be lowered.

Given the recent debates starting in 2000 about changing the legal drinking age, numerous studies have been conducted in an effort to support the current MLDA; however, the information from these studies neglects to explain the opposite side of the issue and what could be done to change the way that adolescents use alcohol. The United States is the only country which has a minimum drinking age of twenty-one. Also, America is considered one of the nations with the worst cases of alcohol abuse, yet people still struggle to make the connection between how people outside the United States are raised around alcohol and learn to use it more responsibly and thus abuse alcohol less. Scientists are trying to prove, through the use of invalid data, that the amount of underage drinking is a major problem and is constantly growing. To continue supporting their argument that the drinking age should be twenty-one, the researchers constantly point towards drunk driving as a major problem with underage drinking. They neglect to look into the reasons for drunk driving and miss important evidence that shows why lowering the drinking age is better. Though the damage caused by drinking still exists, teens will still drink. By lowering the drinking age, less damage can be done due to responsible drinking. With proper education by parents and the lowering of the MLDA, there will be less cases of alcohol poisoning, less drunk driving and overall, a much healthier style of drinking.

Works Cited

Spoth, Richard, Mark Greenberg, and Robert Turrisi. "Overview of Preventive Interventions

Addressing Underage Drinking." Alcohol Research & Health 32.1 (2009): 53-66. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

Cucchiaro S, Ferreira Jr J, Sicherman A. The Effect of the 18-Year-Old Drinking Age on Auto

Accidents. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Operations Research Center; 1974.