YOUTH DRINKING IN AMERICA

[Audio] Youth Drinking in America? By Tyler D Valentine..

[Audio] In today's American society, the drinking age is twenty-one years old whilst the majority of other countries have an average drinking age of eighteen. Meanwhile, we have a tremendous number of countries that participate in the eighteen-year-old drinking age. Some countries are sixteen to eighteen and there are a few that do not believe they need a drinking age. In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, which raised the drinking age to twenty-one across the United States. The government felt the need to take over the legal drinking age due to too many wrecks and alcohol-related incidents involving our youth. Statistics and politics said there were many benefits immediately within the first month after this law. Now in American society the culture has advanced and made multiple changes with technology and lifestyles. Is this age limit still appropriate in the United States of America? Would the freedom to drink at an earlier age be beneficial to society, allowing parents to teach their children how to drink properly rather than a child learning to do this on their own?.

[Audio] As young American children grow up to become adults, they tend to look at their rights and realize they do not have everything quite yet. Many individuals, including adults, will look at the drinking age and compare an eighteen-year-olds' obligations to their country. They must serve in the military or be enrolled in the draft if a war were to arise. In this case, it seems as if we Americans are okay with losing our children and never allowing them to be functional adults in our society. Another aspect of American society needs to be investigated is the rate of underage drinking and its effect on students in their first year of college. "National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) estimate that about 1,519 college students ages 18 to 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes (NIAAA)". The unintentional injuries consist of but are not limited to that of alcohol overdose, mental confusion, excessive vomiting, irregular breathing, and a low pulse rate. Multiple reports of teen parents who have lost their teens due to alcohol believe that if their children were able to drink legally, they would have had the chance to live. Live in the sense that those who partook in drinking activities with their child would not have questioned if they should call for assistance. In society, in that sense, our teens are terrified of legal ramifications and are reluctant to help at times. Teenagers being able to drink earlier may assist in their ability to drink with fewer unintentional injuries or deaths. This is due to the level of knowledge gifted by experience under adult supervision. Brain cognitive function can be conserved by slow introduction of alcohol..

[Audio] Twenty-one years old is plenty old enough to have the maturity to gain life experience and have the aspects of life down enough to fight the effects of alcohol over that of an eighteen-year-old. If the age limit were lowered to eighteen there would be more negative effects than just that of direct teens drinking alcohol. According to NIAAA, youth who drink tend to drink 8 percent more than that of an average adult (21 and older) and at a much faster rate (NIAAA). The physical impact would affect more youth as well. Drinking youths run the risk of lower brain function as described by the NIAAA. For example, "researchers have found reductions in the size of the frontal lobe (involved in planning and decision-making), hippocampus (involved in learning and memory), amygdala (involved in fear-sensing), and corpus callosum (involved in the communication between the two sides of the brain). Researchers have also found that heavy drinking changes the normal developmental patterns in the connections between and within brain regions and weakens connections between brain areas that regulate emotional and cognitive functioning (NIAAA). There is a healing ability in the brain that can reverse effects. There is a continuous study, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), that monitors 18–24-year-olds who participate in alcohol related incidents..

[Audio] As American society has grown in maturity and technology it needs to look at more aspects when we consider what an adult is and understand life's effects on our youth. Society should explore courses and more training that will increase awareness of alcohol's effects on the brain and daily life. Those partaking in life-altering changes such as joining the military should be offered close consideration of the alcohol consumption age limit with an increase in mandatory alcohol training. With a shared understanding there are direct negative effects of alcohol on youth medically when not monitored and there is a maturity level that needs to increase in American society, we can come to the agreement that training is very needed. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen may not be for everyone but it may be useful in most situations. Through the correct training, we can mitigate the issues proposed throughout this paper..

[Audio] Work cited and referenced. [image] Graph on document with pen.