Drinking Age Laws: Practical Or Waste Of Time?
Underage drinking is becoming a major problem for our nation. Despite laws designed to prevent teenage alcohol consumption by imposing minimum age limits, America’s youth continue to drink at alarming rates. There are many debates on this subject, some argue that the Drinking Age Law has been effective on our youth, while others argue that no matter what measures are taken to prevent underage drinking, teens will continue to drink and experiment with alcohol. There have been many studies that have produced some alarming statistics. Numerous clubs and special interest groups have been founded to combat underage drinking and underage drinking laws. One such example that has had a profound effect on societies views is the organization known as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). But yet despite all of these methods and laws implemented to discourage adolescent drinking, the ease of getting alcohol to minors is ever increasing. In order to understand this issue better, lets look into the history of underage drinking. The push for a drinking age law truly started back before prohibition. There was a widespread movement advocating selective prohibition (a minimum drinking age). This was used as a major stepping-stone to
False identification cards are becoming more and more popular. They can be made almost anywhere, and can be legally made. As long as they say “for novelty purposes only” somewhere on them, they are legal to make and to possess. It is estimated that over seventy percent of high school seniors have these “fake ids.” And even the ones who don’t have them, most people know at least one person who is of age that would go out and buy them alcohol. Some high school kids even reported paying homeless people to go and buy it for them. In some cases store clerks neglect to even check ID for kids who come in wanting to buy alcohol. This is especially popular in college towns, where store clerks realize that underage drinking brings in vast amounts of money each week. So what actions is the government taking to prevent teens from buying alcohol? Teenagers drink for many reasons. When asked why they did it, high schoolers had this to say: some say that they drink to gain acceptance from their peers. Young people tend to imitate the behavior of their peers. High school students look up to college students and see that they go out and party every weekend, so they do the same thing in order to be accepted. Some kids say they drink to assert their independence or to rebel against authority. Some feel that alcohol makes them feel better when they are lonely or depressed, while others simply said they have nothing better to do. And the ease of getting alcohol is increasing all the time. The drinking-age law is perhaps the one law that has had the biggest impact on the day-to-day lives of America’s youth. It has been proven to be both effective and ineffective since its inception in 1984. While it is true that teens are going to drink whether or not there is a law against it, there have been substantial decreases in alcohol-related traffic accidents, crime, youth suicides, and marijuana use since the legal drinking age was raised to 21 in 1984. Many organizations have been formed to combat underage drinking, the biggest of which is MADD. But despite all of the laws and organizations formed to keep America’s youth from drinking, the ease of getting alcohol to minors is ever increasing. For now, the best thing we can do for our children is educate them on the dangers of underage drinking and do
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Approximate Word count = 1570
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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