Final Draft

In most countries around the world, the legal drinking age is somewhere between 16 and 18, yet in the United States the legal age is 21. National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into effect in the year 1984 in hopes of lowering the traffic fatalities associated with driving under the influence (Drinking Age Laws). On the plus side, it was reported that after instating this law that pushed the legal drinking age up from 18, that “teenage deaths in fatal car crashes dropped considerably - in some cases up to 28%”(Why 21?). Seeing this statistic alone is enough to convince many people that the drinking age should be left at 21, but after much research it was discovered that the problem with the casualties related to driving is not merely related to underage drinkers. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that “64% of 16-20 year-old motor vehicle traffic fatalities involve[d] a driver with a zero Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)”(16-20 Year-Old). This shows that there must be another influence besides alcohol that is affecting teenage drivers. It has been calculated that the average age a child first consumes alcohol is 12.3; and while this is entirely too young, it shows that children are consuming no matter what the law says (Henderson, 80). Other points have been brought up in accordance with this ongoing debate including the physical development and capacity of the brain, responsibilities of an 18 year old, and the behaviors of the underage that obtain the forbidden beverage. Through all of the dispute, it was determined that people in the United States should be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages while under the supervision of their parents at home at the age of 18, while consuming in public places like bars and restaurants and purchasing alcohol is reserved for those who are 21 and older. This, in turn, would allow for people to experience and become accustomed to the effects alcohol have on an individual while under the guidance and supervision of a parental unit. Also by the time an individual reaches the age of 21, they would have the experience to know how much is too much and the maturity to not over do it, especially in public.

There is not as much drunk driving in places like Great Britain where the legal drinking age is much less than 18. It was found that in Great Britain in 2006, only “six per cent of all road casualties and 17 percent of road deaths occurred when someone was driving while over the legal limit for alcohol” (Road Casualties, 2007). Whereas, in that same year, the United States had “13,470 fatalities in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver (BAC of .08 or higher) – 32 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year” (2006 Drunk Driving Stats, 2006). This may have to do with the fact that many European countries use public transportation to get around in the city, while Americans rely heavily on their own private forms of transportation. This alarming statistic may also have to do with the fact that up until children reach the age of 18 they are, in most cases, still living with their parents. Parents are supposed to be the role models after which the children are to follow. (Although in some cases, parents are alcoholics and obviously should not be guiding their children in their ways. Yet in most of these cases, the children of alcoholics have seen, first hand, the results of substance abuse, and most likely will not drink as obsessively as their parents.) In places like Spain where the drinking age is 16, the children begin to drink at an age where they are still at home and under the responsibility and guidance of their parents. This allows the parents to monitor their child’s consumption and succeeding actions while under the influence as they experiment with their ‘personal limit’. By this I mean, the child, like everyone, has to find the maximum amount of alcohol their individual body is capable of handling, while still acting in a respectable manner. In other words, thanks to the context of where the child begins to drink, the parents in Spain and almost all European countries are teaching moderation. Since the drinking age in the United States is so high, 21 year olds have to find their personal limit many times outside the home. For example, most 21 year olds are at college and living away from their parents. If they actually obeyed the law and didn’t drink before their 21st birthday, then they have no clue as to what their personal limit is, and consequently have to start experimenting. Being in the college scene where “four out of five people drink, with 44% of them reporting heavy drinking”(Underage Drinking), trying to learn how much consumption is deemed acceptable is impossible. Instead of having the parents of a new drinker teaching them moderation, the United States is having one of the largest abusive drinking populations i.e. college students, teach this valuable lesson.

Also it has been said that teenagers are going to drink no matter what the law is. The environment in which a person consumes has a lot to do with the amount they drink. It was observed that “having a lot of intoxicated people at a party and themed events predicted higher [BAC readings]” (Drinking Games, 2008). This is exactly what most college parties are like. Having the drinking age so high causes these rebellious underage teens to consume in shady environments or at unsupervised parties. Also, as history proves, when people are denied a certain substance like alcohol, which happened during the Prohibition, they will tend to abuse it when the opportunity to obtain it presents itself. In fact, Richard Keeling who is an expert on the effects of the drinking age, stated that “the pattern for underage students is more dangerous…Afraid of being caught, they drink a lot in a short period of time. They do it less often but more intensely” (Rutledge, 2005). Allowing people at the age of 18 to consume while in their home under the supervision of their parent will eliminate not only the teens’ curiosity about alcohol but also the need to abuse it.

It was researched that the part of the brain that allows a person to make good judgments is not fully developed until the individual reaches the age of 20. Society must not feel the same way because the United States is forcing an individual at the age of 18 and younger to make good judgments. By this I mean that at around the age of 16 a person is allowed to operate a car, which many people refer to as a weapon. If not used responsibly, it can result in harm to self and others. Also, the United States Military allows people at the age of 18 to join their forces. This job requires making good, spit second, life or death decisions all day. Having the legal age to consume in public places be 21 is the second part of the negotiation. It was scientifically proven that the frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop. This section does influence a person’s ability to make informed and mature decisions. For this reason people should only be allowed to drink in public if they are above the age of 21. By this time, it is hoped that an individual has the ability, psychologically, to make informed, mature decisions in places where their actions affect others.

It was decided that the best way to better the situation is to allow 18 year olds to drink only while under the supervision of a parental unit, in the home. This way the child will learn the lessons of responsibility and moderation from a hopefully competent adult before they get to college where heavy drinking has become a serious problem. It was concurred that a person must be at least 21 years old to purchase any alcohol or to drink in public facilities like bars or restaurants. This will keep kids that have just started drinking i.e. ages 18-20 off the roads after they have consumed. This, one hopes, will keep people with minimal experience with the effects of alcohol out of public places where other people can be affected by their actions. It is believed that by the age of 21, people will have been allowed to drink for four years, which hopefully has allowed them to mature and figure out when they have had too much to do things like drive a car. Also, it is hoped that the parents will teach their kids the effects alcohol has on the body, especially during pregnancy. This, in turn, will hopefully lower the number of babies born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, in which most of the brain is “underdeveloped and poorly formed” (Hannigan, 2) Both sides of the previous argument are seen as extreme and it is believed that this blend is a good compromise. In conclusion, it was mediated that people in the United States should be allowed to start consuming alcohol at age 18 only at home, when under their parent’s supervision in order to ‘live and learn’ out of harm’s way, while only people that are at least 21 should be allowed people to purchase alcohol or drink in public places.

Work Cited

1. 16-20 Year-Old Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities. Alcohol Stats [chart] from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Accessed on 9 April 2008 http:// www.alcoholstats.com/page.aspx?id=136

2. 2006 Drunk Driving Statistics. Alcohol Alert. Accessed on 10 April 2008 http://
www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

3. “Drinking Games, Themed Parties Increase Alcohol Consumption, Report Finds” Join Together: Advancing Effective Alcohol and Drug Policy, Prevention, and Treatment. 4 January 2008. Accessed on 10 April 2008 http:// www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/drinking-games-themed.html

4. Hannigan, John H., Linda P. Spear, Norman E. Spear, and Charles R. Goodlett, eds. Alcohol and Alcoholism: Effects on Brain and Development. New Jersey: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates, 1998. 2

5.Henderson, Alan C., Sally Champlin, and William Evashwick. Promoting Teen Health: Linking Schools, Health Organizations, and Community. Sage Publications Inc, 1998. 80.

6.Minimum Drinking Age Laws.U.S. Department of Transportation [Fact sheet]. 1999 December. Accessed on 9 April 2008 http:// www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/Community%20Guides%20HTML/PDFs/Public_App7.pdf

7."Road Casualties Great Britain 2006: Annual report - September 2007". British Medical Association. Accessed on 10 April 2008 http:// www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Drinkinganddriving

8. Rutledge, Raquel. “Drinking Age Still Debated: 20 Years Ago, Law Made it 21” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 18 July 2005. Accessed on 11 April 2008 http:// www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=341729

9. Underage Drinking and Drunk Driving Statistics Among College Students. Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Accessed on 9 April 2008 http://www.madd.org/getdoc/69e5fc38-7840-48b2-9186-027b21a3d5c7/CollegeStatistics.aspx

10.Why 21? Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Accessed on 11 April 2008 http://maddtx.org/under21/4847

Sources for Rough Draft

1. http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Drinkinganddriving
2. http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html
3. http://www.madd.org/getdoc/69e5fc38-7840-48b2-9186-027b21a3d5c7/CollegeStatistics.aspx
4. http://www.alcoholstats.com/page.aspx?id=136
5. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/Community%20Guides%20HTML/PDFs/Public_App7.pdf
6. http://maddtx.org/under21/4847
7. http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/drinking-games-themed.html
8. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=341729

Rough Draft

In most countries around the world, the legal drinking age is somewhere between 16 and 18, yet in the United States the legal age is 21. National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into effect in the year 1984 in hopes of lowering the traffic fatalities associated with driving under the influence (5). On the plus side, it was reported that after instating this law that pushed the legal drinking age up from 18, that “teenage deaths in fatal car crashes dropped considerably - in some cases up to 28%”(6). Seeing this statistic alone is enough to convince many people that the drinking age should be left at 21, but after much research it was discovered that the problem with the casualties related to driving is not merely related to underage drinkers. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that “64% of 16-20 year-old motor vehicle traffic fatalities involve[d] a driver with a zero Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)”(4). This shows that there must be another influence besides alcohol that is affecting teenage drivers. Other points have been brought up in accordance with this ongoing debate including the physical development and capacity of the brain, responsibilities of an 18 year old, and the behaviors of the underage that obtain the forbidden beverage. Through all of the dispute, it was determined that people in the United States should be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages while under the supervision of their parents at home at the age of 18, while consuming in public places like bars and restaurants and purchasing alcohol is reserved for those who are 21 and older. This, in turn, would allow for people to experience and become accustomed to the effects alcohol have on an individual while under the guidance and supervision of a parental unit. Also by the time an individual reaches the age of 21, they would have the experience to know how much is too much and the maturity to not over do it, especially in public.

There is not as much drunk driving in places, like Great Britain, where the legal drinking age is much less than 18. It was found that in Great Britain in 2006, only “six per cent of all road casualties and 17 percent of road deaths occurred when someone was driving while over the legal limit for alcohol”(1). Whereas, in that same year, the United States had “13,470 fatalities in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver (BAC of .08 or higher) – 32 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year”(2). This may have to do with the fact that many European countries use public transportation to get around in the city, while Americans rely heavily on their own private forms of transportation. This alarming statistic may also have to do with the fact that up until children reach the age of 18 they are, in most cases, still living with their parents. Parents are supposed to be the role models after which the children are to follow. (Although in some cases, parents are alcoholics and obviously should not be guiding their children in their ways. Yet in most of these cases, the children of alcoholics have seen, first hand, the results of substance abuse, and most likely will not drink as obsessively as their parents.) In places like Spain where the drinking age is 16, the children begin to drink at an age where they are still at home and under the responsibility and guidance of their parents. This allows the parents to monitor their child’s consumption and succeeding actions while under the influence as they experiment with their ‘personal limit’. By this I mean, the child, like everyone, has to find the maximum amount of alcohol their individual body is capable of handling, while still acting in a respectable manner. In other words, thanks to the context of where the child begins to drink, the parents in Spain and almost all European countries are teaching moderation. Since the drinking age in the United States is so high, 21 year olds have to find their personal limit many times outside the home. For example, most 21 year olds are at college and living away from their parents. If they actually obeyed the law and didn’t drink before their 21st birthday, then they have no clue as to what their personal limit is, and consequently have to start experimenting. Being in the college scene where “four out of five people drink, with 44% of them reporting heavy drinking”(3), trying to learn how much consumption is deemed acceptable is impossible. Instead of having the parents of a new drinker teaching them moderation, the United States is having one of the largest abusive drinking populations i.e. college students, teach this valuable lesson.

Also it has been said that teenagers are going to drink no matter what the law is. The environment in which a person consumes has a lot to do with the amount they drink. It was observed that “having a lot of intoxicated people at a party and themed events predicted higher [BAC readings]” (7). This is exactly what most college parties are like. Having the drinking age so high causes these rebellious underage teens to consume in shady environments or at unsupervised parties. Also, as history proves, when people are denied a certain substance like alcohol, which happened during the Prohibition, they will tend to abuse it when the opportunity to obtain it presents itself. In fact, Richard Keeling who is an expert on the effects of the drinking age, stated that “the pattern for underage students is more dangerous…Afraid of being caught, they drink a lot in a short period of time. They do it less often but more intensely” (8). Allowing people at the age of 18 to consume while in their home under the supervision of their parent will eliminate not only the teens’ curiosity about alcohol but also the need to abuse it.

It was researched that the part of the brain that allows a person to make good judgments is not fully developed until the individual reaches the age of 20. Society must not feel the same way because the United States is forcing an individual at the age of 18 and younger to make good judgments. By this I mean that at around the age of 16 a person is allowed to operate a car, which many people refer to as a weapon. If not used responsibly, it can result in harm to self and others. Also, the United States Military allows people at the age of 18 to join their forces. This job requires making good, spit second, life or death decisions all day. Having the legal age to consume in public places be 21 is the second part of the negotiation. It was scientifically proven that the frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop. This section does influence a person’s ability to make informed and mature decisions. For this reason people should only be allowed to drink in public if they are above the age of 21. By this time, it is hoped that an individual has the ability, psychologically, to make informed, mature decisions in places where their actions affect others.

It was decided that the best way to better the situation is to allow 18 year olds to drink only while under the supervision of a parental unit, in the home. This way the child will learn the lessons of responsibility and moderation from a hopefully competent adult before they get to college where heavy drinking has become a serious problem. It was concurred that a person must be at least 21 years old to purchase any alcohol or to drink in public facilities like bars or restaurants. This will keep kids that have just started drinking i.e. ages 18-20 off the roads after they have consumed. This, one hopes, will keep people with minimal experience with the effects of alcohol out of public places where other people can be affected by their actions. It is believed that by the age of 21, people will have been allowed to drink for four years, which hopefully has allowed them to mature and figure out when they have had too much to do things like drive a car. Both sides of the previous argument are seen as extreme and it is believed that this blend is a good compromise. In conclusion, it was mediated that people in the United States should be allowed to start consuming alcohol at age 18 only at home, when under their parent’s supervision in order to ‘live and learn’ out of harm’s way, while only people that are at least 21 should be allowed people to purchase alcohol or drink in public places.

Sources:In most countries around the world, the legal drinking age is somewhere between 16 and 18, yet in the United States the legal age is 21. National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into effect in the year 1984 in hopes of lowering the traffic fatalities associated with driving under the influence (5). On the plus side, it was reported that after instating this law that pushed the legal drinking age up from 18, that “teenage deaths in fatal car crashes dropped considerably - in some cases up to 28%”(6). Seeing this statistic alone is enough to convince many people that the drinking age should be left at 21, but after much research it was discovered that the problem with the casualties related to driving is not merely related to underage drinkers. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that “64% of 16-20 year-old motor vehicle traffic fatalities involve[d] a driver with a zero Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)”(4). This shows that there must be another influence besides alcohol that is affecting teenage drivers. Other points have been brought up in accordance with this ongoing debate including the physical development and capacity of the brain, responsibilities of an 18 year old, and the behaviors of the underage that obtain the forbidden beverage. Through all of the dispute, it was determined that people in the United States should be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages while under the supervision of their parents at home at the age of 18, while consuming in public places like bars and restaurants and purchasing alcohol is reserved for those who are 21 and older. This, in turn, would allow for people to experience and become accustomed to the effects alcohol have on an individual while under the guidance and supervision of a parental unit. Also by the time an individual reaches the age of 21, they would have the experience to know how much is too much and the maturity to not over do it, especially in public.
There is not as much drunk driving in places, like Great Britain, where the legal drinking age is much less than 18. It was found that in Great Britain in 2006, only “six per cent of all road casualties and 17 percent of road deaths occurred when someone was driving while over the legal limit for alcohol”(1). Whereas, in that same year, the United States had “13,470 fatalities in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver (BAC of .08 or higher) – 32 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year”(2). This may have to do with the fact that many European countries use public transportation to get around in the city, while Americans rely heavily on their own private forms of transportation. This alarming statistic may also have to do with the fact that up until children reach the age of 18 they are, in most cases, still living with their parents. Parents are supposed to be the role models after which the children are to follow. (Although in some cases, parents are alcoholics and obviously should not be guiding their children in their ways. Yet in most of these cases, the children of alcoholics have seen, first hand, the results of substance abuse, and most likely will not drink as obsessively as their parents.) In places like Spain where the drinking age is 16, the children begin to drink at an age where they are still at home and under the responsibility and guidance of their parents. This allows the parents to monitor their child’s consumption and succeeding actions while under the influence as they experiment with their ‘personal limit’. By this I mean, the child, like everyone, has to find the maximum amount of alcohol their individual body is capable of handling, while still acting in a respectable manner. In other words, thanks to the context of where the child begins to drink, the parents in Spain and almost all European countries are teaching moderation. Since the drinking age in the United States is so high, 21 year olds have to find their personal limit many times outside the home. For example, most 21 year olds are at college and living away from their parents. If they actually obeyed the law and didn’t drink before their 21st birthday, then they have no clue as to what their personal limit is, and consequently have to start experimenting. Being in the college scene where “four out of five people drink, with 44% of them reporting heavy drinking”(3), trying to learn how much consumption is deemed acceptable is impossible. Instead of having the parents of a new drinker teaching them moderation, the United States is having one of the largest abusive drinking populations i.e. college students, teach this valuable lesson.

Also it has been said that teenagers are going to drink no matter what the law is. The environment in which a person consumes has a lot to do with the amount they drink. It was observed that “having a lot of intoxicated people at a party and themed events predicted higher [BAC readings]” (7). This is exactly what most college parties are like. Having the drinking age so high causes these rebellious underage teens to consume in shady environments or at unsupervised parties. Also, as history proves, when people are denied a certain substance like alcohol, which happened during the Prohibition, they will tend to abuse it when the opportunity to obtain it presents itself. In fact, Richard Keeling who is an expert on the effects of the drinking age, stated that “the pattern for underage students is more dangerous…Afraid of being caught, they drink a lot in a short period of time. They do it less often but more intensely” (8). Allowing people at the age of 18 to consume while in their home under the supervision of their parent will eliminate not only the teens’ curiosity about alcohol but also the need to abuse it.

It was researched that the part of the brain that allows a person to make good judgments is not fully developed until the individual reaches the age of 20. Society must not feel the same way because the United States is forcing an individual at the age of 18 and younger to make good judgments. By this I mean that at around the age of 16 a person is allowed to operate a car, which many people refer to as a weapon. If not used responsibly, it can result in harm to self and others. Also, the United States Military allows people at the age of 18 to join their forces. This job requires making good, spit second, life or death decisions all day. Having the legal age to consume in public places be 21 is the second part of the negotiation. It was scientifically proven that the frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop. This section does influence a person’s ability to make informed and mature decisions. For this reason people should only be allowed to drink in public if they are above the age of 21. By this time, it is hoped that an individual has the ability, psychologically, to make informed, mature decisions in places where their actions affect others.
It was decided that the best way to better the situation is to allow 18 year olds to drink only while under the supervision of a parental unit, in the home. This way the child will learn the lessons of responsibility and moderation from a hopefully competent adult before they get to college where heavy drinking has become a serious problem. It was concurred that a person must be at least 21 years old to purchase any alcohol or to drink in public facilities like bars or restaurants. This will keep kids that have just started drinking i.e. ages 18-20 off the roads after they have consumed. This, one hopes, will keep people with minimal experience with the effects of alcohol out of public places where other people can be affected by their actions. It is believed that by the age of 21, people will have been allowed to drink for four years, which hopefully has allowed them to mature and figure out when they have had too much to do things like drive a car. Both sides of the previous argument are seen as extreme and it is believed that this blend is a good compromise. In conclusion, it was mediated that people in the United States should be allowed to start consuming alcohol at age 18 only at home, when under their parent’s supervision in order to ‘live and learn’ out of harm’s way, while only people that are at least 21 should be allowed people to purchase alcohol or drink in public places.


1. http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Drinkinganddriving
2. http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html
3. http://www.madd.org/getdoc/69e5fc38-7840-48b2-9186-027b21a3d5c7/CollegeStatistics.aspx
4. http://www.alcoholstats.com/page.aspx?id=136
5. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/Community%20Guides%20HTML/PDFs/Public_App7.pdf
6. http://maddtx.org/under21/4847
7. http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/drinking-games-themed.html
8. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=341729

Mediation/Negotiation

I still believe the legal drinking age should be pushed back down to 18, but Charlotte makes a lot of good points about the problems of underage drinking and the harm it is causing not only to themselves but to others. We have decided that the best way to better the situation is to allow 18 year olds to drink only while under the supervision of a parental unit, in the home. This way the child will learn the lessons of responsibility and moderation from a hopefully competent adult before they get to college where heavy drinking has become a serious problem. We concurred that a person must be at least 21 years old to purchase any alcohol or to drink in public facilities like bars or restaurants. This will keep kids that have just started drinking i.e. ages 18-20 off the roads after they have consumed. This, we hope, will keep people with minimal experience with the effects of alcohol out of public places where other people can be affected by their actions. We believe that by the age of 21, people will have been allowed to drink for four years, which hopefully has allowed them to mature and figure out when they have had too much to do things like drive a car. We now see both sides of the previous argument as extremes and believe this blend is a good compromise. In conclusion, we have decided that people in the United States should be allowed to start consuming alcohol at age 18 only at home, when under their parent’s supervision in order to ‘live and learn’ out of harm’s way, while only people that are at least 21 should be allowed people to purchase alcohol or drink in public places.

Brief for the Mediation Paper

The legal drinking age for the United States should be moved back down to 18 in order to restore fairness and abolish many underage drinking problems. At age 18, the United States considers a person to be an ‘adult’. With this title comes many responsibilities and privileges, excluding the consumption of alcohol. For example, at the age of 18, an individual can “marry, adopt children, serve on juries, enter into binding legal contracts, operate businesses, employ others, go to prison, be executed, obtain abortions, engage in legal games of chance (gamble), hunt with deadly weapons, fly airplanes, drive automobiles and other vehicles, purchase pornography, vote, and risk their lives by serving in the United States military”(Hanson). Underage drinking rates are lowering over the years, which show the responsibility and maturity of these people. Yet is said that the underage tend to drink in a more obscene manner than people of a legal drinking age. This fact is thought to be in strong accord with the affects of the Prohibition. People that are denied a certain substance like alcohol will tend to abuse it when the opportunity to obtain it presents itself. The United States is one of the few countries in the world with the legal drinking age of 21, and therefore should lower the legal drinking age to 18.

Source:
Underage Kids or Military Heroes? David J. Hanson, Ph.D.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1101839726.html