Daisy Arabella
smilenjoylife
researchtopicproposallegaldrinkingage.docxSurname 1
name
professor
ENC 1102
15 January 2019
Should the U.S. lower the drinking age to 18?
1. The topic I selected focuses on explaining if the U.S. government should lower the drinking age to eighteen years old. In the United States, a person who has reached the age of 18 is allowed to operate a vehicle, vote, marry, own a gun and even serve in the military. Some of these things bear more responsibility than drinking alcoholic beverages. However, the legal drinking age in the country stands at 21, a number that is the highest in the world. President Reagan introduced the age limit in 1984.
2. In Europe, the minimum drinking age is lower than 21, and no one can stand and say that Europeans are irresponsible since they start drinking at the age of 18. I have friends that at 18 they travelled to France as a group for a couple of months. The way they drank is not the same way European teenagers drink. My friends being American drank irresponsibly because they knew once they got back home they would not drink again until 21. The European teenagers drank less quantity in a more social manner.
3. Before the law was passed, the legal drinking age varied from one state to the other, with some separating the age of drinking beer and hard liquor. I know a family that when they were teenagers lived in Pennsylvania and would drive to Ohio where the drinking age was 18. According to the stories they told me, kids living near the border used to cross over and drink the whole night. If the drinking age is minimized, young people will not have to go through such hustle to have a good time. Underage drinking will also reduce drastically. They would also drink less since it is readily available legally.
4. This is an important topic because underage drinking is an epidemic in the US. The CDC reports that 11% of alcohol consumed in the US is from illegal underage drinking. World Health Organization in 2015 did a report that showed in the United States, 31% of road traffic deaths involve alcohol. This percentage is higher than many countries with a drinking age lower than 21 such as France (29%), Great Britain (16%), Germany (9%), China (4%), and Israel (3%).
Lowering the legal drinking age is certainly a relevant topic. However, I recommend narrowing the scope of the topic. For instance, you could explore what the first step would be to change the law. Also, be careful about making comparisons to other issues, such as voting, marrying, etc.; this distracts the reader's attention from the topic at hand. You should also avoid comparing the U.S. to European countries since the demographics and laws are very different. Per your response in #3, you will need to show evidence that lowering the drinking age would result in teens drinking less. Since you mention the CDC in #4, you may want to refer to this fact sheet: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/minimum-legal-drinking-age.htm
Surname
1
name
professor
ENC 1102
15
January 2019
Should the U.S. lower the drinking age to 18?
1.
The topic I selected focuses on explaining if the U.S. government should lower the
drinking age to eighteen years
old
.
In the United States, a person who has reached the
age of 18 is allowed to operate a vehicle, vote, marry, own a gun and even serve in
the military. Some of these things bear more responsibility than drinking alcoholic
beverages. However, the legal drinkin
g age in the country stands at 21, a number that
is the highest in the world. President Reagan introduced the age limit in 1984.
2.
In Europe, the minimum drinking age is lower than 21, and no one can stand and say
that Europeans are irresponsible since they
start drinking at the age of 18. I
have
friends that at 18 they
travelled to France
as a group for a couple of months
. The way
they drank
is not the same way
European teenagers drink. My f
r
iends being American
dra
nk irresponsibly because they knew once th
ey got back home they would not drink
again until
21
.
The European teenagers drank less quantity in a more social manner.
3.
Before the law was passed, the legal drinking age varied from one state to the other,
with some separating the age of drinking beer a
nd hard liquor.
I know a family that
when they were teenagers lived in Pennsylvania and would drive
to Ohio where the
drinking age was 18. According to the stories they told me, kids living near the border
used to cross over and drink the whole night. If the drinking age is
minimized
, young
Surname 1
name
professor
ENC 1102
15 January 2019
Should the U.S. lower the drinking age to 18?
1. The topic I selected focuses on explaining if the U.S. government should lower the
drinking age to eighteen years old. In the United States, a person who has reached the
age of 18 is allowed to operate a vehicle, vote, marry, own a gun and even serve in
the military. Some of these things bear more responsibility than drinking alcoholic
beverages. However, the legal drinking age in the country stands at 21, a number that
is the highest in the world. President Reagan introduced the age limit in 1984.
2. In Europe, the minimum drinking age is lower than 21, and no one can stand and say
that Europeans are irresponsible since they start drinking at the age of 18. I have
friends that at 18 they travelled to France as a group for a couple of months. The way
they drank is not the same way European teenagers drink. My friends being American
drank irresponsibly because they knew once they got back home they would not drink
again until 21. The European teenagers drank less quantity in a more social manner.
3. Before the law was passed, the legal drinking age varied from one state to the other,
with some separating the age of drinking beer and hard liquor. I know a family that
when they were teenagers lived in Pennsylvania and would drive to Ohio where the
drinking age was 18. According to the stories they told me, kids living near the border
used to cross over and drink the whole night. If the drinking age is minimized, young
