Alcohol In College Essay Research Paper compuserve

Alcohol In College Essay, Research Paper compuserve (underage drinking statistics) * A typical American college students spends more on beer than they do on textbooks * Junior and senior high school students drink 35% of all wine coolers sold in the United States and 1.1 billion cans of beer each year. *More than million students drink when they are alone; more than 4 million drink when they are upset; and nearly 3 million drink when they are bored. *A sixteen year old student is more likely to die from a drinking related problem than any other. Summary of Information: Underage drinking and the legal limit of when a person is able to drink is a contributing factor to the causes of death among teens these days. The social pressures of being a teenager are harder and harder

each day. The law does state the you must be over the age of 21 before you may consume alcohol but there are people out there that do choose otherwise. Many different advocates are for lowering the legal drinking age. Well, the truth must be told. The society of this day and age is very demanding and responsible for many of he teenagers problems these days. For example, the pressures of being a teen consists of “fitting in” and “wanting to be cool”. Well, its not cool to be totally smashed and drive home drunk and run the risk of killing you and others on the road that night. This web page is desinged to inform you of the risks and to help prevent the use of alcohol among teenagers. There are many other things that can be done on a Friday or Saturday night. Try going

bowling or to the movies. Underage drinking is a major problem in our nation these days and needs to be abolished. Talking Points/Arguments: Answering the Critics of Age-21 State Age-21 laws are one of the most effective public policies ever implemented in the Nation…I am chagrined to report that some supposedly responsible officials would like to repeal them.1 Jim Hall, Chairman National Transportation Safety Board Argument Lowering the drinking age will reduce the allure of alcohol as a “forbidden fruit” for minors. Response Lowering the drinking age will make alcohol more available to an even younger population, replacing “forbidden fruit” with “low-hanging fruit.” The practices and behaviors of 18 year-olds are particularly influential on 15 – 17 year-olds.2

If 18 year-olds get the OK to drink, they will be modeling drinking for younger teens. Legal access to alcohol for 18 year-olds will provide more opportunities for younger teens to obtain it illegally from older peers. Age-21 has resulted in decreases, not increases in youth drinking, an outcome inconsistent with an increased allure of alcohol. In 1983, one year before the National Minimum Purchase Age Act was passed, 88% of high school seniors reported any alcohol use in the past year and 41% reported binge drinking. By 1997, alcohol use by seniors had dropped to 75% and the percentage of binge drinkers had fallen to 31%.3 Argument Lowering the drinking age will encourage young people to be responsible consumers. They’ll get an idea of their tolerance and learn to drink under

supervision at bars (or on campus, if in college), rather than at uncontrolled private parties away from school. Response No evidence exists to indicate that kids will learn to drink responsibly simply because they are able to consume alcohol legally at a younger age. Countries with lower drinking ages suffer from alcohol-related problems similar to those in the U.S.4 Responsible consumption comes with maturity, and maturity largely comes as certain protective mechanisms, such as marriage and first job, begin to take hold. Supervision does not necessarily lead to responsibility. Many bars encourage irresponsible drinking by deeply discounting drinks and by heavily promoting specials, such as happy hours, two-for-ones, and bar crawls. Raising the drinking age has apparently