Teen Drinking Research Paper

Teen Drinking

            Of all the traffic crashes that go on in the world one third of them are because of teens with alcohol.  Many of them, because of those mistakes, end up dying or killing someone.  By making the drinking age higher they will be endangering other people’s lives.  Teens think that drinking is a way to relieve stress and pressure, and many think that they should lower the drinking age to 18, but they should not because it is for their heath and lives.

The legal drinking age is 21, but some people think that it should be lowered to 18.  There are some reasons why they think it should be lowered.  One reason is that some people think that 18 is the age that a person becomes an adult (“Drinking Age”).  They think that they are responsible enough at this age to be able to know when enough is enough. Lowering the age would teach them responsibility (Hanson).  Drinking is unhealthy for teens and can cause serious health issues (O’Connell).  David J. Hanson and William DeJong think that the age should be lowered according to this quote: "What about the fact that those who begin drinking at an early age are more likely to experience drinking problems later in life? This correlation appears to result from pre-existing personality factors that have been identified. In fact, psychologists have been able to observe preschoolers and predict accurately which will begin drinking earlier and will later have problems." (Hanson)  Changing the drinking age do these things, teens still shouldn’t drink.

Keeping the drinking age at 21 would mean that teens in America would be safer.  Keeping the drinking age would mean less alcohol use and less car crashes (Hanson).  It would also eliminate the drinking that goes on at colleges (“Drinking Age”).  If they didn’t keep it the same teens that drink and drive are making the roads dangerous to the people (Hanson).  When teens drink and drive, they are endangering everyone’s lives.   “…there is little argument that raising the drinking age has substantially reduced the number of traffic fatalities among younger drivers…” according to “Drinking Age”.  Keeping the age at 21 will save a lot of people’s lives. 

Drinking can cause many dangers for teens and people around them.  Car crashes are the most noticed death of teen drinking (O’Connell).  Another danger is that drinking at a young age threatens a teen’s long-term development and health (Clark).  The problem gets worse when the drinking starts at a younger age (Clark).  It also leads to brain damage (O’Connell).  According to Connell, “underage alcohol use is also associated with violence, suicide, educational failure, and other behavior problems”.  Teen drinking is dangerous for anyone especially to an underage drinker.

The question that is running through everyone’s mind is why do teens drink.  Teens drink to relieve stress.  They think that when they drink all the stress goes away.  Even though it may relieve stress they should still not do it.  They should not do it because it is bad for them (Clark).  It could cause serious health issues (Clark).   Teens drink for many other reasons.

Other teens drink because of pressure from their peers and from television.  12% of teens said they drink on TV (Clark).  70% said they drank because of peer pressure (Clark).  Teens should not listen to what other people say.  If they know it’s the wrong decision, they should not do it.  Teens should do what they think is right.  That is why teens drink. 

Teens will help keep people around them stay safer if they do not drink.  Not drinking would make the country a better place for everyone.  It would keep them safer.  It would also keep parents from worrying about their kids.  As you can see, there are many reasons why they should not raise the drinking age and not let teens drink. 

Works Cited

Clark, Charles S. "Underage Drinking." CQ Researcher. 13 Mar 1992: 219+. SIRS         

           Researcher. Web. 24 Sep 2010.

"Drinking Age." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student

Resources In Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.

Hanson, David J., and William DeJong. "Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to

18?." American Teacher.  Nov 2008: 3. SIRS Researcher. Web. 28 Sep 2010.

O’Connell, Mary Ellen. "Underage drinking." Issues in Science and Technology 21.2      
           (2005): 82+. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 15 Sept. 2010.