Lower Underage drinking.

A detailed Summary of Lower Underage drinking.

There is no denying that there is a problem in our country with underage drinking, and that something must be done about it. We have already tried raising the drinking age to 21 and have become stricter with underage drinkers. Ever since the legal drinking age was raised to 21 (in 1987) there has been an increase in "binge drinking" as well as an increase in problems related to heavy and irresponsible drinking. (www.asfar.org). We must find a way to stop this increase in dangerous binge drinking, and the way we can do this is by lowering the legal drinking age to 18. In the next few paragraphs I will outline the main reasons why the drinking age should be lowered and how this can help combat the irresponsible drinking habits of today's youth.

First of all, studies have shown that the current drinking age is counterproductive. (www.rallyusa.org, April 30, 2002) "Binge drinking" has been on the rise ever since the legal drinking age was raised to 21. Kids now see drinking as a "forbidden fruit", a "badge of rebellion against authorities", and a symbol of "adulthood". Which has caused a lot of irresponsible drinking, and a rise in problems related to heavy drinking. For example after the 21 year old law

Many of the problems caused by the legal drinking age revolve around the fact that if you tell kids not to do something, they will be even more motivated to do it. This can all be explained in what is known as the reactance theory. Basically the "reactance theory suggests that attempting to prevent alcohol consumption among underage college students will create reactance motivation and lead to increased drinking among such students", as written by Ruth C. Engs and David J. Hanson. Research has shown that telling someone not to do something often causes him or her to do the opposite. People value their freedom, and when they feel it is unjustly threatened "they enter into a reactance motivational state and act to regain control by not complying." This is what happens with underage drinkers, they are told not to drink and that it is bad, but instead they do just the opposite and drink irresponsibly. (Ruth Engs and David Hanson, http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/articles/react.html, 1989).

Of all of the nations of the world, there are only four nations that have a drinking age as high as 21 (Malaysia, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United States). All of the other nations have a drinking age of 18 or lower, and most of them don't necessarily have a huge problem with irresponsible underage drinking. In many European countri

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Approximate Word count = 894
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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Lower Underage drinking.

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