Underage Drinking is not only socially acceptable among college students; it’s frowned upon to not participate. Sorority and fraternity parties, downtown at the bars, and dorm rooms are always loaded with underage college students and teens illegally drinking. In the United States, it is against the law to buy and consume alcohol under the age of twenty-one, however; kids are outsmarting the law in place and making it happen. Many teens claim that the drinking age requirement should be lowered to eighteen due to the fact they are considered “legal adults” at this point. While that is a valid point, the sources I have found led me to believe otherwise. By lowering the legal drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen the safety and health of the people in the United States would be negatively affected.

While young adults think that cracking open a beer and having a good time is all good fun, many don’t realize the consequences. What I found in “Impacts of New Zealand's lowered minimum purchase age on context specific drinking and related risks.” by Paul Gruenewald, provided me with data that shows the effects of alcohol on different age groups. The sixteen through nineteen age group is more likely to experience dependency and participate in unhealthy binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as consuming excessive amounts of alcohol (or a blood alcohol level of 0.08 %) in a short period of time according to the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse website. Reaching a blood alcohol level of 0.08 g/dL is typically after five drinks for a male, and 4 drinks for a female. Any amount of alcohol impairs your mind and ability to make appropriate decisions. After reading through Russel Callaghan’s “Impacts of Drinking-Age legislation on Alcohol-Impaired driving crimes among young people in Canada”, I learned that automobile accidents that occur when the driver is under the influence where much more likely to occur when the driver was either eighteen or nineteen years old, versus a twenty-one year old. Teenagers lack the maturity and responsibility compared to twenty-one year olds when it comes to drinking then driving a car. These studies both show that those under twenty-one are more likely to have dangerous and unhealthy consequences play out. 

The risk of drinking to get drunk and having an excessive amount of alcohol can be detrimental. Megan Patrick and Yvonne Terry McElrath conducted a study pertaining the prevalence of underage drinking amount high school seniors and those beginning college. Being that seven out of every ten students that graduate high school will enroll into a secondary education program the next fall, it’s a serious problem pertaining this demographic. After researching the habits of over one thousand seven-hundred young adults, ranging from ages eighteen to twenty, it was concluded that four-year university attendees and those who no longer live with their parents are more likely to partake in high intensity drinking habits. In fact, one-third or (33.1%) of nineteen and twenty-year-old college students reported usual moderate/high intoxication, and 29.6% reported usual uninterrupted intoxication during a two-week period.  These numbers are shocking. While we know that drinking takes place in college towns, the fact that that over five hundred students in this particular study spent two weeks with sustained intoxication goes to show the unhealthy and dangerous habits young adults are participating in. 

Anyone who has had alcohol knows how it makes you feel, but few know what actually happens to your brain. The video I watched from TedED called “Alcohol and Your Brain” explained how long it takes for your body to metabolize alcohol and the dangers that come along with binge drinking. On average, one ounce of alcohol can take one hour to be metabolized in the liver. The excess alcohol that cannot be metabolized, will saturate the blood. After reaching a high blood alcohol concentration, the risk of accidental injury increases exponentially. Vomiting, diarrhea, high blood pressure, and heart attacks are just some of the many potential side effects of drinking excessively. Under certain circumstances (and enough alcohol), these side effects could lead to death, and “underage alcohol use is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide” (Patrick). Compared to matured adults, young people are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol due to social development changes, biological changes, as well as physiological changes (Windle). Even in the later teenage years, the brain is still developing.  Research done with adolescents who drink heavily has concluded that these young adults have a smaller prefrontal lobe than those who do not drink. The prefrontal lobe is in charge of complex cognitive behavior, moderating social demeanor, as well as your personality. 

I have seen countless petitions such as “Barack Obama: Lower Drinking age from 21 to 18” on change.org with thousands of signatures, so I know that this issue is relevant. Those signing are predominately college students and young adults that are looking to make their current party lifestyle, a legal one. Michael Gonchar feeds this discussion in his article “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered” by bringing up how several states lowered their drinking age just for it to be brought back to twenty-one later. In the 1970s, when the 26th Amendment granting eighteen-year olds the right to vote was passed, many states lowered the drinking age at the same time. When Congress passed the National Drinking Age Act, these states raised it back to twenty-one. Teen drinking is prevalent now more than ever and Gonchar’s article sheds light on the importance of the Act put into place by congress. 

Many argue that kids are doing it anyway. Those in favor of changing or revoking the National Drinking Age Act claim that altering it would make sense due to the fact that we cannot control the underage drinking habits. With that being said, guidance by an adult or parent can help to reduce the possibility of underage drinking. Parents play a major role in the likelihood of adolescence consuming alcohol before they reach the legal age limit. Before they move out, or go away to college, these teens are typically living at home with their parents/legal guardians. 

An article by Michael Winerip was published in The New York Times titled “Addressing Teen Drinking” and it brings up the many options of what could be done. Winerip discusses parents pushing a no tolerance outlook, versus a teaching and learning experience pertaining alcohol consumption. Parents play a major role in the prevention, (as well as the encouragement) of their child’s drinking habits. Many wrestle with the question of the morality of letting their teenagers drink, and in the end their child’s decisions reflect the way their parents raised them. 

A study done by the Orebro Prevention Program, also known as the OPP, looked into the effect of a restrictive attitude and the mediating role parents play in underage drunkenness. It began with a group of over 800 youth reporting their friends and acquaintances alcohol consumption, their last month’s drunkenness, as well as the bond and relationship type between themselves and their parents. They used a latent growth curve model to analyze the rate of change amongst parent’s attitudes and underage alcohol consumption. The conclusion of the study revealed that increasing parent’s restrictive attitudes to underage drinking, makes out to be an adequate and robust method for diminishing heavy youth alcohol consumption regardless of the child’s sex, cultural origin, friend’s and parental drinking habits, as well as the quality of the relationship with their parents (Özdemir). By being assertive, parents can reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by their children, and improve their overall health and safety. 

Early drinking can have a major effect on the current and future health of an individual. Instead of lowering it and making it easier for adolescents to participate in risky behavior, there are many different options to limit underage drinking. A study posted in the Journal of Medical Internet Research discussed several alternatives to help limit underage drinking. This particular study was titled “Effectiveness of a Web-Based Brief Alcohol Intervention and Added Value of Normative Feedback in Reducing Underage Drinking: A Randomized Controlled Trial” and it was run by Renske Spijkerman and a team of doctors. 

*I am struggling with my organization. I am having a hard time figuring out in what order my paragraphs should be in. Any suggestions would help *
