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Return the drinking age to 18, and enforce it.

Gabrielle Glaser

Gabrielle Glaser is the author, most recently, of " Her Best-Kept Secret : Why Women Drink -- And How They Can Regain Control." She is on Twitter .

Updated February 10, 2015, 10:33 PM

Return the drinking age to 18 -- and then enforce the law. The current system, which forbids alcohol to Americans under 21, is widely flouted, with disastrous consequences. Teaching people to drink responsibly before they turn 21 would enormously enhance public health. Now, high school and college kids view dangerous binge drinking as a rite of passage.

Raising the drinking age to 21 hasn't reduced drinking -- it’s merely driven it underground, to the riskiest of settings.

The current law, passed in all 50 states in the 1980s, was intended to diminish the number of traffic deaths caused by young drunk drivers. It has succeeded in that -- but tougher seatbelt and D.U.I. rules have contributed to the decrease, too. Raising the drinking age hasn't reduced drinking -- it’s merely driven it underground, to the riskiest of settings: unsupervised high school blowouts and fraternity parties that make "Animal House" look quaint. This age segregation leads the drinking away from adults, who could model moderation. The roots of this extreme drinking lie in our own history. Prohibition, which banned most alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933, normalized the frenzied sort of drinking that occurs today at college parties. In speakeasies and blind pigs, the goal was to drink as much and as soon as possible, because you never knew when the feds would show up. Today's law, likewise, encourages young people to dodge the system. Like Prohibition -- and abstinence-only sex education -- it’s been a dismal failure.

A 2009 study published in The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that between 1998 and 2005, the number of cases of alcohol poisoning deaths among 18- to 24-year-olds nearly tripled, jumping from 779 cases to 2,290. The study also tracks a rise in fatalities from hypothermia and falls. Some reports link excess drinking to sexual assault .

American 18-year-olds have the right to vote, marry, buy guns and join the military. They're astute enough to defend their country, decide elected officials and serve on a jury -- but not regulate their own appetites? They deserve the chance to learn.

We don't hand teenagers car keys without first educating them about how to drive . Why expect 21-year-olds to learn how to drink responsibly without learning from moderate models, at home and in alcohol education programs?

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Topics: Law , colleges , drinking , teenagers , university

Christopher S. Carpenter

21 Is Working

Tamika C. B. Zapolski

Keep the Drinking Age High

You must be 21 to drink, return it to 18, and enforce it, lower it to 19.

Laurence Steinberg

Lowering It Has Serious Consequences

Tara Watson

Raising It Was a Disaster

S. Georgia Nugent

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argumentative essay about drinking age

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Why the drinking age should be lowered

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Alcohol Research and Health History

Why the drinking age should be lowered: an opinion based upon research.

Engs, Ruth C. (1997, 2014). “Why the drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research. Indiana University: Bloomington, IN. Adapted from: IUScholarWorks Repository:  http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17594

The legal drinking age should be lowered to about 18 or 19 and young adults allowed to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions. In these situations responsible drinking could be taught through role modeling and educational programs. Mature and sensible drinking behavior would be expected. This opinion is based upon research that I have been involved in for over thirty years concerning college age youth and the history of drinking in the United States and other cultures.

Although the legal purchase age is 21 years of age, a majority of college students under this age consume alcohol but in an irresponsible manner. This is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing "forbidden fruit," a "badge of rebellion against authority" and a symbol of "adulthood." As a nation we have tried prohibition legislation twice in the past for controlling irresponsible drinking problems. This was during National Prohibition in the 1920s and state prohibition during the 1850s. These laws were finally repealed because they were unenforceable and because the backlash towards them caused other social problems. Today we are repeating history and making the same mistakes that occurred in the past. Prohibition did not work then and prohibition for young people under the age of 21 is not working now.

The flaunting of the current laws is readily seen among university students. Those under the age of 21 are more likely to be heavy -- sometimes called "binge" -- drinkers (consuming over 5 drinks at least once a week). For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers. Among drinkers only, 32% of under-age compared to 24% of legal age are heavy drinkers.

Research from the early 1980s until the present has shown a continuous decrease, and then leveling off, in drinking and driving related variables which has parallel the nation's, and also university students, decrease in per capita consumption. However, these declines started in 1980 before the national 1987 law which mandated states to have 21 year old alcohol purchase laws.

The decrease in drinking and driving problems are the result of many factors and not just the rise in purchase age or the decreased per capita consumption. These include: education concerning drunk driving, designated driver programs, increased seat belt and air bag usage, safer automobiles, lower speed limits, free taxi services from drinking establishments, etc.

While there has been a decrease in per capita consumption and motor vehicle crashes, unfortunately, during this same time period there was an INCREASE in other problems related to heavy and irresponsible drinking among college age youth. Most of these reported behaviors showed little change until AFTER the 21 year old law in 1987. For example from 1982 until 1987 about 46% of students reported "vomiting after drinking." This jumped to over 50% after the law change. Significant increase were also found for other variables: "cutting class after drinking" jumped from 9% to almost 12%; "missing class because of hangover" went from 26% to 28%; "getting lower grade because of drinking" rose from 5% to 7%; and "been in a fight after drinking" increased from 12% to 17%. All of these behaviors are indices of irresponsible drinking. This increase in abusive drinking behavior is due to "underground drinking" outside of adult supervision in student rooms, houses, and apartments where same age individuals congregate. The irresponsible behavior is exhibited because of lack of knowledge of responsible drinking behaviors, reactance motivation (rebellion against the law), or student sub-culture norms.

Beginning in the first decade of the 21st century, distilled spirits [hard liquor] began to be the beverage of choice rather than beer among collegians. Previously beer had been the beverage of choice among students. A 2013 study of nursing students, for example, revealed that they consumed an average of 4.3 shots of liquor compared to 2.6 glasses of beer on a weekly basis.

This change in beverage choice along with irresponsible drinking patterns among young collegians has led to increased incidences of alcohol toxicity - in some cases leading to death from alcohol poisoning. However, the percent of students who consume alcohol or are heavy or binge drinkers has been relatively stable for the past 30 years.

Based upon the fact that our current prohibition laws are not working, the need for alternative approaches from the experience of other, and more ancient cultures, who do not have these problems need to be tried. Groups such as Italians, Greeks, Chinese and Jews, who have few drinking related problems, tend to share some common characteristics. Alcohol is neither seen as a poison or a magic potent, there is little or no social pressure to drink, irresponsible behavior is never tolerated, young people learn at home from their parents and from other adults how to handle alcohol in a responsible manner, there is societal consensus on what constitutes responsible drinking. Because the 21 year old drinking age law is not working, and is counterproductive, it behooves us as a nation to change our current prohibition law and to teach responsible drinking techniques for those who chose to consume alcoholic beverages.

Research articles that support this opinion are found in the Indiana University Repository at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17133/browse?type=title

and https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17130/browse?type=title

Some material here also used in: Engs, Ruth C. "Should the drinking age be lowered to 18 or 19." In Karen Scrivo, "Drinking on Campus," CQ Researcher 8 (March 20,1998):257.

Alcohol Research and Health History resources

(c) Copyright, 1975-2024. Ruth C. Engs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405

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Argumentative Essay- Drinking Age should be increased to 25

Profile image of Ibrahim Obi Bryt

The debate about increasing the legal age for drinking is increasingly getting vicious especially in the United States of America. The excessive drinking among young adults especially in college results in negative externalities, and there are legal procedures that can reduce or prevent these problems maybe until a later age when they are mature enough and responsible. Most economies have implemented the requirement of the drinking age as twenty-one instead of the conventional legal age of eighteen or sixteen in some countries (Elements Behavioral Health, 2016). The notion of raised drinking age is greatly gaining traction over the past few years, and the primary purpose is to prevent alcohol-related harm by young people. This paper will support my claim that the drinking age should be raised to twenty-five years because it is the age when the brain and the nervous systems have developed to physical maturity.

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To study the links of family background, child and adolescent social behaviour, and (mal)adaptation with heavy drinking by age 20 and with the frequency of drinking, binge drinking, Cut-down, Annoyed, Guilt, Eye-opener (CAGE) questionnaire scores and problems due to drinking at ages 27 and 42 years. In the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, data have been collected by interviews, inventories and questionnaires. Behavioural data were gathered at ages 8 and 14; data on alcohol consumption were gathered at ages 14, 20, 27, 36 and 42. A total of 184 males and 163 females; 94% of the original sample of the 8-year-olds. Family adversities, externalizing problem behaviours, low school success, truancy and substance use in adolescence were associated in early middle age with problems due to drinking in both genders, and to binge drinking and CAGE scores in females. The antecedents varied, however, across the indicators of drinking and gender. The frequency of drinking was least predictable by the studied antecedents. Childhood and adolescent antecedents and drinking up to age 20 explained 43% of males' and 31% of females' problem drinking at age 42; 31% and 19%, respectively, at age 27. The early warning signs of drinking problems should be taken seriously in the preventive work for alcohol abuse. Problem drinking in early middle age is preceded by maladjustment to school, early age of onset of drinking and heavy drinking in adolescence even more significantly than problem drinking in early adulthood.

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One of the first associations that come to mind when talking about alcohol is driving. For citizens of the United States, having a car is seen as a must starting from the age when a teenager is allowed to receive a driving license. According to data provided by the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving , in 2010, a high percentage of car accidents connected to drunk driving (15.1% out of 10.228 individuals) was observed among young people aged between 18-20 years (PolicyMic). Respectively, if youths were officially allowed to consume alcohol from 18 years old, this index of car accidents would necessarily be much higher. Moreover, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that since establishing the drinking age of 21 in 1975, the number of car fatalities among 18-20 year old drivers in the United States decreased by 13% (SFGate).

The medical irresponsibility of allowing teenagers to drink alcohol on a legal basis is also obvious to those who have at least a basic knowledge in biology. Consuming alcohol on a regular basis can negatively affect the development of an individual’s brain’s frontal lobes, which are responsible for emotional regulation, as well as for planning and organization (ProCon.org). Underage individuals who consume alcohol put themselves at more risk of addiction, decreased ability of decision-making, tend to behave less responsibly, and may become violent, depressed, and even prone to suicide.

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The “trickle-down effect,” well-known to sociologists, is another reason against lowering drinking age that should be taken into consideration. This effect implies individuals who already have a right to legally purchase and consume alcohol tend to buy it for their younger peers (ProCon.org); for example, 21-year-old students buy beer or spirits for themselves and for their friends who can be of the age 18-20. In the case of the drinking age being lowered to 18 years, the age of individuals who in fact have access to alcohol will decrease even more, reaching ages of 15-17 or even less. Considering the specifics of adolescence, granting teenagers with a wider access to alcohol can have negative consequences for their health and wellbeing.

Though in a number of countries worldwide the drinking age is 18 years, in the United States, this index is 21, and it should not be lowered. Lowering the drinking age to 18 years old would lead to an increase of car accidents connected to drunk driving; it would also negatively affect youths’ cognitive development, clouding their ability to make decisions and plans, and would make them more vulnerable to addiction and other negative effects; due to the “trickle-down effect” lowering the drinking age would also mean granting access to alcohol to individuals who are younger than 18 years old. It seems this debate in the U.S. will linger on much longer.

“Minimum Age Limits Worldwide.” ICAP.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. <http://www.icap.org/table/minimumagelimitsworldwide>.

“Top 3 Reasons Why the Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered to 18.” PolicyMic. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/14574/top-3-reasons-why-the-drinking-age-should-not-be-lowered-to-18>.

“Keep the Drinking Age at 21.” SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. <http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Keep-the-drinking-age-at-21-3271409.php>.

“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?” ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. <http://drinkingage.procon.org/>.

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At 18, Is It Time for a Drink? Argumentative Essay

An American teenager who is eighteen years old is allowed to do several things, such as vote, join the military, and get married; however, drinking is not allowed until he or she is twenty-one years old.

The officially permitted drinking age in the U.S. was raised from eighteen to twenty-one in 1988 due to the National Minimum Age Drinking Act that had been signed into law four years earlier by President Ronald Reagan.

The main reason was maturity; that is, at eighteen one is not mature enough to drink responsibly (Kiesbye, 2). However, I agree with the verdict of the group of university and college presidents that the drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen.

Opponents of lowering the legal drinking age usually refer to the dangers of binge drinking. They say that the practice is increasing and that any person who is below eighteen is simply not responsible enough to have an alcoholic beverage.

This type of drinking most of the time occurs in the underground and hidden places where the teenagers cannot be discovered. However, although binge drinking is a problem in America, the root cause is the high drinking age that our lawmakers have instituted ignoring certain realities.

Let us face the reality: if a person wants to drink, he or she will definitely find a way to do that. And since legal adults (those over eighteen) are unable to get hold of alcohol themselves, they will inevitably go to hidden places and drink excessively without any supervision or guidance.

When the drinking age is lowered, teenagers can drink responsibly without having to hide themselves. Therefore, “the current limit ignores the reality of drinking during college years and drives it underground, making binge drinking more dangerous and students less likely to seek help in an emergency” (Gordon and Holland, para. 2).

I think it is of essence to question this law: why is it that the age of twenty-one is the “magical’ age that a person is considered as intelligent and mature enough to drink alcohol? Truly, some adults consume alcohol irresponsibly. On the other hand, some young people are able to drink responsibly.

At eighteen, Americans are regarded as adults. It may seem odd to allow those above eighteen years to marry, drive their own cars, and do other sorts of things, and yet to be prevented by the same law from taking a glass of wine in a café or even a glass of champagne at their own wedding party. I feel that it does not make sense to have a limit that is higher than the legally recognized age of maturity.

Young people look at alcoholic beverages as something exciting (Bishop, 19). They consider it an activity preserved for the adults; however, young people want to be adults As Soon As Possible. Therefore, as is the case in most institutions, they usually carry fake identity cards to drinking dens; thus, leading to more problems, or steal the drinks from their parents’ drink cupboard.

Maintaining the drinking age at twenty-one does not encourage responsible drinking. In addition, when the opportunity to take alcohol arises, “Let us compensate for the lost time” attitude crops in resulting in binge drinking, which leads to results that are even more disastrous.

By reducing the legal drinking age, it would inevitably water down some of the temptation to take alcohol since the young people often say that it is more fun when it is illegal.

And, more so, in most cases, young people tend to engage in illicit activities. Therefore, lowering the age will reduce this tendency. In reality, increasing the drinking age is even worse than not doing anything at all simply because most individuals would want to get drunk as a sign of rebellion to the authority. “Not much can be done to control student drinking.

Americans younger than 21 casually defy the law by secretly drinking. If the law was changed, the practice can take place in the open, where it could be better monitored and moderated” (Snelgrove, para. 22). I think that the obsession of wanting to consume alcohol would lose its appeal if drinking were not regarded as purely an adult thing.

As pointed out by the article, “At 18, is it time for a drink?” teen drinking is longstanding problem, which has affected the American society and the drinking age limit has not done enough to cut short.

The American society does not care to instruct the teenagers’ on limits or responsibilities; however, they apparently assume that the teenagers will know their limits and be responsible consumers of alcoholic beverages upon attaining the lawful “magical age” of twenty-one.

A number of developed countries in Europe, such as France, Belgium, and Italy, have established a legal minimum drinking age at sixteen years. It is interesting to note that in those countries one is allowed to drive at eighteen years of age.

If the American society can focus more on educating the youth on responsible drinking habits rather than restriction, then several problems can be prevented (Gordon and Holland, para.16). The youth in the U.S., unlike their counterparts in Europe, are not able to learn how to consume alcohol and other substances gradually, safely and with caution.

Even though the average daily consumption of alcohol in some European nations such as France and Spain is higher than in the United States, the percentage of alcoholism and irresponsible drinking is much lower due to education on safe drinking habits and enforcement of gradual drinking behavior.

Supporters of the legal drinking age often cite possible increase in car accidents as a reason to maintain the drinking age. However, they fail to realize that individuals of all ages get into car crashes, teenagers and adults, when they abuse alcohol.

Educating the public on the dangers of this vice can be more beneficial than simply giving restrictions. In most countries in Europe, teenagers are permitted to drive at eighteen years of age, and also to drink responsibly at the same age.

Therefore, they are able to learn early about the dangers of drinking alcohol and practice good drinking habits. I think that lowering the drinking age would be able to reduce the number of car crashes that are related to excessive consumption of alcohol.

Restrictions can be put to prevent the teenagers from drinking, but can they really be stopped? No one was there to stop the over ten million American teens aged twelve to twenty who have already drunk an alcoholic beverage at present. Out of this number, it is astonishing that about half of them are engaging in binge drinking.

To put more facts on the table, it is estimated that about eighty percent of students in grade nine through twelve will have tasted at least one drink of an alcoholic beverage in their lifetime and about fifty percent of these students have tasted at least one drink of alcohol in the last one month.

So, tell me, are restrictions stopping them from pursing their illicit courses? Abuse of alcohol among the teens is a real problem that we should not ignore the way we are doing now through unfair restrictions.

Since more and more teens are destroying their lives, I suggest that we try something different, something that can ultimately bear fruits since the high drinking age seems to be taking us nowhere. Therefore, I strongly believe that lowering the drinking age and then educating the teenagers on the dangers of alcohol consumption can reduce this problem.

We should all recognize that America has a huge problem with teen drinking. The only way to find a solution to this problem is by stopping to ignore it. “It’s time we look at the issue afresh and see whether there are better solutions than we currently have in place because, after all, we haven’t solved the problem” (Gordon and Holland, para. 8).

The American teenagers should get more education about the effects of alcohol, rather than giving them punishment. The legal drinking age should be restored to eighteen since the current age at twenty-one lacks any real basis. A lowered drinking age will bring us to reality and institute better ways of curbing the vice. Consequently, fewer problems would arise.

Works Cited

Bishop, Bruce. Effects of lowering the drinking age . Salem, Or. : Legislative Research, 1979. Print.

Gordon, Larry, and Holland, Gale. “At 18, is it time for a drink? ” Los Angels Times . 8 Aug. 2008. Web. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-20-me-drinking20-story.html

Kiesbye, Stefan. Should the legal drinking age be lowered? Detroit : Greenhaven Press, 2008. Print.

Snelgrove, Erin. “18 or 21? Drinking age debate heats up.” Yakima-herald. 2 Sept. 2008. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2020, July 8). At 18, Is It Time for a Drink? https://ivypanda.com/essays/at-18-is-it-time-for-a-drink/

"At 18, Is It Time for a Drink?" IvyPanda , 8 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/at-18-is-it-time-for-a-drink/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'At 18, Is It Time for a Drink'. 8 July.

IvyPanda . 2020. "At 18, Is It Time for a Drink?" July 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/at-18-is-it-time-for-a-drink/.

1. IvyPanda . "At 18, Is It Time for a Drink?" July 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/at-18-is-it-time-for-a-drink/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "At 18, Is It Time for a Drink?" July 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/at-18-is-it-time-for-a-drink/.

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The Thesis Statement in a Persuasive Text

Alys Avalos-Rivera

In another chapter, we discussed the features of an informational essay. In this chapter, we will guide you to understand the essential elements of a similar type of academic text: the persuasive essay. Although informational and persuasive writing follow similar principles such as an orderly presentation of ideas that should be supported with evidence (e.g. facts, arguments, or examples), their purposes differ. The objective is written to take a stance (specific point of view) with respect to a controversial topic and persuade the audience to adopt the writer’s position. Because of this difference, the thesis statement of the persuasive essay needs to introduce the writer’s position in the controversy featured in the essay. Also, the preview of the essay’s structure should outline the arguments that the author will use to support his/her stance.

Should the US drinking age be lowered?

In the US, drinking alcoholic beverages is illegal for people under 21 years of age (minimum legal drinking age or MLDA). This law has long caused a great deal of disagreement and debates. While some people think it is paradoxical that young people of 18 cannot enter a bar but still go to war, others believe that the law is the best way to keep youth away from irresponsible and heavy drinking episodes (also called binge drinking). The following texts were written by readers of the New York Times” Room for Debate page to express their opinions about the subject. [1]

  • Read the comments and underline the readers’ main arguments (reasons to support one position or the other).
  • Identify which readers are against lowering the minimum drinking age (CON) and which are in favor (PRO)?
  • Which arguments seem the least convincing? Which are the most persuasive? Why?

Content focus: Rating thesis statements

Considering these features, in the following task you will analyze how six college students drafted their thesis statements for a persuasive essay on the MLDA controversy. In the prompt used by the instructor for this assignment, students were required to address the following purposes:

  • Present the PROs and CONs of the MLDA to a group of college students’ parents.
  • Persuade the parents to vote in favor of lowering the MLDA to 18 years of age.

In other words, the writers need to take a stance on the issue. Read the Thesis Statement and assess how well each one fulfills the purposes given above and to what extent. Rate the Thesis Statement using a scale from 1 to 6, where 6 will stand for the best Thesis Statement and 1 will be given to the poorest. Be prepared to explain the reasons you have to support your rating.

a. The United States has more accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol than other countries where there is no MLDA (        )

b. Young people should be allowed to drink without legal restrictions based on their age, which is ridiculous (        )

c. Parents should teach their children how to drink alcohol in moderation.  (        )

d. Lowering the MLDA will allow parents to introduce their children to alcohol use under the supervision and reduce the rate of accidents caused by drunken drivers (        )

e. A reduction in the MLDA will help neutralize teenagers’ obsession with drinking, allow parents to monitor their children first encounters with alcohol, and reduce the rate of accidents caused by irresponsible drinking.   (        )

f. Having the MLDA fixed at 21 is only increasing young people’s fascination with drinking in unsafe environments and using false IDs.     (        )

Guidelines for a thesis statement

What should be considered when drafting a thesis statement for an essay that aims to persuade the audience to take a stand in a controversial issue? Think of some possible guidelines to write an effective persuasive TS taking into account the following:

  • How should you address your audience?
  • Where in your text should you introduce your stance?
  • What language features (words, phrases) could be useful?
  • How can you connect your TS with the main arguments you will use in your essay?

Write your guidelines below and discuss them with your colleagues and your instructor:

In some of the thesis statements listed above, the writers use modal verbs such as will and should . The first one ( will ) is used to predict the results that could be achieved if the authorities follow a specific course of action regarding the MLDA. The second one ( should ) is used to recommend what should be done with respect to the MLDA. These and other modal verbs that express advice, convey an obligation, or predict an outcome are often used to introduce the writer’s stance because they are useful to express the speaker’s desires, or his/her ideas of how the world should be. Other modal verbs that are also used with these purposes are: must, can, could, ought to, and also the semi-modal have to .

When using modal verbs to compose your thesis statement, however, you should be careful to select the one that best represents your purpose. The meaning of your thesis statement can change a great deal if you use one or the other. Read the following examples and explain how the meaning has changed with each modal (in bold):

*Although ought to and must are accepted as standard forms, they are not used in Academic English very often because they imply a strong and categorical position. Scientists usually abstain from categorical statements because these expressions do not convey that the writer remains open to new possibilities. Scientist prefer to maintain a more open attitude in their writing in case new evidence is discovered in the future that can change their points of view about the world.

Although the participants in the Room for Debate’s and Star Wars pages hold different points of view regarding very different topics, they all engaged in their online discussions with a common purpose: persuading their audience of their point of view. They do so in a succinct fashion because their audience does not usually invest much time in reading blog posts that are too long and complex. Therefore, effective blog/forum posters try to be direct and present one single point per post. On the contrary, academic persuasive writing needs to be more detailed and provide the audience with more than just the author’s point of view.

  • https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/02/10/you-must-be-21-to-drink ↵

The Thesis Statement in a Persuasive Text Copyright © 2020 by Alys Avalos-Rivera is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Legal Drinking Age — Why The Drinking Age In America Should Not Be Lowered To 18

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Why The Drinking Age in America Should not Be Lowered to 18

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Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1111 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Works Cited

  • Carpenter, C. (2007). Is alcohol too cheap in the United States? A comparison of alcohol prices in the United States and 25 European countries. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 26(1), 81-104.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Alcohol-related disease impact (ARDI) application. Retrieved from https://nccd.cdc.gov/DPH_ARDI/Default/Default.aspx
  • Grant, B. F., Chou, S. P., Saha, T. D., Pickering, R. P., Kerridge, B. T., Ruan, W. J., ... & Huang, B. (2017). Prevalence of 12-month alcohol use, high-risk drinking, and DSM-IV alcohol use disorder in the United States, 2001-2002 to 2012-2013: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. JAMA Psychiatry, 74(9), 911-923.
  • Hingson, R. W., Heeren, T., Zakocs, R. C., Kopstein, A., & Wechsler, H. (2002). Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24: Changes from 1998 to 2001. Annual Review of Public Health, 24, 24(1), 5-20.
  • Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2020). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2019: Volume II, College students and adults ages 19–60. Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.
  • Main, C. T. (2002). Drinking age debate: Pros and cons. Retrieved from https://www.cognitiveliberty.org/dll/main_drinking_age_debate.html
  • Miller, J. W., Naimi, T. S., Brewer, R. D., & Jones, S. E. (2007). Binge drinking and associated health risk behaviors among high school students. Pediatrics, 119(1), 76-85.
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2021). Underage drinking. Retrieved from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage-drinking
  • O'Malley, P. M., & Wagenaar, A. C. (1991). Effects of minimum drinking age laws on alcohol use, related behaviors and traffic crash involvement among American youth: 1976-1987. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 52(5), 478-491.
  • Sacks, J. J., Gonzales, K. R., Bouchery, E. E., Tomedi, L. E., & Brewer, R. D. (2015). 2010 national and state costs of excessive alcohol consumption. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(5), e73-e79.

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argumentative essay about drinking age

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Argumentative Essay On The Drinking Age

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Law , Education , Alcoholism , Teenagers , Youth , Students , Alcohol , Violence

Words: 1600

Published: 12/06/2019

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Drinking alcohol is one of the most popular activities that the world does when people get together and either celebrate any event or simply meet with friends to blow off some steam. Teenagers get together at many different types of venues, such as parties, backyards or even out in the woods and alcohol always seems to find its way there also. If someone under the age of twenty-one wants alcohol bad enough, there is always a way that they can get it. Whether they have the fake ID or they know someone of age to get it for them, alcohol is usually pretty easy to get. Teenagers drink whether the law prohibits them or not and having a drinking age of twenty-one puts a mystique on drinking that causes young people to want to do it more than ever. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen is a way of taking the taboo away and encouraging rebellious minded teenagers want to break the law which will in turn make less work for police and local authorities who are fighting a battle that will never be won. The drinking age should be lowered to eighteen to save time and money of those who are enforcing the law and the people of the United States who are paying for it and the drinking age should match the standards of the military in which someone who is eighteen is allowed to fight for their country, so they should be able to have a beer if they want.

Since 1984, 48 of the 50 states have used the drinking age of 21 as the minimum limit to which people were able to buy or drink alcohol legally. In 1988, the last two states of South Dakota and Wyoming followed suit. Forty-one states did also set exception laws that would allow drinking of a "minor" under certain situations, for example; 29 states allow drinking on private premises with parental consent, 30 states for religious purposes and 13 states for educational purposes. (ProCon.org 2011)

Underage drinking is as useless a fight as trying to stop drugs totally from being brought into America. No matter how many laws are passed or rules are set to try and deter the use of these products on the people of this country, it is going to be done one way or another. It is always good to have laws on such goods so that young people are not acting in mass hysteria and there are drunk children running the streets, but if an age group such as the eighteen year old are able to do it with such ease anyway and only a very small percentage of them are actually caught by authorities, and for this reason, it all seems to be a complete waste of time.

More money is being spent by our tax dollars to run an uphill battle. The time that is spent enforcing this law could be used by our officers finding and fighting more serious drugs and other problems that occur on our streets everyday. Writing up a young person or going through the court process for someone so young has got to be on the minds of those who do it as a complete waste of time also. It is around the time of graduation for highschool students and college students that most parties are thrown that attract millions of young drinkers to come to them. For the kids that are caught by police and brought up on chargers, it causes them legal problems for months and years that can affect their careers going forward, causing some hard working students to suffer, sometimes preventing them from progressing forward. (John Cloud 2008)

The laws that prevent underage drinking do limit the numbers of drinking due to the fact that the teenagers or twenty year olds who don't want to break the law and continue to concentrate on more important aspects of their life, like education, but the ones who do decide to drink, do it to a point that is extremely dangerous. Dr.. David J. Hanson, a sociologist at State University of New York, who has been studying alcohol and drinking for over 40 years says, "Fewer young adults drink, but when they do drink they tend to drink more, and I'm mostly concerned about drinking to excess. When you prohibit drinking legally, it pushes it into places that are uncontrolled, like fraternity houses. These are places that promote drinking games and excessive, rapid consumption of alcohol, which puts people in danger of getting alcohol poisoning, and that can be fatal." (2011)

The United States military allows service men and women to join up at the age of eighteen years of age and sometimes even seventeen with a waiver explaining the reason. If a young person can be asked to fight for his country and risk his or her life domestically or abroad, shouldn't a person of that age also be trusted with having good judgment to also buy and drink alcohol. This is probably the biggest argument that many use when expressing their opinions on why the drinking age should be lowered. An eighteen year old with a gun in his hand is more dangerous than an eighteen year old with a beer in his hand. Although military members are not usually permitted to take their weapons off of base, they are still given the responsibility of handling a weapon while surrounded by many other service members and in times, civilians if patrolling the streets of a foreign country where the enemy chooses to hide among them.

One of the dangers of lowering the drinking age that has been seen before in the past. During the 1970's, when the legal drinking age was actually dropped back to to eighteen year of age, there were more reported younger and younger drinkers from before when it was twenty one. (James C. Fell 2011) Drinking had been reported in junior high schools and middle schools which was a staggering find. The reason for this to me is simple. Young people usually have older friends that topple off after a couple of years. If the drinking age is lower, then young people have a younger access of friends who are able to buy alcohol for them. This being the case, if the drinking age were lowered back down to eighteen, the same past would probably come back to haunt us.

Another good reason for lowering the drinking age to eighteen is that in other countries such as Italy, China and Greece, there are far less alcohol related incidents than in the United States. The reason for this is that if the "taboo" or "forbidden fruit" curiosity of drinking is taken away, then less are tempted by it and it's not given such a high regard when it comes to young people. The curious try it young and can decide earlier if they enjoy the taste or feeling it gives before they are allowed to get behind the steering wheel of a car because the driving age is higher than the drinking age. Take away the sin and that results in less sinners.

Having said that, lowering the drinking age to an age group that feels like they are invincible, can cause alcohol related incidents and death in other ways. Educating young people about the possible outcomes of drinking too early isn't enough. Young people will continue to have the attitude that nothing can happen to them until something actually does and by that time, it is too late. Teenagers think they know everything, and until they are given the harsh truth that they don't with accidental physical harm or even law persecution, they will continue to have that attitude.

With over one hundred college Presidents in 2009, including such schools as Virginia Tech, Dartmouth and Duke, signing a declaration that the drinking age of 21 is not working (CBS News Magazine 2010), it is easy to say that lowering the drinking age is something that needs to be done. The facts are that lowering the drinking age, although harder to see without actually doing so, will take away the mystique behind it. Drinking is going on anyway, no matter how hard people are against it, it is happening. The United States needs to concentrate on more important issues than passing laws that will just drive the use of alcohol further and further underground and causing more and more binge drinkers. Until this happens, useless amounts of time and money will be spent on something that will never go away.

Works Cited:

ProCon.org. Drinking Age. Should the Drinking Age be Lowered to a Younger Age. (2011) ProCon.org, 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 9 Jan. 2011. http://drinkingage.procon.org/#background Cloud, John. "Time U.S. Magazine." Should the Drinking Age be Lowered. Editor Richard Stengel. June 2008.1-6. Print Fell, John C. "Los Angeles Times." Health: Keeping the Drinking Age at 21 Save Lives, and There is No Reason to Fix What isn't Broken. 30 May 2011 55-56. Admin. "CBS News Magazine". 60 Minutes: The Debate on Lowering the Drinking Age. March 2010. (1-5)

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