Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age Essay

Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age - Essay Example As a highly controversial issue, it has both positive and negative sides if the drinking age is lowered. Researches have documented the fact that alcohol abuse is the one of the major problems among the adults. It has paved the way for various problems such as increasing of alcohol related crime and antisocial activities, traffic violation resulting in accidents, health problems, socio-economic disturbance etc. Lowering of drinking age is acceptable only under strict legal supervisions. The problem mainly relate to adult people who are subjected to crucial physiological and psychological changes. Lowering of minimum drinking age from 21 to younger age will entail severe social and health problems among the youth and it needs effective legal monitoring to ensure its positive results. While in any other issue, in the context of lowering of drinking age also there are two groups of people. One group supports the lowering of drinking age from 21 and the other who does not want to lower this age. Each of these groups has their own opinion to support their stand and to oppose the other view. Even at this stage, when the legal drinking age is 21, teenagers do drink under less restricted surroundings causing them to indulge in life threatening behaviors. The age of 18 bring youngsters the civil rights and entitle them to vote, get wedded, sign bonds, join the armed forces, etc. which show their accountability towards their life and death. So, this age is important for them to make their own decisions regarding drinking habits also. Richard Wilson and Cheryl A. Kolander comment that; â€Å"This movement was also supported by the state of the art in prevention at that time, which suggested that keeping alcohol consumption forbidden to those younger than age 21 created an aura of â€Å"forbidden fruit† that made alcohol even more appealing as a symbol of adulthood and created much more destructive drinking practices on the part of the