Brandon Glover C.

Douglas English 1102 073 9 February, 2014

Alcohol: Are You Still An Adult Even When Youre Denied a Drink?
Are you really an adult even when other adults are allowed to drink a beverage that your not allowed to buy or be served? In 1984 The United States set the national legal drinking age to 21. In almost every country, except for the United States, the legal drinking age is eighteen. John McCardell is a proponent for lowering the United States drinking age back down to eighteen which is what it used to be until the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act. John McCardell fights his view in his article Yes, the U.S. Legal Drinking Age should be lowered. Just like every argument there are two separate viewpoints. Robert Preidt is an opponent of lowering the national legal drinking age as he states in his article Lower Drinking Age May Raise Chances of Bingeing Later. In this article he talks about the negative longer term effects that drinking at a young age has on people. If people who are called adults are allowed to fight in wars with machine guns and have the potential to be sent to prison they should be able to drink an alcoholic beverage. Both of these authors are speaking of a wide audience from late teenage years and up. John McCardell writes an amazing article on the legal drinking age. He addresses every aspect of the argument from the talk about driving under the influence, to binge drinking, to crimes associated with drinking, and so on. John flows well between arguments tackling each one with facts and counterpoints. After going through the article a second time I cannot seem to find any really stand out weaknesses that could be changed to improve the articles strength. Even though it is nationally illegal to drink

2 Brandon Glover C. Douglas English 1102 073 9 February, 2014 under the age of 21 in the United States that definitely does not mean that it is followed. In John McCardells article he goes on the state the fact that Seventy-five percent of high school seniors, 60 percent of high school sophomores, and 40 percent of eighth graders have consumed alcohol (McCardell 4). McCardell then goes on to talk about how the governments attempt to reduce car accidents due to drinking and driving underage is not even valid an argument for a reason on drinking age. Of the total number of lives lost to alcohol by those under the age of 21, more than 60 percent are lost off the roadways. Alcohol takes a much greater toll off the highways. Yet debate will not occur in our state houses, so long as a highway fund penalty casts its long shadow over any attempt to frame alternatives to a one-size-fits-all federal mandate. Robert Preidts article was against the lowering of drinking age. His main argument was that people who drink under the age of 21 where legal are more likely to become binge drinkers. To talk about and legitimize his argument he uses a study Researchers analyzed the long-term drinking behavior of more than 39,000 people who began drinking in the 1970s, when the legal drinking age in some states was as low as 18. (Preidt 2). Even though it strengthens an article, especially an argument, when using a research study, Preidt did not say who or from what date to what date the study was done on. This weakens his argument by not providing the official names and dates of the study. Another weak point in this article is when Preidt includes a quotation from someone that is against what he is ultimately fighting for "It wasn't just that lower minimum drinking ages had a negative impact on people when they were young," (Preidt 6). For the information that is included in the article it does flow together nicely. The

3 Brandon Glover C. Douglas English 1102 073 9 February, 2014 conclusion of the article does not sum everything up very well and you get a feeling of the rest of the article being cut off. Alcohol and the legal age of consumption has been a huge topic that has been changed around numerous times in the United States. John McCardells viewpoints and arguments were well backed up and strongly promoted in his article. Both of these articles had arguments that need to be discussed and thought about when discussing the potential of a legal drinking age change. Should people between the age of 18 and 21 be called legal adults even when they are said to be not mature and developed enough yet to consume a drink?

Brandon Glover C. Douglas English 1102 073 9 February, 2014

Works Cited Insights

McCardell, John. "Yes, The U.S. Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered."

On Law & Society 10.3 (2010): 18. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.

Preidt, Robert. "Lower Drinking Age May Raise Chances of Bingeing Later." HealthDay Consumer News Service 08 Feb. 2013: Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.