I. Introduction
1. Thesis: Through research and analysis it can be proven that lowering the drinking age would not be beneficial for teenagers.
II. Against lowering the drinking age because:1. Risk of becoming dependent on alcohol in future2. More likely to become sexually active3. Victims of violent crime (rape, aggravated assault, robbery, etc)4. Problems with school work and conduct
III. For lowering the drinking age:1. Classes on alcohol education2. Legal age of 183. Other countries view of alcohol4. “Forbidden fruit”
IV. Some people would like the drinking age to be lowered because they see there are some advantages.1. Classes on alcohol education: John McCardell wrote an article in Time Magazine making many points that for the alcohol age to be lowered people aged 18 to 20 should have to take an 42 hours of alcohol education – covers history, chemistry, psychology and sociology.
· “John McCardell Jr., an esteemed historian of the American South and former head of Middlebury College, founded Choose Responsibility 2006 to argue in favor of licensing 18-to-20-year-olds to drink after they have completed an exhaustive 42 hours of instruction in the history, chemistry, psychology and sociology of alcohol — which could even include sitting in on an AA session for three hours.”2. Sit in on AA sessions for a number of hours to see where alcohol has lead people.
· Could be a good idea because helps 18 to 20 year olds claim themselves as adults in the aspect of being able to consume alcohol. Though it might put some people off at first because they have to take classes but in the long run to give teens information they need and would otherwise not receive.3. Legal age of 18
· “After all, in almost every other legal and cultural respect, you're an adult at 18. You can vote, adopt children, sign up for Iraq or become a commercial pilot at 18. Treating alcohol differently helps turns it into a holy grail of adulthood.”-When 18 a person can: vote, join the armed forces, own your own apartment/house, serve on a jury, get married, get a tattoo, buy cigarettes, etc. If there are so many things that can be done at the age of 18, why isn’t alcohol consumption one of them? A person can fight for their country, kill other people and/or be killed while fighting for their country but cannot drink legally at 18.
4. Other countries views on alcohol
· “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 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.”-teens need to learn the responsible way to drink-teens need to see the effects that alcohol has on people and the way it makes people act
5. “Forbidden fruit”
-In other parts of the world alcohol is not seen as forbidden, which is why teens in the United States have more problems with alcohol
· “As UVM and other universities work to address student alcohol abuse, one of the greatest hindrances they face is the fact that the legal drinking age is set at twenty-one, an age most college students won't reach until their junior or senior years.”
· “Young adults should be allowed to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions.”- in these situations and environments teens would be expected to act and drink in a mature/sensible fashion-responsible drinking would be taught through role modeling based on seeing adults drink in this way
V. Although there are reasons people think the drinking age should be lowered and it would cause a difference, there are a majority of people who like the drinking age set at 21.
1.Risk of becoming dependent on alcohol in future2. More likely to become sexually active3. Victims of violent crime (rape, aggravated assault, robbery, etc)4. Problems with school work and conduct
VI. Risk of becoming dependent on alcohol in the future
1. “Drinking alcohol before age 14 have a nearly 50% risk of becoming alcohol-dependent in adulthood”
-Teens who start to drink early on have a more likelihood of becoming alcoholics; this can work into my essay against lowering the drinking age
2. A study was done in 2001-2002 that surveyed over 43,000 and
found that 47% of people who began drinking before the age of 14 became alcohol dependent and 9% of people who started drinking age 21 or older who became alcohol dependent.

-The percentage of people who became alcohol dependent because they started drinking at age 14 or younger is 38% higher than those people who waited until they were 21 or older to start drinking.
3. “A young adult or young adult patient entering treatment for Substance Use Disorder, who gives a history of drinking more than a few sips of alcohol before age 14, is much more likely to struggle with a lifetime of alcohol dependence than one who begins drinking at a later age”
- Drinking before the age of 14 gives a person a greater chance of needed to use alcohol as a depressant in the future.
4. “Alcohol is the number one drug of choice… teens use alcohol more frequently and heavily than all other illicit drugs combined.”
- Alcohol is the number one drug of choice because teens see it as forbidden and shunned by the public. Alcohol is looked at as something to stay away from and that’s why teens are prone to excessively drink rather than use other drugs.
5. “An individual who begins drinking as a young teen is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than someone who waits until adulthood to use alcohol.”
-Statistics show that people who first drank alcohol before the age of 21 are 9.6% more likely of becoming addicted to alcohol and abuse alcohol verses the 2.1% of peope who waited until they were legal to drink at 21 or older. In 1987 a study done showed that there were many increases in school related areas where alcohol was involved. “Cutting class after drinking” increased from 9% to about 12%, “missing class because of a hangover” increased from 26% to 28%, and “getting lower grade(s) because of drinking” increased from 5% to 7%.
VII. “Teens who use alcohol are more likely to become sexually active at earlier ages, to have sexual intercourse more often, and to have unprotected sex more than teens who do not drink.”
- Teens who drink alcohol are more likely to have multiple partners or have unprotected sex. These teens are associated with high-risk sex. High-risk sex has many consequences that teens probably think “this won’t happen to me” –such as—unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS).
VIII. “Young people who drink are more likely than others to be victims of violent
crime, including rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.”
-Occurs most commonly amoung women in late teens and early adulthood. In a survey done about 10% of female highschool students reported being raped. Research suggested that alcohol had been consumed by the offender, the victim, or both. This increases the likelihood of sexual assault by male aquantiances.
IX. “Teens who drink are more likely to have problems with school work and school conduct.”- teens are not going to be focusing on school work and/or their conduct, they are more worried about finding their next fix. They want to make sure they are getting to all the parties that are happening, which means if they show up to school at all, their target is going to be finding these parties. When they do show up to school they are more likely to be drunk than students who do not have problems with alcohol.