In the United States, there is a stigma that this country’s youth society is filled with binge drinkers.
Due to the romanticization of drinking in movies such as Superbad, where high schoolers can be seen buying alcohol and binge drinking it, kids have been given a wrong idea as to how one should go about drinking, but there is a solution that could end this stigma.
Although lowering the drinking age to 18 seems counter-intuitive because it may encourage the behavior seen in movies, it may teach young drinkers responsibility. If 18-year-olds gain many new responsibilities, they should also be able to drink responsibly as well.
Countries like Italy, China, and Greece have been prime examples as to how a society can successfully function with a lower drinking age.
The Prohibition in the United States has shown that prohibiting alcohol causes a rift within society in the sense that people rebelled and drank alcohol anyway. The law was not a strong enough enforcer. Although the restrictions today are to a lesser degree, such as there being an age restriction, young adults still find themselves rebelling against the law and drinking.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2015, 20% of children ages 12 - 20 drink alcohol. The idea of these kids is that they want a sip of the mysterious “forbidden fruit” that is alcohol. Some may say that lowering the drinking age will create an influx of young binge drinkers.
However, if the drinking age were to be lowered a teen's curiosity would cease to simmer as the “forbidden fruit” is no longer a mystery. Additionally, lowering the drinking age would teach those who start drinking early responsibility and avoid rebellion.
Along with the age of 18 comes adulthood, and along with adulthood comes a myriad of responsibilities. One may open a checking and savings account. One may get a full-time job, and get married. One can now vote for the leader of his or her country, get married, enlist in the military, and be tried as an adult in the court of law. However, at the age of 18 one may not be able to drink an alcoholic beverage.
If one is able to die for his or her country and battle and decide the future of his or her country would it not be reasonable that he or she can be trusted with a beer?
Countries such as Italy, Sweden, and France are prime examples of countries whose lifestyles have not been as tarnished by alcohol than America’s due to a lower drinking age. Legally, there is no drinking age in these European countries, but rather, only a purchasing age.
For example, France’s purchasing age is 18. Drinking is frequently adjunct with most meals, and because of this adjunction, children are going into their adult life knowing proper drinking practices and how to be responsible with their alcohol. In countries with no drinking age, there is a lack of alcohol-related problems as well (Fulton).
In Sweden, where the drinking age is 18, only 19% of car crash deaths were alcohol related in 2015 compared to the United States, which had a 31% rate.
Ultimately, a lower drinking age will show an individual responsibility. One’s curiosity when it comes to drinking will cease and avoid rebellion. At the cusp of adulthood, one is given an abundance of new rights and responsibilities, and drinking alcohol should be included as one of these rights.
Countries like Italy, Spain, and France are a prime example of how a lower-than-21 drinking age within a culture is feasible due to the lessons the youth learns from being exposed to alcohol early.
