The Orbis

Proponents of lowering the drinking age to 18, or even doing away with it altogether, have some compelling arguments. Granted, on the surface it seems silly not to legalize alcohol for college age students who drink regardless and that Europe does not have as many problems allowing their youth to drink. However, if you buy into any of these examples, you are making a huge mistake in judgment.

Historically, the drinking age was lowered during the early 1970s for a short period of time, before being raised back to 21 when it was clear that there was a link between a lowered age of consumption and higher incidents of drunk driving.

Why is the minimum age to drive 16, when someone can clearly operate a motor vehicle at age 11? Age is associated with the culturally accepted maturity level of a person. At 16, it has been judged that the person is old enough to handle the responsibilities associated with driving a car. Similarly, 21 has been judged to be an appropriate age at which young people can drink responsibly and not make the error of getting into a car while intoxicated, threatening their own lives and the lives of countless others.

Why not let youths under the age of 18 purchase tobacco? Because it is a drug, just like alcohol is a drug. The government has the responsibility to protect its citizens and it does so by regulating alcohol. Voting, another right granted at age 18, will not readily cause a person to crash his or her car, be physically or sexually assaulted, cause memory problems, increase the rate of suicide, injury or even death, all consequences associated with underage drinking according to the National Institute of Health.

In the study, the NIH also highlights the high incidences of peer pressure as a teenager and the resulting risk that situations with alcohol present. Since the brain is still developing, abusing alcohol at a young age may also lead to life-long alcohol dependence.

Undoubtedly, teens are taking risks as they grow into adults. According to statistics on the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web site, "young drivers between 15 and 20 years old are more often involved in alcohol-related crashes than any other comparable age group."

According to statistics on the web site www.safeparents.com, "On average, about one in five teen drivers killed in car crashes were legally drunk. Additionally, young drivers who drink are less likely to wear their seat belts. Almost 80 percent of young drivers killed in alcohol-related crashes were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the accident."

It is important that we structure society in such a way as to reduce the number of hazardous situations that might arise through adolescent behavior. By keeping the age of consumption of alcohol at 21, we are adding one more barrier between our children and something that might unintentionally harm them.

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