Lowering The Drinking Age
This blog was set up for a project to discuss the possibility of lowering the drinking age to 18 yrs old. Many colleges including Dartmouth, Virginia Tech, and Duke agree that the drinking age we have now is not working. Turing 18 entails the rights and responsibilities to vote, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, join the military, and be prosecuted as an adult. Therefore, 18 yr olds should also be trusted to make decisions about alcohol consumption. Opinions would be great!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Facts About Underage Drinking:
- In 2005, around 10.8 million teenagers reported drinking underage in the past month
- Each day, around 11,300 teens try alcohol for the first time
- By high school, 74% of students have had one or more alcoholic drinks
- Alcohol leads to more deaths each year than all illegal drugs combined
- 41% of children have consumed alcohol by 8th grade
- In New York, 20.1% of 12-20 year olds have binge drank in the past month
- The average age when youth first try alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls
- Annually, more than 5,000 deaths of people under age 21 are linked to underage drinking
- The average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9
- Binge drinking, often beginning around age 13, tends to increase during adolescence, peak in young adulthood (ages 18-22), then gradually decreases
- It has been estimated that over 3 million teenagers are out-and-out alcoholics
In 1987,
The drinking age was raised to 21 years old to reduce car accidents due to drunk driving. But, even though the age limit was raised, the rate of traffic casualties decreased less than European countries who's drinking ages is younger than 21.
Friday, February 11, 2011
18 vs. 21
This is a video of Boston University students discussing lowering the drinking age.
http://www.bu.edu/buniverse/view/?v=12R8JMOL
http://www.bu.edu/buniverse/view/?v=12R8JMOL
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